Drawn in pencil, in a deliberately child-like style that includes smudges and scribbles, The Line  celebrates the power of children’s imagination.

As shown on the cover, a little girl discovers the end of a line and picks it up.

Before long she is using it as a plaything. Initially as a soft skipping rope that she can wiggle in big loops along the ground…

…then as a solid line that transforms itself first into a slide and later into a hoop that the little girl can balance within.

As her imagination catches fire, the girl’s make-believe game becomes more detailed and complicated. She imagines the line becoming a row of friends she can play with and even share her biscuits with.

But the trouble with a game of pretend is that it can get out of hand. So when the line transforms into a monster who threatens to eat the little girl, what’s to be done?

Luckily there is someone nearby who has a rescue plan.

Paula Bossio is a graphic designer and award-winning illustrator who was born in Colombia and now lives in Australia. She has worked with several publishing houses and The Line was originally published in Spanish under the title El lópiz.