Children's Books Reviews

Mar 01, 2010

 

Picture Books

Will You Still Love Me? Carol Roth, illus. by Daniel Howarth. Albert Whitman, $15.99 (24p) ISBN 978-0-8075-9114-7

Displacement anxiety isn't the sole domain of humans. In this story, a lot of junior members of the animal kingdom—from polar bear cubs to the tiniest mouse—fret over what a new sibling will do to the family dynamic: “Said the bunny to his mother, just as sweetly as could be,/ 'When the baby bunnies comes, will you still love me?' ” Of course, is the reassuring answer across all species. “You're my moon and my sun,” quacks a mother duck to her duckling. “And there's room for me to love you all... each and every one.” Ostensibly, there's nothing surprising about Roth's (All Aboard to Work—Choo Choo!) direct, openhearted couplets or Howarth's (Hoppy Hanukkah!) cheery pastoral scenes, with their sweet echoes of mother-child activity (gardening, shopping, cuddling)—even the title could be applied to any number of books. But there's a sophisticated level of expertise at work, evincing the ability to ladle on reassurance without being sappy or boring. Both grownups and kids should find that its appeal has plenty of staying power—at least nine months' worth. Ages 2—5. (Mar.)

Errol and His Extraordinary Nose David Conway, illus. by Roberta Angaramo. Holiday House, $16.95 (32p) ISBN 978-0-8234-2262-3

Errol the elephant has been written off by his classmates, and his chances of impressing anyone in the school talent competition are slim. But with encouragement from his dad and help from a book that explains just how remarkable elephants are, Errol puts together a boffo display of trunk skills and becomes the toast of the class. Unfortunately, Conway (Lila and the Secret of Rain) tends to hector readers with life lessons (“Errol and his classmates discovered they shared the best talent of all... making friends”) and asks them to believe Errol has been heretofore clueless about his own trunk—which also raises the question of why Dad has waited so long to share vital anatomical information with his son. It's a testament to Angaramo's (The Ugly Duckling) illustrations that these narrative lapses almost don't matter: Errol and his antagonists-turned-BFFs are exceptionally adorable. Angaramo elevates cuteness to an art with her dense, saturated colors, exuberant, sculptural shapes, and wide range of compositional choices. She conveys far more about personalities and emotional trajectories than does the text. Ages 2—6. (Mar.)

The Best Family in the World Susana López, illus. by Ulises Wensell. EDC/Kane Miller, $15.99 (28p) ISBN 978-1-935279-47-1

In this Spanish import, when the director of an orphanage tells Carlota that a family is coming to adopt her tomorrow, she spends the night in a fever of anticipation. Maybe they'll be a family of pastry chefs! Or pirates! Or tiger trainers! (“She'd live at the circus!... She'd take a Bengal tiger to school, and she'd be the most popular girl at recess”). Wensell's (Paul and Sebastian) Carlota imagines many scenarios; her circus parents putting the tigers through their paces, her pirate parents looking on fondly while she uncovers buried treasure, her astronaut parents holding her hands as she floats through space. Her real new family turns out to be quite ordinary, but they clearly adore her and have all the exoticism she needs: “Roberto, Carlota's new father.... isn't a pirate, but he loves digging for buried treasure in the vacant lot next door.” Lopez handles Carlota's situation with delicacy, and Wensell's friendly faces reassure readers that Carlota is in good hands. It's a useful adoption story and a reminder that sometimes what we end up with is what we actually wanted all along. Ages 4—8. (Mar.)

Big Red Lollipop Rukhsana Khan, illus. by Sophie Blackall. Viking, $16.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-670-06287-4

Khan (Silly Chicken) delivers another astute and moving story, ostensibly dealing with sibling rivalry, but actually about hard-won lessons emerging from clashes of identity and assimilation. When Rubina receives her first invitation to a birthday party, her mother, who readers are left to infer is an immigrant, is first perplexed (“What's a birthday party?... Why do they do that?”), then insistent that Rubina take her annoying younger sister along, even though Rubina pleads, “They don't do that here!” The result, in Khan's characteristically direct prose, is devastating: “I don't get any invitations for a really long time,” says Rubina, and Blackall's (Wombat Walkabout) subtly textured ink portrait shows every nuance of the girl's sense of social failure. But Khan's remarkable gift for balancing emotional honesty and empathy, and her keen understanding of family dynamics, keeps defeatism from swamping the book. Rubina turns her experience into wisdom and gains her mother's respect as a mediator between cultures. It's an ending worthy of a novella, and once again signals that Khan is one of the most original voices working in picture books today. Ages 4—up. (Mar.)

Nothing but a Dog Bobbi Katz, illus. by Jane Manning. Dutton, $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-525-47858-4

The desire for a dog is a common theme, and Katz's (The Monsterologist) story concerns a girl whose longing for one pervades every waking moment. An afternoon of kite flying might be a success, but then “you feel the wind in your hand—it starts up—that kind of sad, achy feeling of if you only had a dog.” Despite a light touch with the particulars (“there is no real cure for it. Not learning to play the trumpet. Or being vice president of the Tree Climbers Club”), it gets repetitive. Manning's (Cat Nights) paintings picture the girl with large, expressive eyes and a life full of absorbing activities and friends. It's hard not to come away with a sense of the narrator as curiously oblivious to the many blessings her life contains—boots with “zippers and all soft fur inside,” her “very own workbench with real tools,” and her lamentations about the one thing she doesn't have may make some readers (especially dogless ones) wince. When the dog finally shows up on the final page, it isn't a minute too soon. Ages 5—8. (Mar.)

Extraordinary Pets Barroux. Blue Apple (Chronicle, dist.), $15.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-60905-011-5

Ostensibly urging children to consider unconventional pets, Barroux's (My Goldfish) offbeat riff features a series of gatefold surprises. Each spread presents a child on the left who interacts with an ordinary pet on the right, along with a setup line about that pet's drawback (“A chihuahua has no hair BUT...”). Lifting a page-size flap reveals the virtues of the alternative (“...a tarantula has a hairdo!”). The children and their animals are sketched in pencil and shaded with wash, and there's always something about the child that gives a hint of the unusual pet to come—a girl's dress and handbag match an alligator's bumpy ridged back, for example. The gatefold punch lines are unexpected and often deliciously loony (“A mouse is a buddy BUT... an octopus is a swim buddy”). That mouse owners do not usually take their pets for walks on leashes, as one boy does, or that octopuses may not, in fact, make good swimming buddies is beside the point. Barroux's powers of persuasion should have readers considering the fun, if not the practicality, of the purchase of a penguin. Ages 5—up. (Mar.)

The Django Levi Pinfold. Candlewick/Templar, $16.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-7636-4788-9

Pinfold's debut is narrated by a gypsy boy named Jean whose life takes a nasty turn when a Django shows up in his caravan one day. What's a Django? “It's like a thing. A sort of it. A kind of cozzler that always seems to find trouble.” The Django, half Jean's size, has a lifeless, carved-wood face and the temperament of a two-year-old. It smashes Papa's treasured banjo—Papa blames the boy—then spends several days causing further mischief. Delight in Pinfold's wordplay (“There were suspenders buttoned at bizarre angles, laces in spaghetti tangles, necktie, thumb and finger mangles”) will alternate with dismay at the chaos sown at Jean's expense. As it happens, all he has to do to solve the problem is send the Django away; it goes without protest, though Jean comes to miss the creature. Pinfold has talent to spare, but although the book carries an admiring afterword about jazz guitarist Reinhardt, this is an odd homage. The tale of a small monster that destroys musical instruments and manipulates humans like puppets feels distinctly off-key. Ages 5—up. (Mar.)

Fiction

Drizzle Kathleen Van Cleve. Dial, $16.99 (368p) ISBN 978-0-8037-3362-6

With a sense of magic that recalls Ingrid Law's Savvy, this bighearted coming-of-age story stars 11-year-old Polly Peabody, who lives with her family on a farm like no other. At Rupert's Rhubarb Farm, magic abounds: chocolate rhubarb flourishes; it rains at 1 p.m. every Monday; there's a lake in which no one can drown; and tourists clamor for rides on the giant umbrella. But when a mysterious mist descends, things go haywire: Polly's brother, Freddy, gets sick, her Aunt Edith threatens to sell the farm, and Polly gets in a fight with her best friend, Harry (a chocolate rhubarb plant). While Aunt Edith encourages Polly to read Emerson and look for opportunities away from the farm, in her heart Polly knows that she belongs nowhere else, and she must overcome her numerous fears (like of the farm's giant insects and slimy “slugsand”) to discover her own gift and save the farm. “I have to believe that something good can always happen. In other words, I believe in magic,” says Polly, whose oddball traits and sensitivity make her a lovable, sympathetic narrator. Van Cleve's debut is emotionally subtle and action packed with a highly memorable setting. Ages 8—12. (Mar.)

Front Page Face-Off Jo Whittemore. S&S/Aladdin Mix, $5.99 paper (240p) ISBN 978-1-4169-9169-4

As seventh grade begins, 12-year-old Delilah's passionate goal is to become a Junior Global Journalist; having been named lead reporter by the school newspaper editor, Ben, she is already researching stories. Ben has grown tall and handsome over the summer, and he's also acquired a beautiful, brilliant, and nasty French girlfriend, Ava, who is already a Junior Global Journalist. Forced to share the lead reporter spot with Ava—and to unwillingly compete with her for a spot in the exclusive Debutante clique—Delilah turns to her stepfather-to-be, who works in government defense technology, for advice on warfare, with disastrous results. While Ava is a two-dimensional stereotype, other characters are not: Delilah's best friend, Jenner, is a serious surfer; the “bad boy” Delilah exposed in an earlier article turns out to be a solid character (and potential boyfriend); and the leader of the Debutantes displays unexpected compassion. The quick-witted banter and discussion of such issues as breaking gender stereotypes should resonate with older readers, but the slapstick level of jokes and mishaps clearly mark Whittemore's (The Silverskin Legacy series) core audience as preteens. Ages 9—13. (Mar.)

Dark's Tale Deborah Grabien. Egmont USA, $15.99 (320p) ISBN 978-1-60684-037-5

A degree of anthropomorphism is unavoidable in animal stories, but Grabien, in her first novel for young readers, is less interested in getting inside the head of Dark, a housecat abandoned in Golden Gate Park, than in pushing her agenda. Despite feeling stung about being ditched, Dark finds park life relatively idyllic, with humans feeding her twice a day and friends like Rattail the raccoon and Casablanca the cat. Then comes the rumor, and eventually the reality, of invading coyotes in the park. While Dark initially sees the coyotes as inherently evil, with eyes “empty, cold as frost,” after Department of Agriculture workers kill a group of them, she realizes that humans (or at least some of them) are the real enemy. Many of Grabien's human characters share this view (“I swear to God, people are so stupid some days, I'm ashamed to be human,” is one of several guilt-laden lines). The animals understand every word the humans say, and some homeless humans can understand the animals, too, which creates plenty of opportunities for pedantic sermons disguised as dialogue. Ages 10—up. (Mar.)

This World We Live In Susan Beth Pfeffer. Harcourt, $17 (256p) ISBN 978-0-547-24804-2

The protagonists of Pfeffer's novels The Dead and the Gone and Life As We Knew It join forces in this third installment of a harrowing saga set in the not so distant future. A year after the moon was thrown off course by a meteor, natural disasters and climate changes on Earth are still making mere existence a challenge. Miranda's family is barely scraping by on food rations when Miranda's father, stepmother, their baby, and three other refugees show up unexpectedly. Despite there now being more mouths to feed, Miranda's mother welcomes them, and Miranda finds herself falling in love with Alex, one of the refugees, as they spend hours together, scavenging abandoned houses for essentials. Pfeffer masterfully evokes the cold, colorless world in which her characters reside. Moments of relief are frequently tinged with horror, as when Miranda and Alex must bypass a rotting corpse to get to a horde of food. Still, hope is never completely extinguished. Throughout, readers will be moved by displays of compassion, strength, and faith as characters endure grim realities and face an uncertain future. Ages 12—up. (Apr.)

The Line Teri Hall. Dial, $16.99 (224p) ISBN 978-0-8037-3466-1

In this atmospheric dystopian story, Rachel and her mother live with her mother's chilly and withdrawn employer, Ms. Moore, at the edge of an invisible barrier—the Line, part of the oppressive government's National Border Defense System—which encloses the Unified States. Rachel is homeschooled by her mother (a device Hall uses to give readers history lessons), and spends time tending orchids in Ms. Moore's greenhouse. But she is deeply curious about Away, the land beyond the Line, and about the Others, who were displaced after the Line was erected. When Rachel discovers a recording device and a voice on the tape asks for help, she decides to approach the Line, leading to an encounter that will disclose her family history. Debut author Hall's clear, controlled prose builds burgeoning tension (“Perhaps someone with less imagination, or more friends, could have resisted the pull of something so forbidden... but Rachel was not that person”) while unraveling carefully conceived plot twists, which address themes of totalitarianism, nuclear war, and xenophobia. Dimensional characters and compelling questions unveiled at the dangling finish will have readers awaiting the next installment. Ages 12—up. (Mar.)

Vintage Veronica Erica S. Perl. Knopf, $16.99 (272p) ISBN 978-0-375-85923-6

Veronica may be overweight, but she's got enviable fashion sense and style. She works at the Clothing Bonanza—a giant vintage clothing warehouse where her talent as a guide to all things old school, funky, and valuable turns a profit—which provides a wonderfully fun backdrop for Perl's (Chicken Butt!) first YA novel. Veronica can't stop stuffing down doughnuts and regretting the same, but although the 15-year-old has been something of a outcast (“if you ARE a fat girl, you're not really risking much socially to become The Fat Girl Who Dresses Weird”), she finds herself gaining friends at work, including the weird yet strangely appealing Lenny, one of the many quirky staffers. As romance blossoms, Veronica navigates new feelings of insecurity, juggles multiple friendships, and considers whether or not she might be beautiful after all. Though Veronica has many self-esteem issues on which she regularly comments, the sense of humor running throughout her narration rarely allows the story to fall into woe-is-me territory. Readers may want to scour local vintage haunts after finishing this one—and wish they could bring Veronica along. Ages 12—up. (Mar.)

Will Grayson, Will Grayson John Green and David Levithan. Dutton, $17.99 (304p) ISBN 978-0-525-42158-0

In alternating chapters, the authors track two teens, both named Will Grayson, who accidentally meet halfway through the novel, perhaps changing the trajectory of both of their lives. One Will is vintage Green: a smart nerd whose rules to live by include “don't care too much,” with a scene-stealing sidekick—Tiny Cooper, a large, flamboyantly gay classmate intent on staging an autobiographical musical. The other will (lowercase throughout) is angry and depressed; the one bright spot in his existence is an online friendship with “Isaac.” When will agrees to meet Isaac one night in Chicago, readers know nothing good will happen—and they will be wrong. A well-orchestrated big reveal takes the story in a new direction, one that gives (lowercase) will greater dimension. The ending is laudable but highly implausible. The journey to it is full of comic bits, mostly provided by the irrepressible Tiny, who needs his own novel. Frank sexual language—a shot at a bar “tastes like Satan's fire cock”—pushes this one to high school, where its message of embracing love in all its forms ought to find a receptive audience. Ages 14—up. (Apr.)

The Body Finder Kimberly Derting. HarperTeen, $16.99 (336p) ISBN 978-0-06-177981-7

Derting's first novel demonstrates unusual skill in weaving together contemporary teenage preoccupations with its paranormal plot twist. Violet is starting 11th grade with a beatup Honda, a vow to get to class on time, and a crush on her longtime best friend, Jay. She's also learned to cope with an eerie skill inherited from her grandmother—the ability to hear the “echo” left behind by those who have died violently. Usually this means chucking the cat outside if it's killed a mouse, but when the bodies of girls turn up, Violet turns away from concerns about the upcoming homecoming dance and becomes determined to use her ability to find the murderer. The third-person narration views Violet and the events of the book with a removed, thoughtful quality (“Coincidence. Chance. These were the words she counted on to create a veil of deceit, to keep her 'gift' a secret”), but Violet's thoughts and words feel true to her age and personality. Short, interspersed sections from the perspective of the killer add a creepy, page-turning quality. A strong debut from a promising author. Ages 14—up. (Mar.)

Every Little Thing in the World Nina de Gramont. S&S/Atheneum, $16.99 (288p) ISBN 978-1-4169-8013-1

Sixteen-year-old Sydney has just learned that a casual fling has left her pregnant (“I hadn't felt like I knew him well enough to remind him about the condom issue”). When Sydney's best friend Natalia steals her mother's car to take Sydney to confront the father, the girls are caught, and Sydney's father signs Sydney up for a one-month canoe trip to help her rethink her life's direction. And Sydney does plenty of thinking, even after Natalia finagles her way onto the wilderness trip, which comes with some physical and emotional highs and lows. Sydney's turmoil about the pregnancy (she's kept it from her parents and plans to have an abortion when she returns) is realistic and well plotted; she faces added pressure from Natalia who, after revelations about her own birth circumstances, partly sees herself in Sydney's baby. Sydney's complex relationships with her single mother and idealistic but distant father are authentic and poignant. In her first novel for teens, de Gramont ably captures Sydney's reflective journey from a passive girl to a young woman ready to make the biggest decision of her life. Ages 14—up. (Mar.)

Children's Comics

Ghostopolis Doug TenNapel. Scholastic/Graphix, $24.99 paper (288p) ISBN 978-0-545-21027-0

TenNapel's latest adventure comic for kids begins with the discovery of Benedict Arnold's whiny ghost hiding under a bed, and goes on to introduce readers to a host of other humorous and interesting characters, some historical, others very contemporary. Garth Hale is the protagonist, and he starts his story spunky but sick with a life-threatening illness. When, through a technological mishap, he's transported into the afterlife, death gives him a new lease on life. Garth is accompanied by a dinosaur skeleton he calls Skinny, and he soon meets up with his grandfather Cecil—who, in the afterlife, is Garth's age. The two join forces to fight the evil ruler of the ghost city, Ghostopolis, and to get Garth home. In spite of its many twists and turns, the story remains clear and engaging throughout, and Garth is a likable sort. There are plenty of action sequences, illustrated with energetic drawings, and a host of smart-talking characters make the story fun. Occasional wordless skits, like a scene of two squirrels wrapped in bandages fighting over an acorn, add charm and extra dashes of humor. TenNapel is an accomplished creator of graphic novels for kids, and this is sure to appeal to all those who love his most famous character, Earthworm Jim. Ages 12—up. (July)

Johnny Boo and the Mean Little Boy James Kochalka. Top Shelf, $9.95 (40p) ISBN 978-1-60309-059-9

Johnny Boo is a happy little ghost, and his sidekick friend, Squiggle, returns in his fourth adventure. Squiggle just wants to spend the day playing with him. However, Johnny Boo insists he's playing with another friend (that he makes up), to avoid spending the day with Squiggle. From this simple setup, lessons on friendship and truth telling are learned, as Boo and Squiggle encounter a new friend who isn't so friendly. Kochalka's clearly placed panels, simple illustrations with bright bold colors, and large speech balloons are packaged nicely into short and readable chapters, perfect for beginning readers. The story is made complete with a photo of Kochalka's drawing hand at the end of the book, which many readers will find amusing. Ages 6—10. (June)

Resistance, Book I Carla Jablonski and Leland Purvis. Roaring Brook/First Second, $16.99 paper (124p) ISBN 978-1-59643-291-8

As the old saying goes, everyone was in the French Resistance, and that also goes for the cast of this well-intentioned but clumsy YA graphic novel set in Vichy France in 1942. It centers on a plucky tween boy named Paul Tessier, an aspiring artist whose father is a POW. After Germans take over his Jewish friend Henri Levy's hotel, Paul and his sisters are drafted into the Resistance and journey to occupied Paris with Henri to pass along secret messages to their comrades. There are few moments of genuine suspense or surprise, just a lineup of predictable story beats: earnest discussions of how Jews are just like everyone else, a flash of violence to demonstrate that the Nazis are bad news, and an emotional family reunion. (A scene in which the children improvise Henri's bar mitzvah ceremony is pure kitsch.) Purvis has a rough, expressive line that works nicely for his frequent close-ups on characters' faces, but often dissolves into scribbles when he pulls back to show bodies and settings. The two-page author's note by YA author Jablonski at the end addresses the moral ambiguity of Vichy France more insightfully than anything in the rest of the book. Ages 12—up. (Apr.)

Amelia Rules!: The Tweenage Guide to Not Being Unpopular Jimmy Gownley. S&S/Atheneum, $10.99 paper (192p) ISBN 978-1-4169-8608-9

Gownley's charming series about Amelia and her everyday struggles with school, family, and friends returns in his first new graphic novel with Amelia grown up a bit. She's now worried about that classic concern: how to be popular, or whether it's even worth it. Amelia, now more of a young woman, less of a child, and Rhonda (of the crazy hair) put up with snubs from the popular blondes and try out for cheerleading in an attempt to jump a few rungs on the social ladder. The book takes time to get going, with a lot of hinting at what's going to happen and mixing up the time flow to artificially induce excitement, but later on, the author's insightful observations of daily kid life are allowed to shine. Rhonda's simple but powerful transformation is a particularly telling moment. Gownley's mimicry and comic allusions are again on display, as Aunt Tanner (the best character for her combination of adult wisdom and youthful energy) tells a tale of her teen years that uncannily resembles an Archie comic. Engaging characters and lively art should capture readers new and old. Ages 9—12. (Apr.)

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Jamison Odone. PublishingWorks (www.publishingworks.com), $12.95 (192p) ISBN 978-1-935557-61-6

Odone's retelling of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland reinvents the world not as dark and dangerous—as many modern interpretations have done—but with all the whimsy and wonder of a child chasing a mysterious white rabbit. Mixing text with stick figure illustrations, Odone follows an Alice who is now somewhat pluckier than in her original incarnation as she meets the iconic Wonderland residents. What is thankfully lost in the translation are the political subtexts that made Carroll's original work less like a fairy tale and more like a story of caution. Alice is simply a girl who outwits the bumbling and the bad rulers of Wonderland. The Red Queen is a villain and not a political allegory. Fans of Odone's other works, Honey Badgers and The Bedtime Train, will find Alice to be a departure from his regular style, but his neat little stick drawings are wholly reminiscent of how children actually draw during their early artistic years, making it an easy book to pick up. Odone's lighthearted take on the characters is refreshing; it allows the story to breathe and see itself in a new and magical way. Ages 4—8. (Mar.)

Earth Day and Beyond

New books on hot topics: conservation, climate change, and saving the Earth.

Who Will Plant a Tree? Jerry Pallotta, illus. by Tom Leonard. Sleeping Bear, $15.95 (32p) ISBN 978-1-58536-502-9

How easy is it to plant a tree? The animals in this breezy book do it without even trying. “Seeds stuck to the messy fur of an apple-eating black bear. The bear tripped, a seed fell off, and he planted an apple tree!” Monkeys plant fig trees by throwing figs at each other, and in the Amazon River, fish poop does the trick. Leonard's soft illustrations provide an engaging naturalistic setting, but the takeaway message is just how simple it is to plant a tree. Ages 3—7. (Mar.)

This Is Our World: A Story About Taking Care of the Earth Emily Sollinger, illus. by Jo Brown. S&S/Little Simon, $7.99 (12p) ISBN 978-1-4169-7821-3

In this interactive board book, children cheerily take care of the Earth by planting tress, cleaning up litter, reusing, and planting a vegetable garden (“You can eat fresh vegetables without having to drive with your parents to the store”). Each page has a puzzle piece, which readers can remove to complete two puzzles on the final spread (the pieces have images on both sides). It's an enthusiastic primer for youngest readers. Ages 4—6. (Mar.)

Let's Save the Animals: A Flip-the-Flap Book Frances Barry. Candlewick, $12.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-7636-4501-4

Each oblong spread in this eye-catching and informative book features endangered animals rendered in matte paper collage. Large flaps show animals engaging in multiple activities (a polar bear is seen “strolling across the ice,” then “diving into the Arctic Ocean”). The playful expressions of Barry's lively animals make the final spreads all the more stark, as they reappear in black die-cut silhouettes. A page turn, and they're “gone forever.” End-pages help answer the closing question, “How can I help?” Ages 4—7. (Feb.)

Nibbles: A Green Tale Charlotte Middleton. Marshall Cavendish, $17.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-7614-5791-6

“Every guinea pig in Dandeville loved dandelion leaves,” including this story's hero, Nibbles. When leaves run scarce, Nibbles finds one last dandelion growing outside his bedroom window and decides to protect it. After it's grown, he blows the seeds and plants begin to sprout, resulting in “the happy sound of munchingonce more.” Middleton's free-spirited mixed-media illustrations—Nibbles has dimensional whiskers and wears green, floral-print shorts; a “chewy” cabbage appears in photo-collage—keep this allegory about consumption lighthearted. Ages 4—8. (Apr.)

The Earth Book Todd Parr. Little, Brown, $15.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-316-04265-9

In Parr's signature chunky style, smiley-faced kids share what they love about the planet and what they do to protect it. “I turn off the faucet while I brush my teeth,” says a purple boy in a hot pink bathroom. On another spread, two figures stand in a sunny garden with neatly planted rows of produce: “I love watching things grow and I want there to be enough food for everyone.” The earnest message springs off the page. Ages 4—8. (Mar.)

Earth: Feeling the Heat Brenda Z. Guiberson, illus. by Chad Wallace. Henry Holt, $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-8050-7719-3

Gently urging, emotionally resonant text describes the impacts of global warming—“Because the Arctic keeps getting warmer... the [polar] bear can't gain the weight she needs to raise a cub”—followed by variations on a plaintive refrain: “Who can help the polar bear?” The sickly palette of Wallace's oil paintings emphasizes a planet in need: wildfire threatens an orangutan; a water hole dries up. In the end, three children plant a tree on a hill: “a caribou, a pika, and even a Bengal tiger cannot stop the warming. Who can? People can!” Ages 4—8. (Mar.)

We Planted a Tree Diane Muldrow, illus. by Bob Staake. Random/Golden, $17.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-375-86432-2

As Staake shows families around the world planting trees and enjoying their gifts, Muldrow sets an incantatory mood: “We planted a tree./ We planted a tree and it grew up.” Each spread bubbles with retro-styled, wide-eyed exuberance; it's a kick to see how Staake wields geometry as he gleefully globe-trots, wrapping his curvilinear-inclined aesthetic around locales as far flung as the African savanna, downtown Paris, Brooklyn, and snowy New England. Its unconditional joy and exuberance stand out. Ages 5—8. (Mar.)

The Smash! Smash! Truck: Recycling As You've Never Heard it Before Aidan Potts. Random/Fickling, $16.99 (28p) ISBN 978-0-385-75143-8

This energetic book celebrates recycling with an anthropomorphic recycling truck and happily smashed recyclables. The groovy Professor Potts puts things in cosmic context, explaining that in Earth's 4.5 billion-year existence, “very little has been added and almost nothing has been taken away.... The Earth recycles atoms.” The occasional phrase might raise an eyebrow (“earthquakes are the earth-shattering noise of rocks recycling”), but readers should relish the highlighter yellow accents and humorous asides. Ages 5—8. (Feb.)

Sandy's Incredible Shrinking Footprint Femida Handy and Carole Carpenter, illus. by Adrianna Steele-Card. Second Story (Orca, dist.), $15.95 (24p) ISBN 978-1-897187-69-2

In this visually striking book, when Sandy (who looks like a rag doll) visits Grandpa at the beach, she's dismayed that someone left trash in the sand (“Hadn't they ever heard of recycling?”). Picking up the garbage, she meets the “Garbage Lady,” who teaches her about her ecological footprint: “The footprint of your life is the mark you leave on the world.” While the message can feel didactic, Steele-Card's layered constructions, made from recycled and natural materials, are eye-catching. Ages 5—9. (Mar.)

Global Warming Seymour Simon. HarperCollins/Collins, $17.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-06-114250-5

In a serious but not somber introduction to global warming, Simon, in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution, describes contributing factors, signs, and repercussions of rising Earth temperatures with enough statistics to inform school reports—“There is 30 percent more carbon dioxide in the air than there was 150 years ago”—and enough full-color photographs to engage. Endnotes list things individuals and families can do to help curb climate change, as a hopeful counterbalance. Ages 5—9. (Mar.)

50 Ways to Get Your Cart On: Recycle & Create Milk and Egg Carton Crafts That Rock Ellen Warwick. Sterling Innovation, $7.95 paper (128p) ISBN 978-1-4027-5761-7

This flipbook-size collection of ideas for milk and egg carton craft projects includes nifty creations like “Dudley the Deadly Dragon,” whose serrated teeth are cut from egg cups and wings are traced onto green felt, and a “Cityscape Play Mat,” with buildings constructed from milk cartons. Each of the 50 projects is pictured in cartoon spot art with numbered steps, while stickers feature several of the completed masterpieces. It's a clever little book that will have readers mining the recycling bin. Ages 6—up. (Apr.)

The Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge Joanna Cole, illus. by Bruce Degen. Scholastic Press, $16.99 (48p) ISBN 978-0-590-10826-3

In another humorous outing, Ms. Frizzle's class returns to get “really up-to-date information” on global warming for their school play. Readers follow as the kids travel to the Arctic to see melting ice, view worldwide effects of climate change (which appear in comic book—like panels), and catch rides on sunbeams to learn about the greenhouse effect. Notebook pages with the students' notes round out this fun and fact-filled adventure. Ages 7—10. (Mar.)

31 Ways to Change the World We Are What We Do. Candlewick, $8.99 paper (80p) ISBN 978-0-7636-4506-9

Presented by British community interest company We Are What We Do, this stylish handbook features 31 suggestions for changing the world, volunteered by kids. The actions vary from the practical (“Turn things off when you leave the room”) to the civic (“Teach Your Granny to Text”—a crocheted list of gran-centric abbreviations includes IMD or “In my day...”) and cross-cultural. Space is provided for readers to write in their own actions. Optimistic without being contrived, and visually exciting. Ages 8—12. (Mar.)

Not Your Typical Book About the Environment Elin Kelsey, illus. by Clayton Hammer. Owlkids (PGW, dist.), $10.95 paper (64p) ISBN 978-1-897349-84-7

With energetic cartoons and a positive attitude (an opening page promises “not [to] blame you, your baby sister, or your uncle Irving for climate change”), this green guide covers four kid-focused categories: clothing, food, technology, and human actions. Kelsey explores topics including eco-friendly apparel, biomimicry, urban farming, and ecological footprints, while occasional comic-style spreads make surprising connections between the local and the global (“How bees are connected to your burger and world peace”). It's a smart approach, and one that should inspire. Ages 9—12. (Feb.)

Girls Gone Green Lynn Hirshfield. Puffin, $11.99 paper (208p) ISBN 978-0-14-241406-4

Likely to motivate conscientious readers, this handbook profiles real-life teens who have embraced environmental causes, along with a few star contributors (Hayden Panettiere writes the foreword). Each teen narrates her own section: one girl's concern over Bronx River pollution inspired her work, while another took lessons she learned about recycling from summers on Bowen Island in Canada to her life in Los Angeles: “It's important to think of the world as just one tiny island, where every action we take has consequences.” Ages 10—up. (Mar.)

Green Careers: You Can Make Money and Save the Planet Jennifer Power Scott. Lobster, $16.95 paper (240p) ISBN 978-1-897550-18-2

In offbeat, easygoing prose, Scott profiles more than 30 individuals (mostly in their 20s and early 30s) who incorporated their environmental passions into their careers. Examples range from a horticulturalist's work with kids at the Chicago Botanic Garden to a classical pianist who played Carnegie Hall wearing a dress made from 6,000 recycled juice pouches. Informative sidebars and a list of resources encourage readers to adopt green causes, while a color photo insert shows each “Eco-Pioneer.” An encouraging portrait of a can-do generation. Ages 13—up. (Apr.)