cover image Boxman

Boxman

Irina Hale. Viking Children's Books, $12 (32pp) ISBN 978-0-670-84287-2

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Boxman! No superhero, this--just a child with an active imagination in Hale's latest picture book. The idea for Boxman literally falls onto young Bob's head when he opens a closet door and some cartons tumble out. Family members each add a distinctive touch to the youngster's costume--Mom cuts out a mouth, Dad paints on a green moustache. But when Bob becomes a bit too attached to his new persona, the members of the family put their heads together to bring the boy around. Hale's expressive watercolors, which alternate bold oranges and reds with more muted tones of yellow and green, match the affability of her unpretentious family story. Little ones may well be drawn in by the book's whimsical title and premise, though they won't find much drama in this forthright tale. The traditional narrative of a creative kid who adopts household objects as toys, however, evinces a certain appeal, despite--or perhaps because of--the familiarity of the device. Ages 2-6. (Oct.)