Sparkles, No Sparkles

Lacking sparkly garb in which to enter a theater, a frog, poodle, and pigeon, “sneak,” “snatch,” and “pluck” a costume from one of the building’s dressing room windows, and head “under the rope. Off to the show!” When a sparkling flamingo and zebra also sweep in, they offer the theater’s young human usher a bit of bling and accompany the child onto the stage. “Spinning, dipping, fringes swishing,” the animals and usher steal the spotlight until the real performer arrives to retrieve their wardrobe, ejecting the would-be entertainers, now bereft of sparkles, into the dark. Fortunately, the arrival of a glitzy chicken brings a luminous rooftop surprise for all. Minimalist text and raucous illustrations propel the madcap narrative; white and gold shimmer against saturated purples and pinks and gray-tinted backgrounds, adding a melodramatic aura to the unapologetically silly tale. Human characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 3–7. (Mar.)