December 12, 2020

Out the Door by Christy Hale


Out the Door is simple and direct. A young girl goes out the door, headed to school with her father. What follows is a sequential series of phrases, describing their journey, with text that highlights the prepositions. "Out the door...down the stoop...past the neighbors along the block...up to the light...across the street"...all the way to school. When school ends, the sequence is reversed, illustrated with smaller blocks on a double page spread.

The illustrations are what stand out here. The bold, cut paper collages with inked detail make the words meaningful. Some pages incorporate several images with white space between, but the ones that stand out are double page spreads and a full edge bleed, with a bold perspective from the child's point of view. My favorite is "below the ground" illustrating a scene in a subway station. The diversity extends from the main character who is a person of color, as well as the diversity illustrated in her community and classroom.

For primary students and read aloud focusing on sequencing, community, and prepositions.

Mark's Book Picks Score: 3

Reading Level: 1 • Interest Level: P-2 • AR Points: NA • Lexile Level: NA  • Publisher: Penguin • Pages: 40  • Copyright: 2020 • ISBN: 978-0-8234-4644-5 • Available in Perma-Bound Binding

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