Colin Thompson is a master of the picture book form. His detailed drawings, packed with visual delights, puns and jokes, reward those who are prepared to look closely at his paintings. And Falling Angels is no exception. Since she was a baby, Sally has been able to fly to `wild and wonderful places, distant lands she had only seen in books'. Her flights to many special places around the world are depicted in Thompson's wonderful, surreal pictures - with spare paintings of places such as the pyramids of Egypt, the mountain snows or the shores of Patagonia interspersed with pages of typical Thompson `boxes of delights'. Yet again, Thompson explores the great existential themes in a simple yet visually challenging way, as Sally collects special treasures from her journeys. She shares her experiences with other members of her family whose boundless imaginations enable them to travel to the ends of the earth. As her grandmother says: `Some people see the world with their eyes. Some people see the world with their hearts'. And watch out for the Cafe Max - once again appearing on every page (for explanations you need to visit Colin Thompson's web site at www.colinthompson.com - but that's another story).

Catherine McLellan is a former children's bookseller, now working at Lateral Learning organising speakers for schools. 

C. 2001 Thorpe-Bowker and contributors

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