ALA Booklist (Thu Aug 04 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

A boy known as the Mapmaker sits in his tree house working when a girl arrives and asks him to create a map of "the perfect place." He asks questions to define her vision, but her answers, such as "toes-in-the-sand warm," "smells like my birthday," and "sunshine finds me, even if I'm not outdoors," leave him baffled. When she suggests going out to explore, he loads his backpack and follows. They visit the library, the bakery, the playground at the park, and her home. Suddenly inspired, the Mapmaker unpacks his tools and draws a carefully measured sketch on paper. Using markers, the girl brightens it with colors. Together, they create a large, detailed map of her home and neighborhood. Kids can use the map to retrace the character's steps through the story, which is written with childlike gravity and imagination. Created with gouache and pencil, the illustrations feature soft colors, a beautifully textured look, and appealing character portrayals. Suggested activities, including ideas for creating a neighborhood map, are appended. An inviting read-aloud choice for home or classroom.

Kirkus Reviews

A little boy known as the Mapmaker is stumped when a girl asks him for a special map.Though he loves creating all kinds of maps in his treehouse office, he is perplexed by her requests that he find and map a place with warm sand and hiding spots for treasure. Her requirements become more and more abstract, and the Mapmaker has no idea what to do. But the girl, it seems, already has a plan. It is frustratingly apparent that she already knows what she wants but for some reason wishes to teach the Mapmaker a lesson. She takes him around their idyllic little town like a baby Manic Pixie Dream Girl, showing him the warm sunbeams in the library, the delicious-smelling bakery, and all the other little comforts of home. Finally, they sit down together to draw a map of their town, which is just what the girl wanted all along. Rendered in a muted palette, the art is simple and cozy. The boy has light skin and dark hair, and the girl has light skin and light hair. The book's lesson-that we should appreciate the beauty of our own surroundings-is sweet and gentle. However, the characters lack personality, the girl in particular being just a pedagogic device, and the narrative is not especially engaging. (This book was reviewed digitally.)A sweet story without much else to offer. (author's note, glossary, more information, activities) (Picture book. 4-8)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

In Allen’s picture book debut, a studious boy who loves maps works in a charming tree-house studio, drawing “cities with their grid-like lines and countries with their squiggly borders.” Soon, a girl appears with a request for a personalized map of “the perfect place,” describing a location that’s “toes-in-the-sand, wrapped-up-in-a-towel warm.” When his drawings and knowledge of the globe don’t align with her variable vision (“It’s a place where I can zip like a dragonfly”), she leads him through their neighborhood, showing him its familiar features through new eyes. Working in warm, loose gouache and pencil in muted greens and earth tones, Karas (A Hat for Mrs. Goldman) plots their journey, following the path of the duo, who read as white, from library to bakery to playground to home, as the boy sees how the girl’s words describe the world he already knows, and make it new. A notable feature of this telling is the way authority shifts from the boy—whose rational take makes the girl’s expanding requests seem capricious—to the girl, who shows the boy another way to look