cover image Hold My Hand: Five Stories of Love and Family

Hold My Hand: Five Stories of Love and Family

Charlotte Zolotow. Hyperion Books, $19.99 (60pp) ISBN 978-0-7868-0518-1

Five stories and poems previously published by Charlotte Zolotow come together in Hold My Hand: Five Stories of Love and Family, illus. by Carol Thompson. From a baby uttering his first word (""Ma Ma!"") in ""But Not Billy"" (1947) to Thompson's alluring wintry backdrop to Zolotow's poem ""Hold My Hand"" (1972), to the tagalong little brother in ""Timothy Too!"" and the older sibling tease in ""Big Brother"" (1960) to the final tale of a girl who isn't sleepy on ""The Summer Night"" (1958; 1974) this handful of family vignettes, illustrated in watercolors that suit the mood of each, capture the tender warmth and exuberance of home life. (Sept.)