Elena Arevalo Melville’s 2024 picture book Umbrella is a well-designed book of magic and whimsy. Clara’s alone in the park, wishing for someone to play with. She doesn’t find anyone, at least at first, but she does find an umbrella on the ground. She places it on a park bench and it speaks to her, then invites her to open it. She does, and it starts a series of magical transformations. A cat emerges for Clara to play with. Then an old man who’s been visiting the park for hundreds of years (or so we’re told) arrives. When he can’t reach an apple hanging from a tree, the umbrella invites him to open it. He does, and an elephant emerges and picks apples for everyone.
A number of wishes are made, and the umbrella fulfills them, though not always directly. (Clara hadn’t asked for a cat, for example.) One wisher (Mr. Fox) makes a wish that goes astray, allowing Melville to integrate a lesson about greed and selfishness.
I mentioned the design above, and that is a good portion of this book’s appeal. The images fill the pages well, with lines and angles that draw eyes this way and that.
