Out on a Limb
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Author Jordan Morris and illustrator Charlie Mylie’s Out on a Limb is a picture book story about a child with a broken leg who explores the role of courage and patience in the healing process—both inside and out.
Lulu’s leg is broken, but she’s OK. Bonnie Bear has a matching yellow cast. Her sympathy trove has new books, sweet cards, and pretty daisies. She finds new ways to do ordinary things—like taking a bath or wearing her favorite pants.
As time wears on, the newness of the cast wears off and the weariness sets in. Lulu grows bored and grumpy by day. Her cast becomes itchy and twitchy at night. Eventually, it’s time to get the cast off, but Lulu’s not ready. What if her leg can’t do all of the things it used to do? What if it breaks again? A visit from Grandpa, a well-timed letter, and the power of healing help get Lulu back on her feet.
“A welcome story of a child overcoming her fears in her own time, and of a close and supportive intergenerational friendship.”—Horn Book Magazine
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A child experiences a range of emotions while recovering from a broken leg in Morris's evocative debut, accompanied by absorbing, digitally colored graphite illustrations by Mylie (Something for You). When Lulu, who's light-skinned and wears two dark pigtails, breaks the tibia and fibula of her right leg, good-humored scenes show her surveying a "sympathy trove" of cards and gifts, traveling to school in a wagon, and getting her cast signed by classmates. But the "special attention" soon wears off, and Lulu grows uncomfortable: "Her leg was sore—itchy and twitchy, trapped inside its yellow shell." When it's finally time for the cast to come off, Lulu's leg is free, but worry and knowledge that "bad things could happen" keep her from resuming her usual activities. Interspersed with these events are wordless narrative spreads that follow a vibrant yellow envelope addressed to Lulu making an extraordinary journey: from a mailbox, onto the sole of someone's shoe, into raccoon paws, and carried aloft by a bird. The dual arcs converge slowly, suggestive of the patience Lulu must have as she heals emotionally as well as physically, and the uplifting story concludes with a moment of serendipity that encourages Lulu to overcome her fears. Ages 4–8. Agent (for Morris and Mylie): Hannah Mann, Writers House.
