Come Home, Kitty! Small in the City by Sydney Smith

I know what it's like to be small in the city.

It's beginning to snow and grow dark between the tall buildings. A small child with backpack and wool cap climbs down from the trolley and begins the rest of his trudge homeward. At first he seems to be talking to himself.

People don't see you

and loud sounds can scare you.

There are traffic and construction noises all around.

But the child knows how to navigate those streets. His advice is good.

He advises the unseen listener to avoid a dark alley and to keep some distance from big, fenced-in dogs.

But then we begin to see that there is another listener that the child seems to be advising. He points out safe trees to climb and a steamy dryer vent for warmth, and a church window ledge for listening to music-- and then, a kind fishmonger's shop.

They would probably give you a fish.

Through the increasingly heavy new snowfall, the child stops to put up a poster with a picture of a lost cat, a loved cat who has a full food dish and blanket waiting at home. And then, there's the child's mother, waiting for him and for the cat to come home.

I know you.

You will be all right.

Sydney Smith's new Small in the City (Neal Porter Books/Holiday House, 2019) has the message that knowledge can be protective, that the child and his missing cat can be safe in their familiar surroundings, a reassuring theme for young readers.

Skillfully, on his final page author-illustrator Sydney Smith shows the child's own door, with cat tracks close by in the snow, in shadow, but backed by early blooming bushes for a promising conclusion to this well-told story. Author-illustrator Smith captures the mood of the shadowy, stark cityscape, along with the welcoming places in the neighborhood that foreshadow the hinted-at happy ending. A subtle tale of confidence in self and hope that sustains.

Eggs-capade! The Chickens Are Coming! by Barbara Samuels

One day Mommy, Winston, and Sophie saw an interesting sign:

MY CHICKENS NEED A HOME!
I'm moving and I can't take them with me!

Inexplicably, Daddy declares that chickens can be pets, and Winston immediately expresses a wish to walk a chicken. And before they know it, their backyard is transformed into a hen habitat and ... Sophie declares,

"THE CHICKENS ARE HERE!"

There are five different sorts of hens--Desiree, Daphne, Divina, Delilah, and Dawn--one striped and speckled French hen, one Rhode Island Red, one fat and fluffy Chinese hen, one sleek golden hen, and one with a topknot of long, droopy feathers. They all run away from Winston's attempts to make friends.

"Why don't they like me?" he shouts.

As the chickens settle down in their lovely new coop, the kids can't wait for their eggs--those all-they-can-eat eggs. None are found. What they do find is... ... plenty of chicken poop to scoop!

Sophie serenades the hens with her violin tunes and Winston reads them bedtime stories.

Finally there's a wake up call from the chicken coop.

Buk BUK BAWK!

And the next morning, there are eggs all over the yard, but it seems that the chickens have made an eggs-cape!

THE CHICKENS WERE GONE!

But when Sophie suggests that they follow the poop trail, the kids discover all five hens hanging out in the family room, roosting on the sofa, watching a video, and snacking on last night's leftover pizza.

And there are all the eggs they can eat for breakfast in Barbara Samuels' homey and cozy chicken story, The Chickens Are Coming! (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2019), illustrated in jolly style by the author to show off the individual differences between family members and their poultry pets. With the new popularity of raising chickens in urban settings, this brownstone-dwelling, adventurous city family stars in a story that hits the ups and downs of poultry raising with good humor and just enough poultry lore for a fun read-aloud that kids will find egg-cellent storytime fare."Samuels gets excellent comic mileage by drawing her hens as unblinkingly unflappable," quips Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal sums this chicken caper up, saying "Chickens rule the roost."

Can Wishes Come True? Before Morning by Joyce Sidman

In the deep woolen dark

As we slumber unknowing,

Let the sky fill with flurry and flight,

Let the air turn to feathers.

As autumn leaves drift down to the cobblestone walk through the park, a mother and little girl cross the park and a busy city street, the dog on his leash stopping to look longingly at a squirrel. The child, too, hesitates hopefully before the cupcakes in the window of a bakery, but Mom presses on toward their front door, where inside Dad has dinner on the table for the three of them.

Then Mom, dressed in the uniform of an airline pilot, reads from a book about Amelia Earhart and hugs the girl goodnight.

After a few chores, with the child and cat asleep and Dad dozing in his chair, Mom steals out, pulling her bags behind her, as outside the chill air fills with the snowflakes. Sugary white snow begins to cover the park and give its statues and lampposts caps like little iced cakes.

At the airport flights are already being cancelled, and the disappointed travelers huddle beside their luggage as the waiting jets are grounded.

Urgent plans founder...

Please--just this once--

Mom's wish comes true, and she waves down a snow-plowing truck and hitches a ride back home through a snowbound city. And when the girl awakes in the morning, Mom is there, and there is before them an easy-going snow day... a delightful day for a leisurely breakfast, sledding in the park, and--hooray! the bakery is open, promising cupcakes with their hot cocoa back home.

Who hasn't wished for the blessing of a snow day, a surprise holiday, and this child's unspoken wish comes true, in Joyce Sidman's lovely latest, Before Morning (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016).

What happens when a Newbery author and a Caldecott artist come together? A perfect picture book, one in which poetry and artwork blend seamlessly to create an enchanting experience for young readers. Sidman's text is spare, each word carefully chosen to let Beth Krommes' strong illustrations, many in double-page spreads, fill out the details which tell the story. While father and child hug at the table where a fat roasted chicken and latticed pie await, Mom ruefully gets together her uniform and travel bags for her too-soon departure. In the sleeping house she takes a moment to fold the family laundry before she slips out to go out to work. Krommes' cross-hatched scratchboard illustrations give substance to the story, her intricately feathered flight of sky-borne geese foreshadowing the job Mom hurries to do.

With a narration that evokes longing and illustrations that invite slow, careful scrutiny, this superb picture book captures a happy moment in the life of a family that is both familiar and emotionally satisfying. Starred reviews all around promise potential for attention to this one as book award time rolls around.

High Crime and Misdemeanor: The Bear Ate Your Sandwich by Julia Sarcone-Roach

By now I think you know what happened to your sandwich.

But you may not know how it happened.


It seems a black bear woke up from a long sleep, and being rather hungry, he let his nose lead him to the loadbed of a truck. Inside were flats and baskets of delicious berries. So he ate them... or most of them.

And then he lay down right there and fell asleep.

The next thing he knew, he was in a different forest, one with tall concrete and brick cliffs. There were lots of things to climb, and the tall trees with lights on top were good for back-scratching. Someone had left big metal baskets around with all kinds of tasty treats inside.

But the bear sniffed leafy smells, and he followed the scent to a place with interesting objects to explore. Some of them could swing back and forth. Some went around and around. And on one the bear learned to slide down very fast. It was fun, but then he smelled something delicious. The smell was coming from a park bench where there was a lunchbox.

There it was.

Your beautiful and delicious sandwich. All alone.

The bear made his move.

It was such a great sandwich.

But then the bear heard a sniff and a slobbery sound behind him and decided it was time to head back to the other forest.

Blame it on the Bear?

But that's not the whole story. In fact, it's not even the story at all, as the reader learns, in Julia Sarcone-Roach's The Bear Ate Your Sandwich (Alfred A. Knopf, 2015). Author Sarcone-Roach saves the best for last, a small shaggy dog whose big fabrication becomes obvious as he tells his tale to his young mistress.

I saw it all. I tried to save your sandwich. I was able to save this little bit of lettuce here. The bear dropped it as he ran off.

I'm sorry to tell you about your sandwich this way....But now you know....

And so do we all in this doggone tall tale, one that spins out a lengthy face-saving fib for a little dog who is not going to be hungry for quite a while. But with her charming illustrations of town and country, bear and pooch, Sarcone-Roach will leave her readers chuckling and satisfied--except maybe with a sudden craving for a really good sandwich.

"Young readers and listeners will laugh out loud as they closely examine the pictures and find the jokes in this highly interactive urban adventure," says Kirkus.

At the End of the Line: Last Stop on Market Street by Matt De La Pena

C. J. STEPPED THROUGH THE CHURCH DOOR, SKIPPING DOWN THE STEPS.

THE OUTSIDE SMELLED LIKE FREEDOM.

It's Sunday, and church is finally over, but C. J. is not happy. For one thing, it's raining. For another, he sees his friends heading home in their nice dry cars to play for the rest of the day.

"HOW COME I GOTTA WAIT FOR THE BUS IN ALL THIS WET?" HE GRUMBLES.

"TREES GET THIRSTY, TOO," SAID NANA.

"HOW COME WE DON'T HAVE A CAR?" CONTINUES C.J.

But Nana's got an answer for that one, too. She points out that he's got a bus that breathes fire like a dragon, with Mr. Dennis the driver who can magically pull coins from his ears. C. J. pockets the coin, but he is still not mollified. Across the aisle from his seat he sees a boy listening to his iPod, and grumbles aloud that he sure wishes he had his own music.

"WHAT FOR?" SAYS NANA. "YOU GOT THE REAL THING SITTIN' ACROSS FROM YOU."

And the guy with the guitar sitting nearby obliges by serenading the passengers. C.J. closes his eyes to listen like the blind man behind him, and even the kids take out their earbuds to listen and feel that live music magic. Everyone, even Sunglass Man and Tattoo Guy, applauds.

Then they are there. The driver calls the last stop on the route.

C. J. and Nana get off and hurry through the rain and through a drab door where they find soggy homeless people waiting hopefully for them to serve dinner, and C. J. loses a little of his dark mood, seeing how grateful everyone is. Then it's time for the bus ride home.

Outside, Market Street is a sad sight, dingy gray walls, peeling paint. Still grumpy, C.J. wonders aloud ...

"HOW COME IT'S ALWAYS SO DIRTY OVER HERE?"

"SOMETIMES, WHEN YOU'RE SURROUNDED BY DIRT, C. J." NANA SAYS, "YOU'RE A BETTER WITNESS FOR WHAT'S BEAUTIFUL."

And as if the sky heard Nana, C.J. looks up to see a bright rainbow over Market Street, in Matt De La Pena's 2016 Newbery Award-winning Last Stop on Market Street (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2015). From his grandmother's gentle premise that poor in the pocketbook is not the same as poor in spirit, C. J.'s eyes are opened to the good around him.

Christian Robinson's simple, stylized illustrations, a variety of human figures shown mostly in profile, are balanced by the myriad of shapes and colors in the urban scene surrounding them, De La Pena's book swept the awards for the year, being named a 2016 Caldecott Honor Book, the 2016 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book, becoming a New York Times best seller, a New York Times Book Review Notable Children’s Book of 2015, and The Huffington Post's Best Overall Picture Book of 2015. And readers will agree with C.J as he says as he boards the bus, "I'm glad we came."