Up Nort h Arts

Rocking Chair Repeat

Any parent whose bedtime sanity has been saved by Dr. Seuss can attest: Few books manage to be fun reads for tots and their parents—especially 20 rounds into the average toddler’s inevitable “Again! Again!” demands. Which is why we’re grateful to add to our bookshelves “M is for Mackinac: A Nature Alphabet” by Michigan author Katy Klimczuk and Mackinac Island artist and Watercolor Café owner Kate Dupre.

From Arch Rock (“An upside-down U with a wonderful view/Curving up high, in the clear blue sky”) to zinnias (“It feels like summer has really begun/When colorful zinnias stand tall in the sun”), this pretty page-turner pedals readers and non-readers on a letter-by-letter tour of hidden nooks and nature around the island, pairing Dupre’s stop-and-stare paintings with bite-sized rhymes for babes and bonus facts and challenges that are fun for bigger kids. An aural and visual treat, worthy of many repeats. Find it at local bookstores and at Watercolor Café. - L.T.W.