A child of an immi­grant fam­i­ly in the ear­ly days of the cen­tu­ry who spends his time draw­ing is under-appre­ci­at­ed in this delight­ful pic­ture book. Although his par­ents com­plain that there’s ​“not much use for it” Lionel per­sists in sketch­ing and draw­ing on every pos­si­ble scrap of paper and in every free moment he has. His ally is his old­est sis­ter, Rose, who works in their mother’s dress shop. It is she who pro­vides him with card­board and string from the shop and encour­ages his efforts. The oth­er per­son who encour­ages his art is his teacher, Miss Mor­ris­sey, who has plans for the two of them — plans which involved a trip on a trol­ley. After wor­ry­ing about the trol­ley fare, Lionel finds him­self at the Met­ro­pol­i­tan Muse­um of Art! What a feast for a child such as he, and for the read­er as well, for Peck’s illus­tra­tions are also art, paint­ed loose­ly in won­der­ful mut­ed col­ors evoca­tive of the peri­od. The book is mar­velous­ly designed as well. Enjoy. For ages 6 – 8.