What can a kid do when he’s moved over and over again, and the place he’s moved to now is the very worst of all? Matt is so angry he could throw a stick, but instead, he uses it to draw a squiggly river in the mud of a building site and begins transforming the debris into an imaginary world, in which rocks become a mountain range and a piece of tin turns into a barn. But Matt’s not alone. Other eyes are cautiously watching him and, occasionally, offering a helping hand, or a popsicle stick or two. At first Matt isn’t sure he wants the help, but when Mattland is almost swamped by a sudden rainstorm, the outsiders come to the rescue. Working together, everyone saves Mattland, offering its creator even more imaginative possibilities for the new world he’s discovered.

Mattland is one of those perfect picture books where Hazel Hutchins and Gail Herbert’s text and Dusan Petricic’s illustrations brilliantly play off each other, like a jazz riff, in a wonderful exchange of word and image. An uncomplicated storyline – how a child builds a small world out of ordinary, everyday things – is infused with poetic touches, such as the richly evocative place names that Matt creates: Burr-Berry Farm, Split-Shingle Bridge, and Dog Tooth Mountains.

Watching Matt’s tiny world change, grow, and develop through Petricic’s illustrations is the real joy here. The muddy blandness of the opening illustrations slowly fills with colour and details – such as Matt using pine needles to build a railway line – until we see the watery reflection of Matt and his new friends in the book’s final image. Perhaps best of all, Mattland leaves readers wanting to know what happens next.