Lizzy and the Cloud, an illustrated allegory and a great goodnight read

Allegorical illustrated books can be about many things or they can be about nothing at all. Maybe they reference amorphous feelings, or perhaps it’s just about a kid who’s having an off day. The tricky part in quantifying these books is that sometimes your interpretation of the book will differ from mine, but that’s OK because we’re both correct. Lizzy and the Cloud is an illustrated book of a Rorschach test that leads to an M. C. Escher painting that you’re looking at through dreamy, haze-colored glasses. And by that I mean, readers might come away from the book with different interpretations of what Lizzy and her cloud actually mean, but they’ll all be on the same page when it comes to singing the book’s praises.

Even from its cover kids will be curious and giggling about Lizzy and the Cloud. We see a girl, in a traditional yellow rain jacket and hat, who is carrying a cloud that’s held aloft on a string like it’s a pet. Lizzy goes to the park every Saturday with her parents. The park is a vibrant place that’s alight with action, activity, and lots of colors. Most of the kids are attracted to the rides or puppets, but she’s into clouds, and thankfully there’s a vendor selling clouds of all sorts. There’s an octopus cloud, elephant cloud, and lots of other critter clouds, however, she simply wants a plain, ordinary, cumulus cloud.

When they get home she reads the directions for the cloud and promptly gets to taking care of it. She waters it every day, gives it a proper name (Milo), and lets him water her indoor plants from time to time. As much love and time as she gives Milo, he always prefers it outside, especially when it’s raining. As the seasons go on, Milo gets bigger, eventually taking up the entire ceiling in her room, which is all good and well, until he starts to rain.

She remembered that one of the most important rules in her care guide was to never confine a cloud in a small space. With that, she takes Milo up the roof of her building and lets it loose to see if it’ll join the rest of them way up high. While she was a bit sad, she often looks up to the sky, checking out clouds that just might be Milo, especially the big fluffy ones.

This is a book about the impermanence of life. It’s an illustrated book about the joys of adopting a puppy. This is a cautious tale about watching out what you wish for. No, it’s an illustrated book that teaches kids about the importance of thinking about things other than just you.

Such is the joy in a read-along book that those early elementary kids can swim in. Lizzy and the Cloud opens up conversation and does so in a way that there are a myriad of different answers from those kids who are eager to share their thoughts. The story plays itself out in a calm and old-school manner. The words complement the story excellently and are sparse, which allows the illustrations to do the heavy lifting.

Lizzy and the Cloud is a great-goodnight book because it’s short enough to read more than once, but has enough detail in its illustrations to allow for more conversation. The striking illustrations make great use of black and white, with accented yellow on most pages, and a couple of them that are full color. The stark use of colors on some pages brings out tension and details that young readers won’t readily be able to point out, but will notice that something special is happening on that page.

Another sublime detail behind the book is its shape. It’s not as wide as most other illustrated books, which makes it seem much taller than it already is. Because the second main character in the book is a cloud, that’s sometimes on a string, the effect draws your eyes up and makes you focus on it more than you otherwise would. The details in the illustrations within the book are lovingly detailed and show the minute things that make the city hop or the creature comforts that make a child’s bedroom their kingdom.

Lizzy and the Cloud is by Terry Fan and Eric Fan, The Fan Brothers, and is available on Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

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