cover image He's My Jumbo!

He's My Jumbo!

Claude K. DuBois. Viking Children's Books, $9.95 (320pp) ISBN 978-0-670-83029-9

In these endearing wordless picture books, Bobby and his little sister Nicole are round, cuddly bears who haven't quite learned the art of sharing. In the first story, Bobby is determined to play with Nicole's stuffed elephant, Jumbo, but she insists on keeping it to herself. Bobby steals the animal from his sleeping sister's bed, but the next morning he discovers the elephant is missing and finds Nicole feeding Jumbo breakfast. Nicole then decides she can share, and the two bears snuggle up to the elephant--together. In Looking for Ginny , the more inventive of the two stories, Bobby and Nicole have a guinea pig-like pet that escapes when its cage topples. Brother and sister search the house for the missing creature, which is seen on each page peeking out from various hiding places. The pictures of the bear siblings going up and down the stairs, oblivious to the fact that their clever pet is following them, are sure to make little ones smile. Dubois's soft, pastel drawings tell these two tales with charm and wit. Ages 1-6. (Mar.)