Dot

Although begging comparison to Ruth Krauss's 1967 classic This Thumbprint, graphic designer Patricia Intriago's Dot brings a more current aesthetic to the table. Krauss's thumbprints were folksy, some only partial, a little smudged, and often whimsically humanized with stick arms, clothing and hand-drawn faces. Intriago's dots are hard-edged, modern and without the addition of a single off-center grin they are packed with personality. Paired in opposing relationships the dots can be large or small, positive or negative, even on dogs and not on zebras. One is stuffed too full to maintain its naturally round shape and must be squared off to fit the page. One sits heavily on the floor while others float above it, one peeks out from behind an invisible box. Most appropriately for a book that can be used as a short bedtime read for the very young it actually follows the course of a day, from the bright yellow dot on the sky blue background that opens the book, to the moon and star dots that bring it to a close in the last pages and on the endpapers. Patricia Intriago has done a very clever, totally up-to-date version of a classic theme. Ruth Krauss would be proud.