A New England Scrapbook: A Journey Through Poetry, Prose, and Pictures
by Loretta Krupinski

Publisher:  HarperCollins Publishers
ISBN:  0060229500

Loretta Krupinski's A New England Scrapbook is at the same time a children's book and a family book. It will have particular appeal to families who call New England home or to those that hail from the Northeast originally but find that changing jobs or other circumstances have taken them far from "home."

Through vibrant, yet subdued gouache and colored pencil illustrations, Krupinski captures the essence of New England. Her images of autumn foliage, seaside summer nights with inky blue skies, New England lighthouses, and particularly her watery views create for the reader a sense of the mood and the pace of life that is uniquely New England. Though illustrations dominate, the accompanying text and poems by a variety of writers also help to answer the question posed at the book's outset--"What is New England?" As that question is answered in 13 different ways, from "New England is Old Stone Walls" and "New England is Maple Syrup" to "New England is Four Seasons," readers young and old alike will be transported to the six-state region known as New England and gain an appreciation for the natural and historic bounty it offers.

While not an easy reader or a picture book for very young children, this non-fiction children's work is definitely one for reading to little ones on a swinging bench in summer or by the light of a fire on a cozy New England evening.

Author and illustrator Krupinski holds a B.F.A. degree from Syracuse University and is an avid sailor. A Brooklyn, New York, native, she now resides in Connecticut and calls New England home. She has illustrated many other children's books, including Carol Greene's award-winning The Old Ladies Who Liked Cats.

Kimberly Knox, your Guide for New England for Visitors