Little Parisa—Farsi for "like an angel"—goes to bed one night only to be shaken from sleep by an earthquake that rocks her home of Bam, Iran. Frightened and alone—the earthquake has left her town deserted—Parisa knocks on the doors of various animals, only to be rebuffed again and again. Boar accuses her of being a hunter; Owlblames her for taking his food and leaving him hungry. Lion just gives aferocious roar. Left with nothing but her resolve, Parisaturns to the most natural of human instincts: She walked as a human child under the sun . She dances. She laughs. She waters neglected flowers. She shares. And one by one,hergenerous spiritinspires the animals around her to put aside their differences and revel in thesimpledelightsthat unite them.

Donna Jo Napoli's accomplished storytelling is beautifully complemented by Gabi Swiatkowska's dramatic oil paintings to celebrate the courage and fortitude of the human spirit.