I've been in love with the idea of the picture book, UNBOUND coming into the world since Melissa Sweet first told me about it over a year ago."Judy's" story here follows nicely the documentary, OUTSIDER, which we have shown in Room 407 for the last four or five years.There is so much to celebrate in this book. From it's dust jacket that presents as its own "wrap-around" with Scott's art emulated and replicated with Caldecott awardee Sweet's expert artistic touch. The suggestion of Judith's wrapping and tying become Sweeet's layering and juxtaposing. A ball of yard dangles expectantly from Judith's fingers. Judith is wearing her bauble bracelets and necklace. A fan of fancy hats, Sweet depicts Judy in beret for the cover.The case is another wrap-around, this time of a yarn-wrapped cocoon suggestive of Scott's work that she would create over a course of almost twenty years at Creative Growth Art Center in Oakland, California.The opening end papers are suggestive of Scott's initial scribblings that would mark her first two-to-three years of work prior to a visiting artist setting Judith upon a path of fiber/textile/tactile art.Sweet's art within the book is reminiscent of other works for which she is celebrated such as BALLOONS OVER BROADWAY or YOU NEST HERE WITH ME which become natural companions for UNBOUND for their themes of unexpected creativity and connections we make with others when we are invited to share our story in whatever form that story might take.Sweet wraps colored pencil renderings with little pieces of real to the eye (and suggestive of the touch) in little flocked pieces of yarn and clippings from books that follow the story with wonderful little glimmers of Sweet's attention to the finest detail in a composition.As a text, Joyce Scott presents Judith's story in a narrative arc that moves from the childhood playmate, to the trauma of disconnection, to the reuniting that would happen later in the sisters' lives as Joyce traveled to Ohio to bring her sister out of an institution to live with her and her family.What I really like about the presentation of the text is that the story is sectioned-off into mini "chapters" like "Entwined," "The Colors of Gone," "Unbound," and "A New Language." These separations in the text might invite classroom teachers to explore a little bit of Scott's story weaving in samples of Scott's work that has been celebrated and curated posthumously.Epitext includes a timeline featuring important dates in the history of the American Disabilities Act and Judith's entry into her work. There is a short definition and description of Downs Syndrome as well. A note from both Author and Illustrator reflect upon a woman whose story might have gone untold. Now, it is UNBOUND.UNBOUND is available for purchase now from your favorite independent bookseller