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Picture Books

Petit, the Monster Isol, trans. from the Spanish by Elisa Amado. Groundwood (PGW, dist.), $16.95 (40p) ISBN 978-0-88899-947-4

Featherlight humor and keen insight distinguish this story about the warring impulses to be good or naughty. Isol’s (It’s Useful to Have a Duck) rust and sky blue illustrations resemble slightly off-register screen printing; the outlines of the figures are doubled, a deft visual representation of Petit’s dual nature. “Petit is a good boy who plays with his dog,” says the first page; “Petit is a bad boy who pulls girls’ hair,” says the next (he wears a small yet diabolical smile as he tugs a girl’s ponytail, and he’s colored in with the silhouette of a devil). When Petit’s mother asks, “How can such a good boy sometimes do such bad things?” many ideas occur to him: that others seem to like him even when he is bad, and that the more he tries to be good, “the worse things turn out.” “Am I some kind of not-yet-discovered type of monster?” he wonders. With his realization that his mother can also be good and bad, Petit maintains his self-respect and grows in self-knowledge. A gem. Ages 2—5. (Mar.)

The Thingamabob Il Sung Na. Knopf, $15.99 (24p) ISBN 978-0-375-86106-2

Splayed flat on the ground, ears outstretched, a young elephant ponders a long, pointed object with a curved handle. “He had no idea what the thingamabob was or where it came from.” Young readers will know, though—it’s an umbrella! Four tiny vignettes show the elephant playing with the red umbrella the way a kitten might play with a paper bag, lifting it high with his trunk, then burying his whole head in it. He tries out the umbrella as a parachute, then as a boat. “Maybe I can sail in it?” he ventures; he sinks instantly: “Maybe not.” Na’s (A Book of Sleep) elephant, despite his size, is delicate as a china plate. He has fetching eyelashes, rosy cheeks, and fine curlicue decorations that add to his charm. His umbrella experiments take place against a placid but complex backdrop of paper textures and paint surfaces; his friends (unhelpful in the ID department) are also delicately decorated with slender lines. A sudden rainfall solves the problem in this celebration of curiosity and perception. Ages 2—5. (Mar.)

Forever Friends Carin Berger. Greenwillow, $16.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-06-191528-4

This quiet book about friendship retains many of the design elements and collage devices from Berger’s The Little Yellow Leaf—red polka-dot mushrooms pop up in the forest setting, dotted lines indicate the paths taken by the main characters, lined paper serves as an occasional backdrop, and words are tucked into the painted bark of trees and other vegetation. This time a blue bird and brown bunny become friends in spring, and because the bird must fly south for the winter, they are separated for months. When, “at last, the sun chase[s] away the snow,” they play together once more as “forever friends.” While Berger’s illustrations convey moments of both joy and isolation, this undemanding tale about friends being separated and rejoined isn’t quite as moving or poignant as Berger’s previous story. Nonetheless, fans of Berger’s spare aesthetic will enjoy scenes of pink tree blossoms arching over a log and the animals cavorting under fuzzy globes of firefly light in summer, as well as the basic message that real friendship overcomes distance. Ages 2—6. (Mar.)

The Falling Raindrop Neil Johnson and Joel Chin. Tricycle, $14.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-58246-312-4

This debut, the collaborative project of two advertising executives, has a crisp, carefully produced feel, and it delivers its message with razor-sharp effectiveness. The illustrations are small vignettes that appear in the center of cream-colored pages, forcing readers to pay attention. At the center of the story is a pale blue cartoon raindrop. He spends most of the story plummeting toward Earth, as streaks and droplets peel off him, demonstrating his speed. Initially, he delights in his flight (“I’m alive!” he cries, with an open smile. “He felt like he was flying as he whizzed down through the clouds”), but his joy soon turns to fear that he’s hurtling to his doom. And in the process: “He missed out on the fun of skimming through the clouds. He missed out on the joy of riding on the wind.” It’s a metaphor for the way so many adults live: fearful and worried about death. Do children worry this way, too? Some do, and they’ll take comfort in the unexpected fate of the raindrop. Ages 3—6. (Mar.)

Mathilda and the Orange Balloon Randall de Sève, illus. by Jen Corace. HarperCollins/Balzer & Bray, $15.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-06-172685-9

Corace’s (Little Oink) illustrations are the principal charm of this quirky story about a thought experiment done by a flock of sheep. “Orange balloon...” says Mathilda, after one floats over her pasture. “That’s me!” Full of joy at the magnificent sight she’s just seen, she works to convince her fellow sheep that there’s no reason she can’t, in fact, be an orange balloon. The pleasures of Corace’s work include the authoritative black outlines of the sheep, their creamy fleece and smashed-flat faces, and Mathilda’s morphing into a tiger, falling leaf, and fiery sun, all of which embody “orange” to the sheep. The visual and emotional apex comes as Mathilda envisions herself as a soaring balloon, orange, puffy, and most of all happy. Her realization frees the rest of the flock: “Then the sheep realized—anything was possible.” One envisions himself a sailor on a boat, another a yellow school bus, and a third a honey bee. De Sève’s (The Duchess of Whimsy) reasoning may elude very young readers, but the sounds and feelings of the words will not, and Corace’s vignettes provide satisfying clarity. Ages 3—6. (Mar.)

Cats’ Night Out Caroline Stutson, illus. by J. Klassen. S&S/Wiseman, $15.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-4169-4005-0

What better way to illustrate the concept of counting by twos than with pairs of dancing cats? Newcomer Klassen’s subdued twilit cityscapes form an unexpectedly noir backdrop for the sprightly kitties, whose costumes depend on the dance (“Four cats boogie, rock to blues,/ in poodle skirts and saddle shoes”). Rows of darkened windows and brick walls are punctuated by fire escapes and hanging laundry, lit with a misty blend of starlight and streetlamps. The dependable rhythms of Stutson’s (Mama Loves You) verse are reflected in the faces of the dancers. With closed eyes and intent expressions, these hepcats take their work seriously, as they samba on rooftops, line dance on traffic lights, and polka in a city fountain. It continues until they are interrupted by shouts from cranky city dwellers: “ 'Cut it out!’ the neighbors shriek./ 'No more dancing on Easy Street!’ ” The cats’ eyes snap open in surprise and they slink off as the sun rises. This should confirm kids’ beliefs that all the best stuff happens after bedtime. Ages 4—8. (Mar.)

Over the Rainbow E.Y. Harburg, illus. by Eric Puybaret. Imagine!/Yarrow, $17.95 (28p) ISBN 978-1-936140-00-8

Puybaret (Puff, the Magic Dragon) offers a beguilingly surreal interpretation of Harburg’s lyrics to the titular song, written for The Wizard of Oz. Leading into the song’s familiar chorus is a lesser-known verse describing the world as a “hopeless jumble,” portrayed in Puybaret’s acrylic paintings as a rain-soaked, windblown cityscape. Giving a nod to the film, the setting shifts to a farm, where a rainbow appears at a girl’s window to lead her to “a place behind the sun, just a step beyond the rain.” There, cloud castles smile and wave, and planets and stars look kindly on the girl, as she gracefully floats alongside exotic, long-necked bluebirds. When she returns to her barnlike home, the creatures and celestial objects from her magical journey remain, turning the wistful tenor of the closing lines (“Why, oh, why can’t I?”) into a statement of defiance that speaks to the power of imagination. Creatively meshing folk-art flourishes with an ethereal sensibility, the illustrations well match the fantasy of the lyrics. Grammy-winner Judy Collins sings the title track and two other songs on an accompanying CD. Ages 4—8. (Mar.)

Paris in the Spring with Picasso Joan Yolleck, illus. by Marjorie Priceman. Random/S&W, $17.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-375-83756-2

Debut author Yolleck introduces Gertrude Stein and her coterie—Picasso, Max Jacobs, Apollinaire (plus assorted girlfriends)—spicing her account with gossip and asides (“Pardonnez-moi, excuse me. I must interrupt for just a moment to tell you that these sketches are of Apollinaire and their friends Pablo and Fernande”). Apollinaire watches an acrobat and gets an idea for a poem, Max Jacob writes comic verse, Gertrude chats with Alice B. Toklas; the evening soirée that the narrative takes as its focus isn’t as important as the ordinary ways these extraordinary artists spend their days. The exuberant spreads by Priceman (How to Make a Cherry Pie and See the U.S.A.), scratched and scrabbled in ink and splashed with scarlets, yellows, and blues, showcase the streets of Paris with thoroughly Gallic charm. In his studio, Picasso squeezes black oil paint onto his palette while, across town, Stein passes the hours before her party curled up in an armchair, reading. Intelligently written and illustrated with élan, it’s the next step up for Francophile children who have graduated from Babar and Madeline. Ages 4—8. (Mar.)

Miss Brooks Loves Books! (And I Don’t) Barbara Bottner, illus. by Michael Emberley. Knopf, $17.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-375-84682-3

Book Week is looming, and the young narrator of this biblio comedy couldn’t be less enthusiastic—every book in the library strikes her as mild-mannered mush. Her opinion of the titular librarian is even less charitable: a hippie dippie—looking literary cheerleader, Miss Brooks has no compunction about donning ridiculous costumes (including a hilarious Very Hungry Caterpillar) to whip kids into a reading frenzy. “I’ll never love a book the way you do,” the girl tells Miss Brooks. But that’s before she discovers a modern classic that tickles her gothic tastes—Shrek—confirming Miss Brooks’s belief that everyone “can find something funny and fantastic and appalling in the library.” The heroine makes an indelible presence: Bottner (Raymond and Nelda) endows her with a voice that drips weltschmerz and recalls a younger version of MTV’s deadpan Daria Morgendorffer. Emberley’s (Mail Harry to the Moon!) slice-of-life cartooning is funny, empathetic, and of-the-moment. This story should persuade hard-to-please children that the perfect book for them is out there. Ages 5—8. (Mar.)

All Star!: Honus Wagner and the Most Famous Baseball Card Ever Jane Yolen, illus. by Jim Burke. Philomel, $17.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-399-24661-6

How great does a baseball player have to be for his baseball card to sell for nearly $3 million? With emphatic prose and oil paintings that echo the perspectives and palettes of vintage photography and commercial art, Yolen and Burke amply prove that Wagner (1874—1955) did plenty to make that collectible worth every dollar. The treatment of Wagner’s hardscrabble early years—he left school in the sixth grade to work in Pennsylvania’s coal mines and used sandlot games to mold himself into a strong, fast, savvy player—is particularly masterful. What could have been a Bob Costas—like sports soap opera becomes an eloquently understated tribute to that archetypal American combination of stoicism, decency, drive, and sheer talent. Joining the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1900, Wagner went on to set record after record; as Yolen notes, “he did it all without drugs or fancy training programs or million-dollar incentives—just for the pure love of the game.” (True to form, Wagner had his baseball card pulled from the market when he learned it was being sold in cigarette packs.) That’s reason enough to take kids out to this ballgame. Ages 6—8. (Mar.)

Muddy as a Duck Puddle and Other American Similes Laurie Lawlor, illus. by Ethan Long. Holiday House, $16.95 (32p) ISBN 978-0-8234-2229-6

Lawlor’s (The School at Crooked Creek) collection of regional American expressions will remind readers that not everyone speaks like a newscaster and that American English once had real character. There are enough similes here to smother a cow: “Ugly as a mud fence dabbed over with toad frogs,” “Lazy as a hound that leans against the fence to bark” and “Gritty as fish eggs rolled in sand,” to name a few. A definition of simile is found on the copyright page, and each one is defined (“Gritty as fish eggs” is a “cowboy’s definition of a brave person”). Arranged in alphabetical order, the similes, most of which hail from Appalachia, are illustrated by Long (Tickle the Duck!) with big, flat-perspective spreads peopled by characters with googly eyes and goofy expressions. Most are unfortunately literal-minded, illustrating the expression itself and not a situation in which the simile might have been used. But they help make the more opaque expressions clear and should draw giggles. A good start for an English lesson about adding color to one’s writing. Ages 6—10. (Mar.)

Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down Andrea Davis Pinkney, illus. by Brian Pinkney. Little, Brown, $16.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-316-07016-4

The latest collaboration by this husband-and-wife team (the Caldecott Honor book Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestra) recreates the renowned 1960 sit-in staged by four black college students at a Greensboro “whites only” lunch counter. The narrative incorporates a steady stream of food metaphors, noting that the students ignored the law’s “recipe” for segregation (“a bitter mix”) replacing it the “new brew” of integration. Unfortunately, this device is more trite than moving (“Their order was simple: A double dose of peace, with nonviolence on the side”) and, at times, can come across as glib. Brief quotations by Martin Luther King Jr. appear in large, blocky text, emphasizing his influence on the actions of this quartet as well as those who followed their lead, staging sit-ins across the South. Brian Pinkney’s sinuous watercolor and ink art conveys the solidity and determination of the activists as well as a building energy that grew out of their act of civil disobedience. A succinct civil rights time line and additional facts and suggested reading about the topic round out this account. Ages 6—up. (Feb.)

Fiction

A Nest for Celeste: A Story About Art, Inspiration, and the Meaning of Home Henry Cole. HarperCollins/Tegen, $16.99 (352p) ISBN 978-0-06-170410-9

Fantasy and natural history blend comfortably in illustrator Cole’s (Jack’s Garden) first novel, as a Louisiana plantation—where wildlife artist John James Audubon and his young assistant, Joseph, stayed for several months in 1821—provides the setting for this story of a gentle, brave mouse’s search for a home. Persecuted by bad-tempered rats and on the run from a predatory house cat, Celeste is rescued by Joseph, who nurtures and confides in her, carrying her in his pocket while he and Audubon seek birds and plants to illustrate. The volume and cinematic quality of Cole’s naturalistic pencil drawings recall The Invention of Hugo Cabret; they pull readers into Celeste’s world, capturing her vulnerability, courage, and resourcefulness (an expert basket weaver, she constructs her own means of rescue when lost). Away from humans, Celeste converses freely with other animals; in Joseph’s presence, however, Celeste bears witness to the cruel (by contemporary standards) methods Audubon used to create his drawings, one of a few moments that might trouble more sensitive readers. Evocative illustrations, compelling characters, and thoughtful reflections on the nature of home combine to powerful effect. Ages 8—12. (Mar.)

Beryl: A Pig’s Tale Jane Simmons. Little, Brown, $14.99 (224p) ISBN 978-0-316-04410-3

In Dickensian fashion, Simmons (the Daisy the Duck series) introduces readers to orphaned piglet Beryl and the cruel world of factory farming in her first novel. Beryl’s sty is “small and made of concrete and it sat in the corner of a huge, hangar-size barn.” When another pig tricks the farmer into taking Beryl to be slaughtered, Beryl—who bears a passing resemblance to Ian Falconer’s Olivia in the smudgy b&w spot art—escapes and befriends Amber, a kindly wild pig. Beryl steels herself in facing such trials as saving a drowning piglet, and through a series of somewhat transparent events, her heritage as a half-wild pig is revealed. This discovery links the overarching themes of family, prejudice, and the inhumanity of factory farms: “Black and gray smoke belched from the factory chimneys, sweeping across the whole valley like a creeping cancer.” Such heavy-handed indictments of humans who are “destroying everything,” and odd, New Agey “Mystic Boars” who declare Beryl the “Chosen One” weigh heavily on this simple tale of a pig who longs for home and family. Ages 8—12. (Mar.)

Falling In Frances O’Roark Dowell. S&S/Atheneum, $16.99 (272p) ISBN 978-1-4169-5032-5

Dowell’s (Shooting the Moon) first fantasy novel features sixth-grader Isabelle Bean, an unconventional protagonist who prefers thrift stores to malls and demonstrates an “impressive talent for irritating teachers.” Isabelle’s adventure begins in the school nurse’s office, where she discovers an entrance into another world and meets a group of children fleeing from a witch. As fate would have it, the “witch”—mistreated and misunderstood by villagers—turns out to be Isabelle’s biological grandmother. Much of the novel focuses on the healing powers and sad history of Isabelle’s grandmother and Isabelle’s effort to set the record straight. Readers may be amused by the narrator’s digressions, backtracking, direct addresses (“You want me to tell you where Isabelle is, don’t you? You want me to spell it out for you, draw you a map, paint a picture. Well, I’m not going to do it”), and impish tone, though it can feel a bit forced. Perhaps too many facts are left to the imagination: how Isabelle has changed and what she has gained from her experiences remain questionable at the end of the book. Ages 8—12. (Mar.)

Anastasia’s Secret Susanne Dunlap. Bloomsbury, $16.99 (352p) ISBN 978-1-59990-420-7

Anastasia Romanov lives a charmed childhood—her father is the czar of Russia and she is one of its grand duchesses. She grows up among the aristocracy, and elaborate palaces are her and her many siblings’ playgrounds. However, those familiar with Russian history also know that her family is quickly heading toward its demise. Dunlap (The Musician’s Daughter) steps boldly into this famous historical narrative, envisioning another possible future for Anastasia—one that includes a handsome suitor-soldier named Sasha, who falls in love with Anastasia and hopes to save her from the doom awaiting her family. The author’s prose is heavy on telling, largely because she packs it with an impressive amount of Romanov and Russian history. The romantic dimension of this novel sparkles when it appears and Dunlap’s treatment of Anastasia’s family is full and tender, but as the years pass and revolution appears on the horizon, the story grows expectedly bleak. Dunlap persuasively inhabits the thoughts and emotions of her embattled protagonist; her magnetic reimagining of Anastasia’s story has the potential to reach a broad audience. Ages 12—up. (Mar.)

Epitaph Road David Patneaude. Egmont USA, $16.99 (272p) ISBN 978-1-60684-055-9

Dubious gender politics and inadequate world-building hinder this post-apocalyptic adventure by Patneaude (Thin Wood Walls). In the year 2067, a virus known as Elisha’s Bear kills almost every man on Earth. Patneaude’s story picks up 30 years later in a heavily restricted world ruled by women, free of war, crime, and poverty; men, a scarce minority, are all but powerless. Enter 14-year-old Kellen Dent, whose father lives as a fisherman in an isolated commune, and whose mother is constantly busy with the ruling Population Apportionment Council. When Kellen discovers that his father may be at risk from an intentional resurgence of Elisha’s Bear, he embarks on a quest, accompanied by his friends Sunday and Tia, to warn him. The trio’s discoveries, however, completely upset their understanding of the world. Though the characters show glimmers of depth and the premise has potential, the story never clicks into place. There’s far too much hand waving and glossing over of science, history, and culture, with obvious morals and messages painted in broad strokes. Patneaude shies away from really exploring the complex issues he raises. Ages 12—up. (Mar.)

Exit Strategy Ryan Potter. Flux, $9.95 paper (312p) ISBN 978-0-7387-1573-5

Potter’s debut is set in Blaine, Mich., a fictional Detroit suburb dependent on its automotive assembly plant for jobs. Zach is desperate to leave after his senior year, hoping to avoid the fate of his parents, who have lived and worked in Blaine their whole lives. In the meantime, he becomes determined to expose his football coach, who he suspects is supplying steroids to athletes, and his best friend Tank’s father, an undercover cop who he thinks is mistreating his children and having an affair. Zach’s righteous motivations are not quite clear; he tells readers, “I’m about the farthest thing from a hero as one can get,” and he has no problem stealing and reselling beer from his party store job (“by the end of my second week, I’m doing physical labor for no more than two hours per shift... which eventually leads to a lot of smoking, drinking, and stealing”). The working-class setting feels well realized, but secondary characters and subplots—Zach’s parents’ strained marriage, his attraction to Tank’s newly hot twin sister—are less so. Ages 12—up. (Mar.)

Forget-Her-Nots Amy Brecount White. Greenwillow, $16.99 (384p) ISBN 978-0-06-167298-9

The mysteries of Victorian flower lore pervade White’s debut, in which 14-year-old Laurel strives to shape a new life after her mother’s death from cancer. Hoping a change of locale will help her grief, Laurel enrolls in the boarding school her mother attended. Once at Avondale, she discovers a bewildering ability to stir up emotions by creating floral bouquets, and she’s soon in demand by students with a variety of motives. Following the definitions in a serendipitously found book, The Language of Flowers, and reciting her mantra (“Bright cut flowers, leaves of green, bring about what I have seen”), Laurel tries to understand and properly use her gift, while coping with typical teenage dilemmas and uncovering her family’s flower-related history. White aptly renders big and small dramas against the backdrop of Laurel’s struggles with her “flower power,” and deftly walks the line between reality and fantasy without crossing it. A delicate sense of magical possibility and reverence for the natural world help elevate White’s story from a typical prep-school drama into something more memorable. Ages 12—up. (Mar.)

Beautiful Dead: Jonas Eden Maguire. Sourcebooks Fire, $8.99 paper (272p) ISBN 978-1-4022-3944-1

From the quick-cut narrative to the vividly visual descriptions, debut author Maguire’s first book in the Beautiful Dead series reads like a novelization of a TV show. It’s an accessible if shallow style, and the love-after-death theme has popular appeal. High school senior Phoenix, knifed to death in a street fight, returns as a zombie, and his grieving girlfriend, Darina, is a hidden witness to his resurrection. Defying the eerie zombie master, Hunter, Darina claims Phoenix, risking mind erasure or worse. The zombies have a goal—to solve the mysteries surrounding their deaths—and Darina offers to “play detective” for them. Hunter accepts, on the condition that Darina focus on Jonas, one of four newly undead “revenants” from Darina’s high school. From there, the story becomes a series of emotional confrontations, sweet interludes between the lovers, and adrenaline-surging moments of physical threat. Despite all the drama, the characters’ emotions seldom feel genuine (romantic sentiments are especially corny), but fans of the Twilight franchise and shows like Supernatural should be an eager audience. Ages 12—up. (Mar.)

Ostrich Boys Keith Gray. Random, $17.99 (304p) ISBN 978-0-375-85843-7

British author Gray’s U.S. debut is both an unusual twist on the road trip trope and a touching story of teenage friendship. After their friend Ross is struck by a car and killed while riding his bike, Blake, Kenny, and Sim decide to honor his memory. After a few acts of petty revenge on people who had made Ross’s last few days tough, they decide to steal his ashes and take them to the Scottish namesake town of Ross. Along the way, they get thrown off a train, lose their money, meet and flirt with three attractive Scottish girls, and discover some often uncomfortable truths about each other and their relationship with Ross. Gray’s story could have ended up a collection of coming-of-age clichés, but instead is likely to defy readers’ expectations as the boys make their way north. Although there are action sequences featuring escapes from the police, stolen mopeds, and even a bungee jump, it’s the relationship among the boys—expressed as much through believable teen banter as through obvious and emotional revelatory moments—that drives the story. Ages 12—up. (Mar.)

Riding Invisible Sandra Alonzo, illus. by Nathan Huang. Disney-Hyperion, $15.99 (240p) ISBN 978-1-4231-1898-5

Written in diary form with poems and comic book—style drawings scattered throughout, Alonzo’s (Gallop-O-Gallop) first novel presents 15-year-old Yancy Aparicio’s account of life on the road—with his cherished horse, Shy. After Yancy’s mentally troubled older brother attacks Shy, Yancy runs away, heading out into the California desert and filling his journal with his observations, interactions, and reflections. His nearly three-week journey might seem implausible to some, but there’s a timeless, noble quality to Yancy’s wanderings. His narrative has the scattered, frustrated tone of a teenager desperate to vent and who is slowly realizing what he’s gotten himself into (“A few months ago, Mom and I watched an old black-and-white Western movie. It was so lame with this cowboy on the run from the law, but shit, that guy was prepared! I mean he wasn’t eating pretzels for dinner”). While his voice can feel uneven, vacillating between polished thoughts and rougher play-by-plays of events as they happen, Yancy’s friendship with a Mexican ranch worker and his family’s genuine desperation give the book emotional resonance. Ages 12—up. (Mar.)

Saving Maddie Varian Johnson. Delacorte, $16.99 (240p) ISBN 978-0-385-73804-0

Johnson’s (My Life as a Rhombus) third book is a slightly overwritten but sincere story about an obedient preacher’s son who is “expected to never break the rules.” But 17-year-old Joshua does just that when a close friend returns after a five-year absence, looking more grown up—and sexier—than he’d thought possible. Unfortunately, Maddie (who now goes by Madeline) is “not really into organized religion” and its restrictions, though she says she’s still a Christian. This Madeline drinks, swears, wears revealing clothing, and is open to having sex—possibly with him. Josh is repeatedly confronted with temptations he may be too human to ignore (“I had no doubt that Madeline Smith needed saving. I just wasn’t quite sure if I was interested in being her savior”). While the dialogue is occasionally textbook (“There’s more to me than being just a good guy”), the intention behind the words rings true. Both the portrayal of awkward teen moments (buying condoms, a first kiss) and the questions Josh weighs about morality, God, and desire feel wholly genuine. Ages 14—up. (Mar.)

Poems to Grow On

These picture books say it in verse.

Everybody Was a Baby Once and Other Poems Allan Ahlberg, illus. by Bruce Ingman. Candlewick, $15.99 (64p) ISBN 978-0-7636-4682-0

From the creators of The Pencil, these 19 poems cover whimsical territory and feature kids, angels, sausages, and monsters, rendered in kinetic, childlike sketches. A few poems strike nostalgic, melancholy notes (“We are the old dolls/ Losing our hair/ Hats and dresses/ The worse for wear”), but most are upbeat, with gently jazzy rhythms, like the title poem: “Everybody was a baby once/ Everybody was a baby once/ Everybody went to beddy/ With a little furry teddy.” The Lilliputian cast and memorable verse could make this a dog-eared favorite. Ages 2—up. (Mar.)

Rufus and Friends: School Days Iza Trapani. Charlesbridge, $16.96 (36p) ISBN 978-1-58089-248-3

The kid appeal is easy to see in this follow-up to Rufus and Friends: Rhyme Time. Fourteen jaunty poems focus on Rufus and his classmates at school. The poems are built on traditional rhymes like “The Ants Go Marching,” but with embellishments (“They march in step, in perfect rows,/ The little one stops to pick her nose”). Trapani’s canine students are lovable and expressive: a mop dog’s eyes are obscured by fur, a beefy brown dog drools, and a black poodle bares her pointy canines, acting “horrid.” A quiz lets readers find objects hidden in the pictures. Ages 4—7. (Feb.)

Volcano Wakes Up! Lisa Westberg Peters, illus. by Steve Jenkins. Holt, $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-8050-8287-6

Personified features of a Hawaiian landscape speak in verse during a day in the life of a waking volcano, rendered in Jenkins’s atmospheric trademark cut-paper collages. The poems shift between the volcano, a pair of crickets, ferns, the sun, and a winding mountain road, and Peters lends sly dimensions to each voice: the volcano is a literal firecracker (“I’m the baby.... but when I wake up, watch out!”), and the crickets’ chirps are transmuted into texts (“Hey, bro, I M way back in the cave. I was ZZZZZZ hard, but that nasty smll woke me up”). A humorous, imaginative, and artful concept. Ages 4—up. (Mar.)

The Wonder Book Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illus. by Paul Schmid. Harper, $17.99 (80p) ISBN 978-0-06-142974-3

This waggish collection combines poems, wordplay, and black ink illustrations to Silversteinian effect. Familiar nursery rhymes are comically recast (“This little piggy played the stock market”), puns run rampant, a poem about a “backwards prince” is meant to be read backwards itself, and there are some winning palindromes (“Was it Eliot’s toilet I saw?”). An occasional gag falls flat (“I wonder why people don’t replace them when they take showers?”), but the sheer diversity of silliness ensures that there is something (funny) for everyone. Ages 5—10. (Mar.)

Maybe I’ll Sleep in the Bathtub Tonight and Other Funny Bedtime Poems Debbie Levy, illus. by Stephanie Buscema. Sterling, $14.95 (24p) ISBN 978-1-4027-4944-5

Bedtime is the subject of the 20 poems in this rambunctious picture book; verse and artwork alike have a retro feel with a slightly modern edge. An invitation to sleep “over” is met with dread (“ 'Are you quite sure?’ Fred asked with fear in his voice./ 'Your house is quite tall, you know’ ”), and a kid with morning breath wearing a purple skull-and-crossbones shirt urges readers to brush their teeth before giving any early morning kisses (“You know what your mouth tastes like when you awake”). Despite the occasional awkward phrase, it’s a fun, hip take on traditional bedtime books. Ages 6—9. (Mar.)

Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature’s Survivors Joyce Sidman, illus. by Beckie Prange. Harcourt, $17 (40p) ISBN 978-0-618-71719-4

The team behind the Caldecott Honor—winning Song of the Water Boatman pays tribute to biologically successful species—from mollusks and lichens to dandelions and sharks—in poems that appear in order of each animal’s first appearance on earth (a striking, mazelike time line puts the billions of years into perspective). Sidman’s words are vivid and affectionate—about single-celled diatoms, she writes, “Curl of sea-/ green wave/ alive/ with invisible jewels/ almost/ too beautiful/ to eat,” and Prange’s expressive linocuts capture the character of each animal. Fascinating factual information appears on each page; the graceful integration of science and art results in a celebratory story of survival. Ages 6—9. (Apr.)

Ocean Soup: Tide-Pool Poems Stephen R. Swinburne, illus. by Mary Peterson. Charlesbridge, $16.95 (32p) ISBN 978-1-58089-200-1

Appearing as googly-eyed cartoons, sea creatures discuss life in the tide pools in these lighthearted rhymes. Hairy Doris, a sea slug, is proud of her unusual appearance (“I’m really rather lucky that/ I have no pesky shell./ Behold my lovely body—/ I’m a stunning tide-pool belle!”) and in a poem called “Regenerate,” a starfish is casual about losing an appendage: “A crab comes—SNIP!—there goes my arm./ Rude, yes, but I’m not alarmed.” Brief paragraphs provide factual tidbits, though the focus is definitely on fun. Ages 6—9. (Feb.)

Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse Marilyn Singer, illus. by Josée Masse. Dutton, $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-525-47901-7

Singer uses “reverso” poems, a form of her creation, to show that there are two sides to every fairy tale (the poems can be read backward and forward). On each page, two poems appear, one an inversion of the other with minor changes in punctuation. In “In the Hood,” Little Red Riding Hood’s poem ends: “But a girl/ mustn’t dawdle./ After all, Grandma’s waiting,” while the wolf’s poem begins: “After all, Grandma’s waiting,/ mustn’t dawdle.../ But a girl!” Masse’s clever compositions play with symmetry (in “Longing for Beauty,” Beauty and the Beast appear as one being, split in half, her tresses echoing his fur), bringing this smart concept to its fullest effect. Ages 6—up. (Mar.)

Weekend Mischief Rob Jackson, illus. by Mark Beech. Boyds Mills/Wordsong, $17.95 (32p) ISBN 978-1-59078-494-5

In the follow-up to Animal Mischief, 20 gently humorous rhyming poems celebrate the too short but sweet weekend. Madcap ink-lined caricatures accompany a mixed bag of topics including the torture of getting a haircut, visiting the fair, and a few minor injustices: “how come it rains on the weekend but then/ Gets sunny on Monday when school starts again?” Readers may conclude that many activities aren’t really mischievous (a road trip to grandma’s), but they should relate to the playful spirit of protest. Ages 7—9. (Feb.)

Sharing the Seasons: A Book of Poems Selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins, illus. by David Diaz. S&S/McElderry, $21.99 (96p) ISBN 978-1-4169-0210-2

This dynamic collection features 48 poems—12 for each of the seasons—mingling previously published poems by Carl Sandburg, Karla Kuskin, and others, with new works by several poets, including Hopkins. The diverse, accessible selections create a mosaic that stirs the senses. Diaz’s ethereal silhouettes of animals and people, which resemble layered, cut-paper shadows, are ornately inlaid with nature motifs. Neon hues of spring and summer give way to autumnal colors, then to a softened winter palette, with selections like “Season,” by Lillian M. Fisher: “First snow/ falling./ Wild geese/ calling./ Fields are/ bare./ Winter/ whispers/ everywhere.” Ages 8—up. (Mar.)

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