Speck: An Itty-Bitty Epic

by Margaux Meganck

Overview

A tiny speck journeys through the world looking for someplace to belong.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593301982
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	03/19/2024
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	10.25(w) x 10.25(h) x 0.38(d)
Age Range:	3 - 6 Years

About the Author

MARGAUX MEGANCK spends her days dodging raindrops and drawing from her imagination in beautiful Portland, Oregon. From nannying, to early childhood art education, to children's bookshops, Margaux has always worked with and around children's literature. So it came as no surprise when she started illustrating and writing for children. Margaux's author-illustrator debut, People Are Wild, received two starred reviews and was named a Kirkus best book of the year. Her illustration work has also earned multiple accolades from the Junior Library Guild (JLG) and Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). Speck is the second book she both wrote and illustrated.

Editorial Reviews

02/19/2024

Expressive prose and immersive underwater scenes produce a feeling of awe in this contemplative picture book about a tiny oceanic speck’s search for a place that feels like home. Amid the toes of human bathers in a tide pool, “countless tiny specks” float forth, weaving among creatures such as a jellyfish, sea turtle, sea urchin, and puffer fish. Their number declines when the specks drift along (“Tossed by waves,// carried by currents,// each speck searching// for a place to stay, and grow”), and a profound moment occurs in the depths, where a single luminous spark glows amid an absorbing inky-hued spread (“One tiny speck/ can get lost in an ocean so vast./ Where big feels bigger,// and small feels smaller”). Still, the speck persists in its journey until it settles on a majestic creaturely perch, and pages zoom outward in successive aerials that contextualize the speck’s place in the world. Color layering produces an iridescent chalkiness in Meganck’s soothing artwork. Human background characters are portrayed with different skin tones. Ages 3–6. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

★ "Stunning, vivid watercolors show the vastness of the watery world beneath our toes. . . Deeply moving." —Kirkus Reviews, Starred review

★ "A metaphor for all living beings finding their place in the world." —The Bulletin, Starred review

"While the illustrations are sure to capture the attention of children, the deeper message may be best appreciated by older readers." —School Library Journal

"Expressive prose and immersive underwater scenes produce a feeling of awe in this contemplative picture book." —Publishers Weekly

"Cozy and satisfying." —Booklist

From the Publisher

01/12/2024

K-Gr 3—In her second book, Meganck (People are Wild) follows a tiny speck in the ocean as it looks for a place to stay and grow. This speck's quest is compared to a barnacle, a child, and more abstractly, the stars. In contrast to the first book's shorter text and succinct message, this one's meaning is less obvious. Although targeted for young readers, the intentions are abstract; the journey to find a place in the world is hard and "the safest thing to do is hide," but a hidden speck would "miss out on the adventure." Reading this story with older children can lead to philosophical discussions and connections. The illustrations are undoubtedly the highlight of the book, showing a vibrant ocean world with colorful sea creatures painted in bright watercolors. VERDICT While the illustrations are sure to capture the attention of children, the deeper message may be best appreciated by older readers. A supplemental purchase.—Heidi Dechief

School Library Journal

★ 2024-01-05
The overwhelming and exquisite journey of tiny ocean dwellers.

Meganck tells the story of tiny specks that begin life in a tide pool, make their way through open waters and currents of all kinds, and elude potential predators until they courageously find what they’ve been seeking. These powerful specks grow into barnacles that make their home on a blue whale. While readers are following these tiny life-forms, Meganck skillfully draws parallels between the human experience and the specks’ fraught yet important adventure: “Where big feels bigger, and small feels smaller. The safest thing to do is hide. But a hidden speck would miss out on the adventure, the wonder, and the satisfaction of finding exactly what they were looking for.” The stunning, vivid watercolors show the vastness of the watery world beneath our toes, like the sky full of stars above our heads. The sea creatures are drawn in vibrant detail, from the suckers on an octopus to a jellyfish’s tentacles. A colorful school of fish swirls and twists its way around the blue whale. The subtle and potent connection between us and these tiny specks makes for a poignant, reflective story that’s every bit as relevant to children as it is to adults. Meganck remarkably finds a way to make our great smallness in the wide world a convincing comfort.

Deeply moving. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews