Little Cloud

Little Cloud. written and illustrated by Eric Carle. 1996. 28p. New York: Philomel Books. (03999230343). 

Author/Illustrator Website: www.eric-carle.com

Medium: collage using hand-painted papers

Awards and Honors: none

Audience: 2-5 years old

Annotation: Little Cloud playfully changes himself into all sorts of things- a clown, a sheep, an airplane- before he joins the other clouds and rains.

Personal Reaction:
Little Cloud is the story of a playful cloud who changes himself into various shapes. Little Cloud emulates all sorts of things- an airplane, a shark, a rabbit, a clown, trees- that he sees from high up in the sky, until at last he joins the other clouds to rain down upon the earth.

Little Cloud is reminiscent of Charles Shaw's It Looked Like Spilt Milk, though Carle imbues his titular character with its own personality- a joyful energy that evokes the spunkiness of a young child. Carle's illustrations  are bold and large, and employ his distinctive paper collage technique. The shapes that Little Cloud changes into fill each page entirely, making this book a good selection for sharing with groups.