Ruthie and the (Not So) Teeny Tiny Lie

Like a lot of girls (and girl foxes) in her peer set, Ruthie loves “tiny things—the tinier the better.... She had dinky dinosaurs, itty-bitty trains, ponies no bigger than your pinky, and teddy bears that were barely there.” So when Ruthie finds a tiny camera on the playground, she immediately claims it for her own. Her classmate Martin identifies it as his birthday present, but that doesn’t deter Ruthie: she lies to her teacher—“I got it for my birthday!” Rankin (Rabbit Ears ) unfolds this highly effective version of a psychological drama with skill and sympathy, using crisp, reportorial pencil-and-acrylic pictures to underscore the emotional and moral stakes. She allows readers to make their own connections to Ruthie’s true-to-life feelings of guilt (“The bus ride home took forever.... Dinner was macaroni and cheese, Ruthie’s favorite, but she couldn’t eat.”) and even subtly instructs parents in how to handle a situation like this one. Ages 3-8. (July)