Schemework,Teamwork! The Boxitects by Kim Smith

MEG WAS A BOXITECT.

SHE LOVED TO MAKE THINGS OUT OF BOXES. SHE MADE TINY HOUSES, TALL TOWERS, AND TWISTY TUNNELS.

Meg made a castle that dominated the family room. Meg's mom admired her cleverness and creativity, so she signed her up for Maker School, where she could develop her construction skills somewhere else for a while.

AT MAKER SCHOOL THERE WERE BLANKETEERS, SPAGHETTI-TECHS, AND EGG CARTONERS.

But Meg was the only Boxitect in the bunch! She liked that!

She studied at making sturdier structures and more stylish structures. She was in her glory....

Until another student arrived--Simone--who was also into boxitect-ing. And worse of all, Simone believed she was the best boxitect ever. She fancied herself a critic and started giving Meg handy hints to make her consturctions stronger, straighter, and...

LESS BORING...!

Meg retaliated with little technical tips of her own to "help" Simone maker her products prettier.

Forget creativity. This was COMPETITION!

And to make it worse, it was time for the ANNUAL MAKER MATCH! Both Meg and Simon were determined to be on top... but there was one requirement they didn't expect--they had to work together. They agreed to split their construction into two parts: Meg built a tall treehouse and Simone added a towering smokestack to her ship. Their structure got more tottery and preposterous as each tried to make their design the biggest and tallest. And in due course, of course, there was a huge...

CRASH!

Quickly the two realized that they would be the laughingstock of the Makers' Match unless they became a TEAM!

And in the need to work together, the two learned to make something new, to make friends, in Kim Smith's little parable of partnership, Boxitects (Clarion Books, 2020). Youngsters will love author-illustrator Smith's inventive illustrations of the two rivals' contraptions, and love her story of friendship found in mutual interests as well. Writes Kirkus, "Personality and a developmental message successfully combine for STEAM fun."

A Chapeau for All Seasons: I Had a Favorite Hat by Boni Ashburn

I HAD A FAVORITE HAT THAT WAS MY BESTEST HAT EVER.

I WORE IT AT THE BEACH. IT WAS FLIPPY AND FLOPPY.

But beach days don't last forever, and when the autumn leaves start to fall, Mom says it's time to put away summer things. But her daughter has other ideas.

I HUNG IT ON MY DOOR,
WAITING TO BE SO MUCH MORE....

Our crafty girl recognizes the hat has other possibilities and when October rolls around. she has an inspiration.

WITH A LITTLE OF THIS AND A LITTLE OF THAT....
... A HALLOWEEN WITCH HAT!

As the year goes by, the hat morphs into many styles. A few Christmas ornaments makes it a fine holiday concert chapeau, and some cute cut-out red hearts make it perfect for Valentine's day. It does double duty for playing dress-up with Maggie, and it's a natural for an Easter hat with a gauzy blue veil and a touch of daffodils--until Grandma appropriates it, declaring it perfect for her spring garden's scarecrow.

But then one day, the girl finds the scarecrow hat-less! Her hapless hat has been carried away by the breeze!

But luckily summer is coming and her friend Maggie points out that floppy sunhats are o-u-t of style this season.

"SHINY VISORS ARE IN!" SHE SAYS.

HMMM! Maybe with a little of this and....

Boni Ashburn's I Had a Favorite Hat (Abrams Books, 2015), with it pinkish cover and stylish theme is obviously aimed at the young female fashionista, a companion book to its popular predecessor, I Had a Favorite Dress, (see my review here) one which proves that our girl has learned a thing or two from her crafty (in more ways than one) Mom. Although this one is a natural as an activity starter for birthday or holiday parties for girls, there may be some future Christian Diors out there who will pick up some techniques for their careers in haute couture as well.

"The energetic and engaging illustrations, created using graphite, cut paper, watercolor, crayon, and PhotoShop, invite perusal," points out School Library Journal.