ALL ABOARD!

Just in time for Dad's big day, a slightly abbreviated form of Daddy's Girl by Garrison Keillor, illus. by Robin Preiss Glasser, appears in a board book edition. PW wrote of the hardcover, "Between Glasser's inspired illustrations and Keillor's fans, this will likely be a Father's Day favorite." (Hyperion, $6.99 18p ages 6 mos.-5 yrs. ISBN 978-142310514-5; May)

In the board book edition of Mommies Say Shhh! by Patricia Polacco, a passel of children gambols through rolling farmland, delighting in the distinctive sounds of woodland and farm animals. (Philomel, $5.99 32p ages 2-up ISBN 978-0-399-24720-0; Mar.)

PW called the primate hero first introduced in Hug, "a cheerful chimp nearly as sweet as Curious George." Bobo here returns in the board book edition of Tall by Jez Alborough, finding increasingly higher perches (with a minimum of words) until a tumble takes him into the arms of his "Mommy!" (Candlewick, $6.99 32p ages 1-3 ISBN 978-0-7636-3328-8; Mar.)

A series of hilarious child-like responses answer the title question posed in the board book Cornelius P. Mud, Are You Ready for Bed? by Barney Saltzberg. When his offstage caregiver asks, "Did you feed your fish?," he answers, "Yes!" as a full-spread illustration shows him dropping a chocolate chip cookie into the fish bowl. (Candlewick, $6.99 26p ages 1-3 ISBN 978-0-7636-3303-5; Mar.)

AND THEN WHAT HAPPENED?

Favorite characters and series spring forth this season. First introduced in The Diary of a Killer Cat (which PW called a "wry first-person story of a not-so-fearsome feline"), Tuffy thinks he's got the reign of the house when his family goes on vacation—until he meets the cat sitter and must hone his survival skills in The Return of the Killer Cat by Anne Fine, illus. by Steve Cox. Fine introduces a heroine with writer's block and a best friend who plots to purloin the new journal she received as a gift in Jennifer's Diary, also by Fine, illus. by Kate Aldous. (FSG, $16 80p ages 7-10 ISBN 0-374-36248-3; Diary $15 64p ISBN 0-374-33673-3; Apr.)

In Drift House: The First Voyage ("a thrilling debut," according to PW's starred review), readers met Susan and her half-brothers, Charles and Murray, as they navigated the "Sea of Time" in their Uncle Farley's Drift House, a "transtemporal vessel" capable of navigating time. Their second adventure, The Lost Cities by Dale Peck, finds Susan and Charles separated on the Sea of Time by a tidal wave. Can they find each other again? Their fate is left to youngest sibling, Murray. (Bloomsbury, $16.95 400p ages 10-up ISBN 978-1-58234-859-9; Mar.)

The star of The Hero Revealed, the first of the Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Boy, came to the understanding that one need not have superpowers to do extraordinary things. Now, in his second adventure, The Return of Meteor Boy? by William Boniface, illus. by Stephen Gilpin, Ordinary Boy uncovers the true identity of long-lost Superopolis hero Meteor Boy while working on his science fair project: a time machine. (HarperCollins, $16.99 352p ages 8-12 ISBN 978-0-06-077467-7; Mar.)

In Soul Eater by Michelle Paver, the third of the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness (PW said of the first, Wolf Brother, "Torak's coming-of-age tale will keep the pages turning"), readers return to the ancient forest setting of the first two books at wintertime. Torak and Renn head to the Far North to rescue Wolf, threatened by blizzards and the great white bear. (HarperCollins/Tegen, $16.99 336p ages 10-up ISBN 978-0-06-072831-1; Mar.)

The star of The Secret Blog of Raisin Rodriguez (which PW called "as entertaining as stumbling across a private blog on the Web") returns for a third episode, Will the Real Raisin Rodriguez Please Stand Up? by Judy Goldschmidt. Raisin, ecstatic to return to Berkeley, Calif., her home before her mother and new husband relocated her (along with them) to Philadelphia, discovers that life in Berkeley has gone on without her. (Penguin/Razorbill, $12.99 208p ages 10-up ISBN 978-1-59514-058-6; Apr.)

Brian Doyle continues the story of the hero he introduced in Boy O'Boy (a "moving and often disturbing tale," in PW's words) in Pure Spring, set in Ottawa, Canada, after the end of WWII. Martin goes to work for the title soft drinks company and falls in love with beautiful Gerty McDowell, but Martin's creepy boss is stealing from Gerty's grandfather—and forcing Martin to help. (Groundwood/Anansi [PGW, dist.], $16.95 160p ages 11-14 ISBN 978-0-88899-774-6; Apr.)

Dreamquake by Elizabeth Knox concludes the Dreamhunter Duet (in a starred review, PW wrote of the launch title, Dreamhunter, "This fully imagined world will surely lure readers back for multiple readings"). Laura, daughter of Tziga Hame, the original dreamhunter who went missing in the first book, is determined to reenact a dream for the upper echelons of society that will reveal how the government is manipulating dreams in order to brainwash its citizens. But in so doing, she opens up a war for control of the Place, the source of dreams. (FSG/Foster, $19 464p ages 12-up ISBN 978-0-374-31854-3; Mar.)

In Farseed, Pamela Sargent's sequel to Earthseed (now in paperback), Ship—which transported the seed of humanity to a habitable planet in the first book—is long gone, and heroine Zoheret and her fellow travelers have given birth to a new generation. But old conflicts resurface when the children of two rival settlements mix. (Tor, $17.95 288p ages 12-up ISBN 978-0-765-31427-7; Earthseed $6.99 paper 978-0-765-35287-3; Apr.)

Following on the heels of Mistletoe, with its offering of four tales of teen romance during the holidays, Fireworks collects a quartet of YA summer lovin' stories by Lauren Myracle (of ttyl and ttfn fame), Sarah Mlynowski (the Bras and Broomsticks series), Erin Haft (Pool Boys) and Niki Burnham (Royally Jacked). The point here is not original twists, but rather bliss under the sun (or after sundown)—just right for beach towel reading. (Scholastic Point, $8.99 paper 240p ages 12-up ISBN 978-0-439-90300-4; Apr.)

Picture Book REPRINTS

What a Treasure! Jane Hillenbrand, illus. by Will Hillenbrand. Holiday, $6.95 ISBN 978-0-8234-2077-3. In a starred review, PW wrote, "Have shovel, will dig. Such is the simplicity of young Mole's experiences in this warm look at appreciating the small, often unexpected, joys in one's life." Ages 3-6. (Mar.)

Mothers Are Like That Carol Carrick, illus. by Paul Carrick. Clarion, $5.95 ISBN 978-0-618-75241-6. "This mother-son collaboration quietly praises mothers of all species and honors all that mothers do," according to PW. "It makes an especially apt bedtime book for parent and child to share." Ages 3-6. (Mar.)

April Foolishness Teresa Bateman, illus. by Nadine Bernard Westcott. Albert Whitman, $6.95 ISBN 978-0-8075-0405-5. "It's April Fool's Day, but who's fooling whom?" said PW. "The pair behind Farm Flu returns to the barnyard for another heapin' helpin' of monkeyshines." Ages 5-7. (Mar.)

Fiction REPRINTS

Stink and the Incredible Super-Galactic Jawbreaker Megan McDonald, illus. by Peter H. Reynolds. Candlewick, $4.99 ISBN 978-0-7636-3236-6. In his second adventure, Judy Moody's little brother takes issue with false advertising when a jawbreaker does not, in fact, break his jaw. Ages 5-8. (Mar.)

Hunted: Fake I.D. Walter Sorrells. Penguin Speak/Sleuth, $6.99 ISBN 978-0-14-240762-3. Sixteen years on the run with her mother, constantly changing addresses and names, finds Chass in the town of High Hopes, Ala.—but then her mother disappears. "Readers will race through the pages to uncover the answers to Chass's many questions," according to PW. Ages 12-up. (Apr.)

Lucky T Kate Brian. SimonPulse, $8.99 ISBN 978-1-4169-3545-2. Readers get a vivid sampling of Calcutta when a California teen travels to India in hopes of reclaiming her lucky T-shirt, in what PW called a "frothy novel with an original premise and positive message." Ages 14-up. (Mar.)

Nonfiction REPRINTS

Capital!: Washington D.C. from A to Z Laura Krauss Melmed, illus. by Frané Lessac. HarperCollins/Collins, $6.99 ISBN 978-0-06-113614-6. From the Air and Space Museum to the National Zoo and 24 stops in between, this sprightly volume takes readers on a tour of the nation's capital and simultaneously offers a history lesson in verse. Ages 6-11. (Feb.)

From Rags to Riches: A History of Girls' Clothing in America Leslie Sills. Holiday, $6.95 ISBN 978-0-8234-2048-3. "For those seriously into clothes," noted PW of this photo-rich volume that begins with swaddling clothes for babies in colonial times and follows through to Victorian hoopskirts and crinolines, to the "Anything Goes" clothes of today. Ages 10-up. (Mar.)