Paul Meets Bernadette by Rosy Lamb

In Paul Meets Bernadette Lamb's painting technique is rich and thick and her brushstrokes look like you could touch them. Her palette is cool and calm with bright spots of orange and yellow calling to mind the sweet treats of painter Wayne Thiebaud.
Paul Meets Bernadette begins, "Paul used to go around in circles. He made big circles and little circles. He circled from left to right and from right to left. He circled from top to bottom and from bottom to top."
"And then one day Bernadette dropped in." Bernadette changes Paul's world. She shows Paul that there is a whole world beyond the glass confines of their bowl. What makes Paul Meets Bernadette charming rather than didactic and heavy handed is Bernadette's world view. What we know to be a banana looks like a boat to Bernadette.
And a bouquet of flowers is a "forest with trees of every color." My favorite vision of Bernadette's, which is also my favorite illustration in the book, is the elephant that she points out to Paul. Paul asks if the blue and white be-trunked "elephant" is dangerous to which Bernadette replies, "She is not too dangerous. But you must not disturb her when she is feeding her babies." What this "elephant" truly is and how she feeds her babies is brilliant and has something to do with a table that is set for breakfast for, as the story unfolds, we realize that Paul and Bernadette's bowl is sitting on a table that is being set for breakfast.
In fact, Paul and Bernadette even encounter one of their own while exploring the world outside their bowl. . .
Paul Meets Bernadette ends on a sweet note that brings the story full circle. I guarantee you that this beautiful book is one that children will remember long into adulthood and, if you give it as a gift, one that parents will love as well.