Occasionally, I am drawn to a children’s book purely because of the illustrations. Now, usually, I’m a huge sucker for simple, clean, pen and ink drawings a la Quentin Blake and tend to gravitate towards books that have that unfussy air about them. But, then I saw Salley Mavor’s Pocketful of Posies and almost fell out of my chair. This collection of nursery rhymes doesn’t necessarily offer anything new in terms of prose, since all of the verses inside are our old favorites. But what is new…remarkable..amazing…is Mavor’s contribution of art. Mavor’s detailed scenes of such classics as “One Two Buckle My Shoe” and “Baa Baa Black Sheep” are absolutely extraordinary. Her hand-sewn scenes of people, animals, houses and gardens are a menagerie of beauty – with each scene taking her almost a month to finish. Educated at the Rhode Island School of Design, Mavor has created something new and magical and whimsical, the likes of which I haven’t seen before. This book is a little piece of art and one that should be read over and over again.