Set on the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec, 1944 Caldecott Honor Book Pierre Pidgeon follows the story of the eponymous Pierre, a fisherman's son who likes to create model ships, and who longs to know the secret of the model-ship-in-a-bottle that is for sale at Mr. LeClerc's general store. After unexpectedly earning some money from a lady painter who has come to the area to work, Pierre is able to buy the bottled ship, only to drop and break it when he arrives home. Now how will Pierre ever figure out how the ship got into the bottle?

Although the story here is engaging enough, the real star is the beautiful illustrations, which look to be done using some kind of block print (wood? linoleum?) method, with black, gray, green and pale orange ink. The result is artwork with a distinctive folk sensibility that feels quite well suited to the rural fishing village being depicted. Recommended to readers young and old who enjoy vintage picture-books, or who appreciate block-print art. ( )