Head Full of Clouds

From the award-winning author of Town Is by the Sea comes a beautiful and meditative story about seeing the world around you in a new way.

A girl wakes up from a dream she can't shake.

Her head is full of clouds.

When she goes outside, the things she normally doesn't pay much attention to suddenly reveal their beauty: the plants growing in the cracks of the sidewalk, the shimmering puddles, the notes from a violin drifting in the air. She revels in this strangeness of the familiar, and eventually her dream comes back to her in all its surrealness.

When she meets a friend, she feels solid and connected again, part of the world — but she doesn't lose the gifts that this strange morning gave her: the quietly profound wonder of the everyday and the joy of being present.

Joanne Schwartz's lyrical text and Afsaneh Sanei's gorgeous art are a dreamy pairing that will reward readers with something special in every read.

JOANNE SCHWARTZ grew up in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Her first picture book, Our Corner Grocery Store, was a Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award finalist. Her picture book Town Is by the Sea won the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award and was a Governor General’s Literary Award nominee and a Boston Globe–Horn Book honoree. Joanne has been a children’s librarian for more than thirty years, and she has spent many dreamy days looking at beautiful picture books. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.

AFSANEH SANEI is an author and illustrator of children’s books who was born in Isfahan, a colorful city in Iran. Afsaneh obtained a Bachelor's of Painting at Tehran University and a Master's of Illustration at the Art University of Tehran. Growing up in a region with ancient and rich history, she has always aspired to apply her country's literary and pictorial heritage in her art. Afsaneh now lives and works in Kent, Ohio.