• Age: 4 to 8
• Grade: p to 3
• Reading age: 4 to 8

Two boys spend the day doing nothing but imagining in this poetic ode to the freedom of summer.

On a hot summer day that feels like it's lasted forever, two brothers stretch out in the back seat of an abandoned car in a strip-mall parking lot. They pass the time thinking up another place, scattering ketchup-soaked fries around their whale of a car to attract the garbage gulls. They have to leave just the right amount, the older boy tells the younger, so enough gulls will come. Enough to lift them up in their tangle of wings and take them to the sea.

Lyrical text by Dorson Plourde and expressive art by Isabella Fassler - two debut creators - combine to perfectly capture the mood of a languid summer day. Without access to a beach or summer camp, with only fries and colas and a stretch of asphalt, the brothers dream themselves to the sea the only way they can - through their shared imagination. This evocative picture book is sure to transport children through the clouds to the imagined delights beyond.

Dorson Plourde is an author and elementary art educator. At home, his studio is full of picture books, good tunes and paints ... but mostly spots for his cat, Theo, to snooze on. Originally from Portland, Maine, he is now based in Boston, Massachusetts. You can find him online at www.dorsonplourdebooks.com.

Dorson Plourde's profile page

Isabella Fassler is an interdisciplinary artist based in Toronto, Ontario, who is passionate about exploring the different ways art can transform our perceptions. Drawn to all things bright and bold, she loves to play with color and texture in her art.

Isabella Fassler's profile page

Garbage Gulls is a lyrical dream of a summer day, filtered through a particular logic that will enthrall kid readers. I've read and reread this book, and can't shake the wonder of it. The echoes of Garbage Gulls will stay with you long after the last page.

Julie Falatko, author of Snappsy the Alligator (Did Not Ask to Be in This Book)