cover image Little Boy Brown

Little Boy Brown

Isobel Harris, illus. by André François. Enchanted Lion (Consortium, dist.), $15.95 (48p) ISBN 978-1-59270-135-3

There’s no denying the charm of Harris’s account of a New York City boy’s day out at his hotel chambermaid’s house in the suburbs, first published in 1949. Harris captures with a light touch the four-year-old’s blend of innocence and sophistication, while François’s calligraphic pen-and-ink drawings celebrate the bricks, ironwork, and marvelous haberdashery of postwar New York City. The subtext—Little Boy Brown’s blissful freedom from the prejudices toward the servant class that some older members of his social milieu might have held—may elude younger readers, but lovers of classic New York tales like Eloise and The Little Red Lighthouse will cheer this reissue. Ages 4–8. (Nov.)