Ban the Bot? Ray Bot by Adam F. Watkins

THIS IS RAYBOT.

HE LIVES ALL ALONE IN A JUNKYARD AND DOESN'T HAVE ANY FRIENDS.

Poor lonely Raybot lives in his very own rust belt. With not a pal in sight, Ray is forced to play both sides of his castoff checker board.

Poking around the place, he notices a handbill with a slogan that intrigues him:

Your puppy deserves the best, because he's your best friend.

BARK! BARK!

Raybot sets out of his junkyard into the wide world. If he can just find a puppy who says "Bark! Bark!" he will have a best friend. All he has to do is find him.

But as Raybot learns, there are a lot of creatures in the wide world. The first two he meets are quite friendly, but one goes BAA! and the other says BAWK BAWK!

Close, but no BARK BARK!

As Raybot wanders the world, he finds many amiable critters, who moo and oink, quack and growl. A hippo huffs out his HU-HU-HUURUUGH!  A monkey comes out with a spirited OOO-OOO-AH-AH and a snake has nothing more friendly to say than a hisssssss!

Raybot continues his globe-trotting, and finally finds himself in a rain forest. He spots a gorgeous parrot and tries his hopeful greeting:

BARK??

And at last he hears what he has been hoping for:

BARK!

A puppy! A best friend at last!

And ironically, with his best friend "puppy" on his shoulder, Raybot meets up with an equally friendly critter who says "WOOF!"

Friends come in all shapes and voices, in Adam F. Watkins' latest, Raybot (Price Stern and Sloan Books, 2016), a promising premise, and a plot that helps youngsters learn to recognize animals and animal sounds along the way. Watkins portrays his charming little Raybot and his potential animal friends with jolly verve, and preschoolers will chuckle at his adoption of a parrot who just happens to be able to sound like a puppy. Pair this one with Watkins' earlier R Is for Robot: A Noisy Alphabet.

The Hoarder! Too Many Carrots by Katy Hudson

RABBIT LOVED CARROTS!

RABBIT WAS PROUD OF HIS COLLECTION AND BURROWED THEM AWAY IN HIS COZY HOLE.

BUT RABBIT HAD A PROBLEM. A BIG PROBLEM.

A rabbit's gotta right to crave carrots.

But there can be too much of a good thing, and Rabbit's collection has reached critical mass!

His burrow has so many carrots that he has to burrow into his burrow through the veggies. And trying to sleep surrounded, top, bottom, and on both sides by pointy root vegetables? Fahgeddaboudit.

Carrots are falling out of his mail slot, and his roof is bulging through with carrots and more carrots.

"I NEED A PLACE TO SLEEP!" RABBIT TOLD TORTOISE.

Tortoise offers to share his house, but, problem is, his shell is his house!

Rabbit gives it the old college try, squeezing and wiggling his way inside Tortoise's snug shell. But the fit is so tight that the two-headed tortoise shell tumbles out of control.

Tortoise's attempt to crash with Torty sends them rolling downhill and then...CRASH! into a rock.

Rabbit tries out Bird's nest, but when he tries to nest along with his carrots...CRACK! goes Bird's branch.

When the bough breaks, down comes Bird's nest, carrots and all!

Squirrel takes pity on his rodent cousin and invites Rabbit and the rest of the now homeless friends to bring their bedrolls for a sleepover in his commodious hollow tree. But soon the overstuffed trunk splits, cracks, and crashes, and the four footloose friends are forced to split the scene posthaste. Beaver offers his stick-built waterfront home beside the pond, but a flash flood floats them all away, carrots and all.

Beaver, Squirrel, Bird, Tortoise AND Rabbit are all washed up, embedded in a mud bank. Is it time for Rabbit to reconsider the merits of carrot collecting?

Which brings up a new problem. What to do with too many carrots? Where's Bugs Bunny when you need him?

There is one way, and Katy Hudson's newest, Too Many Carrots (Capstone Young Readers, 2016), ends with a jolly potluck supper, with Rabbit providing all the carrot cake, carrot casserole, carrot juice, and carrot soup that the gang can gobble.

And then all the buddies bunk down in the only house left standing--and plenty roomy--Rabbit's Burrow!

It seems Rabbit now has too many roomies--but that's a story for another day!

Katy Hudson's clever narrative turns upside down the old premise of "there's always room for one more," in a funny story of true friends adorned with rambunctiously detailed pen-and-ink (with plenty of orange paint) illustrations in a wry and witty look at the downside of too much of a good thing.

This rabbit tale begs to be paired up with Aaron Reynolds' Caldecott Honor Book, Creepy Carrots! (Read my review here).

Hold On! I'll Never Let You Go by Smriti Prasadam-Hall

WHEN YOU ARE EXCITED, THE WORLD JOINS YOU...

YOU BOUNCE ALL ABOUT. LOOK! I AM BOUNCING, TOO!

Author Smriti Prasadam-Halls celebrates the ups and downs of the very young, always with a parent or friend there to share the exuberance of new experiences.  "Laugh and the world laughs with you," goes the proverb, but the author denies the second line, "Cry and you cry alone," in her just published board book for tots, I'll Never Let You Go (Bloomsbury Press, 2015).

WHEN YOU ARE SAD, TROUBLED WITH FEAR,

I HOLD YOU AND DRY YOUR TEAR.

With a loving parent always there for the highs and the lows of a first swim, a high swing, a bad dream and uncertainties, small animals with a parent at hand--a pair of koalas, owls, kangaroos, mice, lions, and bunnies--share experiences and emotions from elation to weariness in comfortable rhyming couplets. Accompanied by the genuinely adorable illustrations done in soft line and pastels by Allison Brown, who gently captures the variety of feelings moderated by the loving presence of an older and wiser companion, this board book is a sweet Valentine or bedtime story from parent or grandparent to a loved child, good to share with little ones just learning about feelings.

Playmate? A Playdate for Panda by Michael Dahl

Panda' mom has taken him to Fox's house to play. But Panda is not sure he's ready for a playdate.

Fox greets him with a big smile, but inside, without Mom, Panda finds himself so shy that he can't say a word.

But Fox knows what to do. Quietly, he pushes his full toy box over to Panda.

And soon it's game on!

OUTSIDE THEY JUMP AND HIDE

THEY TAKE TURNS ON SWING AND SLIDE.

Back inside Fox's house, it's music time. Panda plays percussion while Fox plays the xylophone and then they share a snack at the kitchen table. And when they feel like slowing down, Fox shares his best books until Momma Panda comes back.

Panda leaves with a smile and a wave, looking forward... to the next play date, in Michael Dahl's brand-new Playdate for Panda (Hello Genius) (Picture Window/Capstone Books, 2016), a quick briefing on what to do when you visit a new friend.

Sharing toys, using manners, and taking turns help the fun along, and a new friend is the result. Simple-lined, characters in profile and solid basic backgrounds in the full- and double-page illustrations by Orion Vidal keep the visuals bright and easy to interpret for young board book fans with a play-full introduction to one-on-one social skills.

For even more playdate prep, pair this one with Anna Dewdney's popular Llama Llama Time to Share.

Sharing and Caring: Love Monster And the Last Chocolate by Rachel Bright

Love Monster's mind is still on his vacation, sadly now over, as he approaches the door of his own cozy den.

BUT WAIT! WHAT WAS THIS?

A BOX OF CHOCOLATES!

JUST SITTING THERE!

Could one of his friends have left him a surprise welcome-home gift? They all know how much monsters love chocolates.

Love Monster considers the joys of a mixed assortment of chocolate-covered delights. Which flavors may be inside? Chocolate-covered peanut-butter brittle? Fizzy fruit sherbets? His favorite, berry swirls?

BUT THEN HE THOUGHT A THOUGHT THAT HE JUST COULDN'T UN-THINK!

He really should share this box of chocolates with his friends.

He should... but there are problems.

What if there are not enough pieces to go around? Or worse, what if they choose all his favorites?

And worst of all... what if the only piece left for him is one of those coffee-flavored thingies?

EEEEEUUWWWWWW!

It's a crisis of conscience for Love Monster. He weighs the question: To share or not to share?

I'M SORRY TO TELL YOU THAT LOVE MONSTER DECIDED IT WOULD BE BETTER FOR EVERYONE IF HE KEPT THE CHOCOLATES.

Decision made, he brews himself a cup of tea. He peers through the peephole to make sure the coast is clear and then sits down happily with the whole box of chocolates in his lap.

But just as he is ready to open the lid, he notices a queasy feeling inside... that feeling that means what he's about to do is not the right thing to do.

Love Monster is out the door, scurrying to find his friends with the still unopened box, feeling good about making the right choice.

But in Rachel Bright's latest Love Monster story, Love Monster and the Last Chocolate (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015), there's a surprise waiting for our hero when, with his friends gathered around, he opens that box with a flourish, to find it empty--except for just one piece!

"SILLY MONSTER! WE SAVED THE LAST PIECE (YOUR FAVORITE) FOR YOU!"

There's just a touch of irony when author Bright's cute little fuzzy monster finds out that his friends are one step ahead of him all the way, in this sweet story of Valentine candy sharing, and readers will likely not be surprised to learn that the last piece left is not the coffee-flavored thingie. Bright offers up a savory moral but dips it in her sweet but insightful comic coating in illustrative storytelling that makes this one a treat for young readers. Pair this one with Mo Willem's equally empathetic Should I Share My Ice Cream? (An Elephant and Piggie Book) (see my review here).

Rachel Bright's early books in this Valentine-approved series are Love Monster and Love Monster and the Perfect Present.

All Downhill From Here: Max and Marla by Alexandra Boiger

MAX AND MARLA ARE OLYMPIANS--REAL-LIFE, HONEST-TO-GOODNESS OLYMPIANS.

Never mind that Max is a very small boy, and Marla is an owl. (Well, she IS a snowy owl.) The two friends are determined to medal in the upcoming winter games.

They board their bobsled at the top of the hill and hunker down bravely to take the speedy curves. But the sled won't slide.

TRUE OLYMPIANS NEVER GIVE UP.

It seems the runners need a bit of soaping. Max applies the wax the next morning, and donning their helmets, the would-be winners approach the bobsled run again. The wax works.

They slip down the slope way too fast. CRASH!

"MARLA, WE NEED TO TAKE A SICK DAY."

Olympians may never give up, but sometimes they have to adjust their training program. Max and Marla are not just lying around lazily on the snow. Making snow angels is now part of their training, along with rolling downhill as giant snowballs without a sled, in Alexandra Boiger's newest, Max and Marla (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2015). And who needs Olympic medals when you have doughnuts to hang around your neck and nibble as needed?

Boiger's now familiar illustrations (cf. her artwork in Marilyn Singer's hit series begun with Tallulah's Tutu) create a blue and lavender winter wonderland in which her little athletes sweetly play at fame. "Boiger excels at closely observed, affectionate details, like Max carrying a snoozing Marla to bed, or the friends stringing donuts on ribbons to serve as Olympic medals," adds Publishers Weekly.

We've Got to Stop Meeting Like This! The Red Hat by David Teague

BILLY HIGHTOWER LIVES ATOP THE WORLD'S TALLEST BUILDING.

IT WAS THE WIND AND BILLY HIGHTOWER . . . UNTIL ONE DAY A LADDER APPEARED, FOLLOWED BY MEN IN HARD HATS AND THEN...

A GIRL. SHE WORE A RED HAT.

Life at the top is hard. Well... lonely. And when the appropriately named Billy Hightower spots the girl in the red hat, he is determined to catch her eye.

He shouts his hello, but the whirling wind around their skyscrapers carry his words away as if they were whispers.

Billy crafts a carefully composed note:

Hi,
My name is Billy Hightower. I like your hat.

He sends his message to her on the wings of a paper airplane, but the wind takes it off before it reaches her. He attaches it to a red kite and sends it sailing across the distance between the two towers,  but the wind snatches it away just as the girl reaches for it, losing her own red hat to the wind as well. Desperately, Billy grabs a red blanket and holding onto the corners, tries to parasail to the top of the girl's building.

THE WIND RAGED. IT BLEW ACROSS THE BOULEVARD, TRYING TO DRIVE HIM BACK.

Billy soars even higher with the wind, tantalizingly past the girl's outstretched arms. Then the wind changes and he spirals down to the ground, finding himself on the sidewalk in front of a building named The Crimson Towers. Billy almost gives up his mission, until he spots the red hat caught on a shrub near the entrance.

It is just the lead that Billy needs, in David Teague's new The Red Hat (Hyperion Books, 2015), and he carefully retrieves the red hat and runs into the building, heading for the top floor. where he and his mystery girl meet face to face at last.

This is a strange story of two wind-crossed friends, with an unusual talisman, a red hat, and a attraction between the two represented visually by the color red. Artist Antoinette Portis makes the most of this color motif, illustrating the story primarily in thick blackline, white, pale gray, and the blue of the sky, with contrasting accents of red in Billy's paper airplane, kite, and blanket, the door of the girl's apartment, and, of course, the hat. The quixotic wind is shown vividly in silvery swirls, lovely, yet malevolent, echoed, too, by the whirling sweep of the text across the page, but finally foiled at last with the help of the the iconic hat. Although the boy and girl portrayed seem too young to be seen as sweethearts, a Romeo and Juliet separated by two different worlds, the final page of the book does leave us with two words....

THE BEGINNING....

Of this non-hearts-and-flowers, perhaps Valentine story, School Library Journal says, "This dynamic, gorgeously rendered glimpse into the fledgling bond between two people demonstrates the power of persistence."

"Not Fade Away!" Imaginary Fred by Eoin Colfer

BEING ALONE IS NO FUN.

At least, being alone is not good when the result is loneliness. And Sam is lonely.

But there's an app for that. He's called Fred. He's a turquoise-toned collection of pixels and he is available for lonely kids.

IF the conditions are right, Fred can appear in a flash of lightning, available for best friend duty.

FRED FLOATED LIKE A FEATHER IN THE WIND...UNTIL A LONELY CHILD WISHED FOR HIM.

And Fred can be very versatile. He tries hard to do whatever the kid imagines a friend can do with him. He can shoot free throws... or he can be the basketball flying through the hoop. There's just one problem for Fred. His job never seemed to last very long.

ONE DAY A FRIEND WOULD FIND A REAL FRIEND IN THE REAL WORLD, ONE WHO WOULDN'T HAVE TO BE IGNORED WHEN GROWNUPS WERE AROUND.

WHEN THIS DAY CAME, FRED WOULD FEEL HIMSELF FADING.

Call it the Tinkerbell Effect. When Fred's friend doesn't need him anymore, he starts to fade, pixel by pixel, until he's just a wisp of himself and the wind blows him away.

And then a friendless boy named Sam wishes for a friend, and ZAP! Fred reports for duty. They do everything together.  They make up plays to perform and play music together. They build a clubhouse with its own sign that reads...

[DRAMATIC DUO]

This time Fred doesn't want Sam to find a forever friend to replace him. He wants to stay and play with Sam always. But when Sam meets a girl named Sammi at a party, it looks like friendship at first sight. They do all the things together that Fred used to do with Sam. Sam is sensitive and tells Fred not to fret; he's his main man forever. Still, the more Sam and Sammi play together, the more Fred notices that sadly he is beginning to fade.

"I CAN SEE THROUGH MY HAND," THOUGHT FRED.

But there's one thing about Sammi. She, too, has an imaginary friend, Frieda, and Fred and Frieda discover that they have something more than pixels in common--the friendship of their friends. And then they notice a promising change in themselves.

Their pixels seem to be becoming permanent

As the two twosomes become a friendly foursome, it looks like nobody is going to fade away, in the imaginative collaboration of noted middle reader author Eoin Colfer and Caldecott-winning artist Oliver Jeffers in their Imaginary Fred (Harper, 2015). Jeffers' witty and wispy pen-and-ink drawings are the perfect medium for portraying an imaginary friend, setting off Colfer's quirky characters skillfully as together they explore the ineffable nature of friendship with the help of a bit of inventive fantasy. Says the New York Times reviewer, "Jeffers could illustrate a tax return and make it funny; his charming, willowy pen-and-ink artwork adds his trademark irreverence to this gentle tale about the ever-shifting landscape of friendship."

Pair this one with last year's Caldecott winner, Dan Santat's The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend. (Read review here.)

On the Rocky Road to Love: Hedgehugs by Steve Wilson and Lucy Tapper

HORACE AND HATTIE ARE THE VERY BEST OF FRIENDS.

THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS THEY LIKE TO DO TOGETHER.

They do duo daisy chains, splash in rain puddles, and research the four-leaf clovers by the river.

In fact, there's just one joint venture in which they don't succeed--HUGS!

Hugs are hard for hedgehogs.

THEY ARE JUST TOO SPIKY!

Not that they haven't tried several approaches. Rolling in fresh snow results in snow cover, but they are too frozen to enjoy their snowy hugs. They squeeze inside sections of hollow log, and try to embrace, but logs are just too lumpy.

They try spearing strawberries on each of their prickles, but attempting to embrace simply results in the makings for a strawberry smoothie.

Finally they stumble upon a solution--thick woolly stockings! They nibble out a hole for their heads in the heels and with a bit of a struggle, pull the socks over their prickles. AH! Comfy and completely non-abrasive body stockings! Now for...

... A PERFECT HEDGE-HUG!

Love conquers all, in Steve Wilson's and Lucy Tapper's Hedgehugs (Henry Holt and Company, 2015), a sweet tale of a too-spiky pair who find a way to show their affection. Tapper's soft-colored collaged backgrounds are pleasantly pretty and do not distract from the lovable digitally-produced main characters, and author Wilson offers a closing joke that the old problem of missing socks in the wash are a sure sign of hedge-hugs happening somewhere. For a Valentine's Day read, this one sticks to the theme that love always finds a way!

Other tales of of hard-to-hug American porcupines and British hedgehogs include Kara LeReau's and Scott Magoon's Mr. Prickles: A Quill-Fated Love Story and Benn Sutton's Hedgehug: A Sharp Lesson in Love. For more tales of the propinquity-challenged prickly people, see reviews here.

Bear and Bunny by Daniel Pinkwater

THE BEAR IS SURE THE BUNNY IS A VERY SMALL BEAR. THE BUNNY IS SURE THE BEAR IS A VERY LARGE BUNNY.

THIS IS NOT SO, BUT IT WOULD BE TOO HARD TO EXPLAIN IT TO THEM. BESIDES, IT DOESN'T MATTER.

Titles and taxonomies are not important between true friends, and besides, the two are on what that other unlikely pair, Pooh and Piglet, called an "expotition."
They are wandering.

Wandering in the woods the bear finds an exceptional pine cone. A discussion around what to do with such a prize ensues, in which the bunny is led to ask an even more pertinent question.

"WHY DON'T WE HAVE SOME KIND OF PET?"

"WHAT IS A PET?" THE BEAR ASKS.

The bunny offers the information that a pet is an animal you take care of and that loves you. Puzzled, the bear replies that they are animals and they love each other. The bunny ponders his definition and points out that pets are small and not as clever as they are. Pine cones are smaller, yes, and certainly not at all clever, but they are definitely not animals. With that out of the way, pine cones are out of the question as a pet. A caterpillar is an animal, but since it finds its own leafy food, it doesn't need them to take care of it.

"DON'T GET ME WRONG," SAID THE BEAR, BUT I DON'T SEE THAT A CATERPILLAR WOULD BE MUCH FUN.

TOO MUCH THINKING. I NEED A NAP."

Luckily, following a restorative nap, they spot a frog, which they identify as a "kitty." But that brings up the pertinent question of what it eats.

"STRAWBERRIES, I THINK. IF IT DOESN'T WANT TO, WE CAN TRY OTHER THINGS," THE BUNNY CONCLUDES.

That sounds like a sensible plan, as the bunny and the "kitty" ride home on the bear's broad back, in this sequel to his notable Bear in Love, Daniel Pinkwater's newest picture book, Bear and Bunny (Candlewick Press, 2015).

Pinkwater does droll with the best of the buddy stories authors--A. A. Milne and the pals in the Hundred Acre Wood and Arnold Lobel and his Frog and Toad, and Pinkwater's goodhearted friends are a breath of fresh air, giving youngsters a chance to chuckle knowingly as they enjoy the pair naively thinking their way through life's novelties. Artist Will Hellenbrand is back to add his charming illustrations, done with a light line and soft pastel palette, which extend the story visually with elan. Wry, whimsical, and sweet, these stories deal simply but sagely with the serious question of what it means to be a friend and to care for each other--and, in this case, another. A truly satisfying read for the preschool and primary reader.

Raccoon Picker! Dewey Bob by Judy Schachner

DEWEY BOB CROCKETT WAS BORN IN THE POCKET OF AN OLD PAIR OF PANTS.

AND WHEN HE GOT TOO BIG FOR HIS BRITCHES, DEWEY KNEW WHAT HE HAD TO DO.

"TIME TO FIND YOUR OWN PANTS, SON," SAID MRS. CROCKETT.

Dewey Bob's not too bummed about leaving the nest. He knows all the raccoon rules, and like all his kin, famous for collecting tchotchkes, he's ready to branch out from button-hoarding and needs more room.

Picking out a commodious hollow tree, he sets out to fill it up with more collectibles. So it's off to the local dump to see what's new.

"SOME FOLK'S TRASH IS A RACCOON'S TREASURE.

AND DEWEY BOB CROCKETT WILL PICK IT ALL FOR PLEASURE."

Dewey piles his derelict shopping cart with cast-offs and heads home with his finds, some useful and some suitable for a towering example of found art.

But he is missing one thing--he needs a friend to share his home, so Dewey collects his thoughts and sets out to collect friends. He picks a bunch of cute critters--a turtle, goose, pig, and cat--and trundles them back home.

BUT DEWEY FOUND OUT THAT FINDIN' FRIENDS WAS MUCH EASIER THAN KEEPIN' FRIENDS.

His prospective friends flee the premises posthaste, all but one...

"'CEPTIN' FOR ONE BARELY-BREATHIN' HALF-STARVED MUD BALL."

But Dewey is a self-described "lean, mean, washing machine," and a bedraggled kitten with injured back legs emerges from the muddy mess. Dewey assesses the situation, and rummaging through his junk collection, he finds just what he needs, a doll-sized cart which gives the kitty back wheels and a reason to purr and Dewey Bob his new collectin' companion.

"ROLL ON, MUD BALL!"

Judy Schachner, author of the best-selling SkippyJon Jones series, has another cute critter character, in her latest, Dewey Bob (Dial Press, 2015). Schachner's artwork is as capricious, capacious, and eclectic as her new character, done in a style similar to her best-selling picture books about SkippyJon Jones, a Siamese kitten who fancies himself a Chihuahua, with hand-lettered text, varied fonts in varied colors swirling and curling about the pages, and assorted stuff with everything but the kitchen sink (and maybe that's there if we look long enough) and even a vertical gatefold page to show off Dewey Bob's soaring junk sculpture. Schachner's narration, studded with corn-fed rube-isms tossed into the mix, meanders like a country crick in the rainy season, but her sly internal rhymes and homespun similes and metaphors ("as clean as a green bean") will give kids some giggles along the way.

Go With The Floe! Penguin's Big Adventure by Salina Yoon

ONE DAY PENGUIN HAD A BIG IDEA.

HE WANTED TO DO SOMETHING NO PENGUIN HAD EVER DONE BEFORE.

Penguin has never been one to shrink from new experiences. He's floated to a vacation on a tropical isle. He's followed his heart to find a friend. He's even ventured to a distant land to find signs of fall for his curious little brother.

But this penguin still has a yen to boldly go where no penguin has gone before.

HE WANTED TO BE THE FIRST PENGUIN EVER TO SET FOOT ON THE NORTH POLE.

Penguin is a veteran of life at the South Pole, so the North Pole should be a piece of cake, right?

But first, he's got to get there. Just leaving home takes some planning, and some goodbyes. Emily seems strangely absorbed in sewing a bright quilt she is making, and little Pumpkin is so busy weaving a big basket that he hardly has more than a wave for him. Bootsy also seems all tied up with the long, long coil of rope she is braiding. There seems to be no farewell parade, no Bon Voyage Party in the offing for Penguin.

Oh, well. Penguin embarks. He floats northward, stopping along the way to visit with some old friends from his earlier adventures--Crab, Whale, and even Pinecone. But his stops are short and he continues his voyage, until at last, he's there.

Penguin celebrates, but he does so alone. The North Pole--well, there's a lot of there there, and his shouts of success just echo off the frozen landscape with no welcoming answers back.

Until at last, he spots a bit of movement in the expanse of white. It's Polar Bear, who seems amazed to finally meet that icon of the Other Pole--a penguin at his pole. Polar Bear's worlds are colliding!

TOGETHER THEY WENT ON A NORTH POLE ADVENTURE.

As they sail forth to explore the Arctic Ocean on a handy floe, Penguin spots something strange in the sky, floating closer and closer. It seems to be an aircraft of some sort--one with a patchwork hot air balloon and a really big basket suspended by braided ropes. Could it be who Penguin thinks it is?

It seems true friendship goes to the ends of the earth, in Salina Yoon's latest, Penguin's Big Adventure (Bloomsbury Press, 2015), her fourth book in her Penguin Adventures series. Yoon's now familiar artistic style--thick black lines delineating figures done in deep opaque colors--is there, as School Library Journal suggests, saying, "Yoon manages to create visual dynamism despite the illustrations' static simplicity by changing the page layouts to include spreads with horizon lines, framed tableaux, sequenced action, and thought bubbles." Also there is Yoon's steady premise, the emphasis on the value of friendship among her polar personalities, even new friends to be found in exotic new places. Will Polar Bear soon hop a floe or a freighter for a visit to the South Pole? Fans of Yoon's adventurer Penguin can only hope.

See reviews of Yoon's earlier Penguin adventures here.

Shaping Up! Friendshape by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld

WHAT'S SO GREAT ABOUT FRIENDS?

WE'RE GLAD YOU ASKED.

When you first learn about shapes, you start seeing them everywhere. It seems that everything is made out of shapes! And, truth to tell, most everything is.

In their latest, Friendshape (Scholastic Press, 2015), ace creators Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld again combine their language and art skills to show youngsters what wonderful things four little shapes can be and do.

FRIENDS MAKE YOU FEEL WELCOME!

Triangle centers itself on top of square, and voila'! It's a house! and red Rectangle rolls out in front, a red carpet for Circle to use to roll up right to the door!

Friends can make for fun, too! Balance Rectangle at the apex of Triangle, and LOOK! Square and Circle have themselves a seesaw upon which to enjoy the ups and downs of geometry!

And this circle of friendship is not exclusive, as we see when Octagon happens comes into view.

GLAD YOU COULD STOP BY! (Get it? Stop Sign?)

Shapes can disagree, but if they look at the idea from another angle, one can see that the other has got a good point! Friendshapes stick together to make stacks, even though their constructions do have their ups and downs, but they usually get their ideas off the ground, as square on rectangle topped by triangle make a rocket flight to the moon, appropriately played by blue Circle. And with triangle around, they know they always have a friend to lean on. In fact, if they line up just right, the friends can even spell out l o v e! (sort of)!

When author Rosenthal and artist Lichtenheld come together, even their pages are models of collaborative excellence. Rosenthal's easy wordplay and Lichtenheld's witty sight gags make this lesson in primary shapes an adventure for the imagination and an easy lesson on cooperation that will have kids eager to try their hand to see what else they can make with their shape blocks. Perfect as a lap book for a toddler, a preschool class read for a shapes unit, or a funny easy read for emergent readers, this one is a first purchase for home, public, and school libraries.

Pair this one with Michael Hall's Perfect Square and his delightful My Heart Is Like a Zoo, (see my reviews here) and for a look at natural shapes, Judith Nouvion's Shapes (Picture This) (see review here) for a basic geometry lesson which will leave no one bent out of shape!

With a Little Help from My Friends: This Raging Light by Estelle Laure

Mom was supposed to come home yesterday after her two-week vacation. Fourteen days. Said she needed a break from everything (See also: Us) and that she would be back before the first day of school. I waited up all night, hoping, hoping I was just being paranoid, that my pretty-much-never-wrong gut had made some kind of horrible mistake, and I watched the sun rise against the wall, my all-the-way-insides knowing the truth: we are alone, Wrenny and me.

I will do whatever I have to. No one will ever pull us apart. This means keeping things as normal as possible. Faking it.

Normal got gone with Dad.

And Lucille is good at faking it. Her father was taken away in the middle of a mental breakdown after trying to choke her mother and is at a halfway house somewhere. And with her mother's disappearance, it all falls to seventeen-year-old Lucille, determined somehow to keep her little sister with her, to keep their secret from the neighbors and their teachers, to find a way to pay the rent and utilities, to feed themselves, and to hold out until her mom returns or she turns eighteen and can become Wren's legal guardian, whichever comes first.

The month's bills are already coming in, and Lucille lucks into a part-time waitressing job at a small Mexican-themed bar and grill. Fred the owner expects his "girls" to be flashily made up, in short shorts and high heels, but he is also protective of them, and with pay and tips, Lucille can just cover the most important bills. Her best friend Eden tries to help, staying with Wren at night and trying to keep her own mother from finding out that Lucille and Wren are alone. To do so, she has to have help covering her absences and driving Lucille home at night from her twin brother Digby.

Lucille has known Eden and Digby since they were nine years old, and Digby has a committed relationship with his girlfriend Elaine. But as they are brought together by her secret, Lucille begins to recognize that she has strong and undeniable feelings for Digby, and when he begins to show that he also has an attraction to her, Lucille doesn't know what to do.

His hand is still resting on my foot. I am a giant foot, his hand a magical giant hand, and it is all over me. Breath. Less.

"What are you doing?" Who is this boy I've known for most of always, and why is he everything?

Then Eden gets in trouble with her mom for skipping her evening ballet classes, and Digby takes over staying with Wren, and he and Lucille draw closer. Eden discovers the feelings between her brother and Lucille, and she and Lucille quarrel. Elaine discovers that Digby is spending too much time with Lucille, and their teachers are asking questions she cannot quite answer.

As we say, it's complicated, and the complications of her life threaten to swamp Lucille completely as she feels more and more alone, in Estelle Laure's This Raging Light (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015),  In an absorbing and lyrical narrative, Laure captures the picture of  a strong-minded but nearly overwhelmed girl on the cusp of maturity, trying to carry adult responsibilities on her own shoulders. The portrayal of Lucille, Eden, and Digby, three well-intentioned young people caught in the complexities of life, shows them struggling to do the right thing in a situation they cannot fully control. Young adult readers will find much they recognize and much to like in these well-drawn characters, and the author even fleshes out the peripheral adults honestly and with respect for their own moral conflicts within this situation. This is a well-written novel, marred a little by the rather rushed and melodramatic "happy ending," but all in all, well worth the time of thoughtful readers.

Just Kicking It Around: Who Wants to Play Just for Kicks? by Chris Krale

I SIT IN THE CLASSROOM AND STARE AT THE CLOCK.

TODAY IS THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL BEFORE SPRING BREAK AT VICTORY SCHOOL FOR SUPER ATHLETES. NONE OF US CAN WAIT.

NO HOMEWORK! WE CAN SPEND THE ENTIRE WEEK PLAYING SPORTS.

Josh is planning to head straight for the ice rink with his buddy Brandon to sharpen their super hockey skills. But as he grabs his gear, Brandon says something that surprises him.

"I THINK IT MIGHT BE FUN TO TAKE A BREAK FROM HOCKEY FOR A DAY."

Josh can't believe that Brandon is heading out to the field to kick a soccer ball around with Carmen and the other soccer fans. He protests that he doesn't know anything about soccer, but Brandon thinks that is a good reason to go out and have some fun with soccer for a change. Josh disagrees.

"WHO WANTS TO PLAY JUST FOR KICKS?" 

But Josh finds that it is not fun practicing all alone on the ice. And the next morning he accepts Carmen's invitation and heads over the pitch with his friends.

But he was right. He's no good at soccer. When he tries his famous fast footwork on the grass, he actually falls on his face. It's embarrassing, and Josh is a little bit angry at his friends for laughing at him. But now he's determined. He takes advantage of Carmen's offer to meet him early the next day and show him some of the basics of soccer.

Josh confesses that being so bad at soccer makes him feel dumb. Carmen laughs and says she felt that way at first, too. So Josh lets Carmen teach him how to switch from hockey to soccer moves, and when the gang gets together, he finds that he's actually actually having real fun playing just for kicks!

Chris Krale's Who Wants to Play Just for Kicks? (Sports Illustrated Kids Victory School Superstars) (Stone Arch) continues the Victory School Superstars series with a title that has the superstars playing outside their area expertise, with emphasis on being open to new experiences. Illustrator Jorge Santillan ably portrays facial expressions to help convey important emotions and individual personalities to supplement and extend the simple text. With a text written in vocabulary simple enough for even some first graders, this entry in the Sports Illustrated Kids offerings invites young primary grade readers to make the move to chapter books as well.

Get Your Head In The Game! Nancy Clancy: Soccer Mania by Jane O'Connor

SOCCER PRACTICE HAD JUST ENDED.

"ALL I WANT IS TO BE MEDIOCRE," NANCY TOLD BREE. MEDIOCRE MEANT BEING AVERAGE, IN THE MIDDLE.

"I'LL NEVER BE GREAT. BUT I HATE BEING TERRIBLE." NANCY SIGHED. "MEDIOCRE. THAT'S MY GOAL."

Nancy has a problem. She is a strikingly bad soccer player. She admits to being a slow runner, and she even has a hard time following the ball on the field.

Her dad has a problem. He loves coaching Nancy's soccer team, the Green Goblins, but his team can't seem to win a game.

Nancy's mom has a problem. Halloween is almost upon them, and little sister Jojo is going through a unfortunate phase for late October. She's terrified of anything vaguely scary--even Nancy's goofy friend Lionel who volunteers to cheer for the Green Goblins in a green fright wig and vampire teeth.

But Nancy's teacher Mr. Dudeney doesn't have a problem with his current language arts unit. His class is having a lot of fun "burying" over-used words like great and awesome--dropping them into the "tombstone" on his desk--and substituting fresh words from the thesaurus (fancy for dictionary of synonyms).

But as October goes by, Bree makes sure Nancy practices after school every day, and although practice doesn't make her perfect, Nancy at last begins to learn to get into position for the play and to keep her head in the game. Bree and Nancy offer to cheer for Lionel at his soccer game, using the pom-poms Mrs. Devine gives them from her memory box, and decide to dress in their cheerleading outfits for Halloween. Nancy invites Jojo to be their junior cheerleader, solving Mom's costume problem.

But Dad's coaching problem continues down to the last game. On the field Nancy is followed by the one thing she's afraid of--bees--even on the bench, and the opposing players are really big--and fast. Nancy really tries--not even to score--but just to make her goal of being mediocre!

SACRE BLEU! THE BALL WAS HEADING RIGHT FOR NANCY. A STREAKS DEFENDER MOVED IN CLOSER TO HER.

OH, NO, YOU DON'T! NANCY THOUGHT. THIS ONE IS MINE! SHE TOOK A STEP BACK, HER EYES LOCKED ON THE BALL. AND THEN...

A BEE WAS BUZZING TOWARD HER. NANCY PANICKED. SHE FORGOT ABOUT THE SOCCER BALL FLYING TOWARD HER! TOO LATE! THE BEE ZAPPED HER IN THE NECK.

NANCY SHOT UP FROM THE PAIN.

ZWOCK! SHE GOT ZAPPED AGAIN IN THE FACE.

IT WAS THE SOCCER BALL!

But Nancy's impromptu header is the assist that sends the ball right to Bree, who passes it to the team's skillful (but not humble) scorer, Grace, who kicks it past the goalie to give the Green Goblins a win at last.

The team, even Grace, agrees that Nancy has met her goal of being mediocre (almost, adds Grace), in Jane O'Connor's just-published-today sixth chapter book in series, Fancy Nancy: Nancy Clancy, Soccer Mania (Harper, 2015). O'Connor is a master at humorously incorporating new language into plots which engagingly combine childhood concerns and school and family life that are spot-on for early grade readers. It's a superb (fresh and fancy for awesome) book for a classroom read-along for units on the thesaurus and appropriately inspiring for kids who aren't exactly the stars of their own teams. Author O'Connor and illustrator Preiss score at winning chapter books for young readers who definitely won't have mediocre vocabularies.