In the Clouds

In the Clouds is a dreamy work written and illustrated by Elly MacKay. The scene is set with a small girl looking out her window, talking to a bird – she is bored and looking for entertainment, but the weather is bad. “Is the sun shining above the clouds?” she asks her feathered friend. “Will you take me there?” (p. 3). Readers then follow the bird as it soars up to the clouds – with the girl, now tiny, on its back to view all that she can from above. As she looks at the world below, she is full of questions: “Do you think the clouds have memories? Can they remember the dinosaurs?” (p. 16). Her questions are vast, from specific to vague, and have the audience thinking about the world in brand new ways. Eventually, the bird and girl return home, and her dismal views on the bad weather are altered – “Aren’t clouds WONDEROUS?” she muses (p. 36).

The illustrations are colorful, engaging, and do well to demonstrate both the beauty of earth from above and the wonder of clouds close-up. Readers are taken on a journey with the girl and bird as they soar; thus, they are welcomed into this birds-eye view just as the girl is.

Elly MacKay’s In the Clouds is an excellent addition to any library. Young and old readers alike will appreciate the vastness of the questions the girl asks and enjoy learning about different types of cloud formations. This tale is as educational as it is whimsical.