*Khalil and Mr. Hagerty and the Backyard Treasures by Tricia Springstubb (2020) is a truly lovely story. And I enjoyed Elaheh Taherian’s collage illustrations. Everything about this book is heartwarming. There’s no conflict. There’s no drama. Candlewick Press doesn’t drag readers uphill through anxiety towards some kind of conflict resolution. This is a gentle tale of inter-generational friendship. A young child named Kahlil lives upstairs from an elderly gentleman named Mr. Haggerty. They share a backyard and get to know each other. Springstubb subtly weaves a theme of words across her pages: Kahlil needs help reading some words in his books, and Mr. Haggerty needs help remembering the names of things. The story ends with “One of the best words of all.”
