To Blend Or Not To Blend: Matchy Matchy by Erin McGill

MY NAME IS MARIA, BUT YOU MIGHT AS WELL CALL ME MATCHY MATCHY.

Maria's mother has a mania for matching. Maria's socks  match her shoes, which match her headband, which matches her dress, which even matches her chair!

EVEN MY UNDERWEAR MATCHES.

Maria has had it with blending in with the furniture. Not to mention the walls. She designs her manifesto.

She transforms herself into a one-girl protest march-with signs.

MARIA'S MATCHLESS MARCH!

JOIN THE MOVEMENT.

SAY NO

TO

SWEATER SETS!

But Mom has her own manifesto--decreeing pink and red for everything on Valentine's Day, commanding holiday sweaters for every season, and coordinated accessories for everything.

Maria fights back with her own merry mixes--foofy, feathery, stripey, mixed animal prints, with checks and plaids.

But, in Erin McGill's stylish latest, Matchy Matchy (Cameron Books, 2019), there comes a time to call a truce in the pattern wars, as Mom makes a cameo appearance in a dizzy combo of polka dots and petunias and the two agree to disagree in the "I Gotta Be Me" conclusion. A fun book for mothers and daughters to laugh together with, along with a little lesson on compromise.

In Service: Who Will I Be? by Abby Huntsman

Isabel was stumped.

"Who do you want to be when you grow up?" her teacher asked the class. Everyone around Isabel waved their hands.

But Isabel can't answer that question. She thought about it all the way home and tells her father what happened. He asks her another question.

"Well, what makes you happy?"

Isabel remembers selling cookies at the charity Bake Sale and the time she found someone's lost pet, and her dad suggests that maybe the job for her is helping people.

"Dad, helper isn't a job!" Isabel replies.

Oh, but it is, her father replies, and he takes Isabel for a walk around the town, where there are many people working at helping others--from the teacher working as a crossing guard, the neighborhood veterinarian who helps keep pets well, the librarian who helps people find books, the fire fighters in the local station, even the garbage collector who takes the trash away. A stop at her mom's office finds her, the city's mayor, talking about her new town project with a newspaper reporter, where her mother points out that...

"Journalists help people know what's happening."

"What to be" is a big question in children's lives, and author Abby Huntsman puts in a plug for service workers of all kinds, in her Who Will I Be? (Harper, 2018).  Cozy, homey artwork by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff offers youngsters a chance to notice all the jobs grown-ups are doing throughout the neighborhood, especially those essential "community helpers." Says Publishers Weekly, "Chipper mixed-media pictures by Le-Vriethoff give the story its oomph, illuminating its message about the value of service workers."

Out After Dark! The Night Is Yours by Abdul-Razak Zachariah

Little one, so calm and happy,

this is your night.

Oh, what is so rare as a night in summer?

Those warm nights, with their long twilights, with air and shadows so soft--what a great time to play!

Grab the cool breezes in the courtyard. This is where you chill.

Some of childhood's fondest memories are of hiding and seeking games outside, while neighbor parents softly chat and laugh together nearby.

We found the best hiding places and tried not to giggle and give ourselves away when we heard the countdown and "Coming, Ready or Not! And when we were hot and tired of running and chasing, and the one who is IT sings "Olly, olly, in free," we threw ourselves down on the grass and looked up, at the moths circling the street lights like glowing fireflies, at the moon having its moment, at the stars all out. Who can spot the Big Dipper?

This is your night!

The dark skies are still full of your laughter and joy.

Abdul-Razak Zachariah's The Night Is Yours (Dial Books, 2019) put in a poetic plea for children and parents to take back the night, to enjoy the fun of spending some time outside as it grows dark. There's a sense of freedom from the day's responsibilities; the outdoors is different in the gloaming, a good time to enjoy coming together as friends, family, and community.  Keturah Bobo's distinctive double-page spreads, backlighted by the full moon, add to the fun of taking back the nights. Says School Library Journal in a starred review, "Zachariah's lyrical language aches to be read aloud and the second-person narrative makes this a perfect book to share one-on-one or in storytime."

The Call of the Open Road: Born to Run;The Story of Johnny 99 by Wendy Parnell

AT HOME ON FLAMINGO LANE, TWO CARS SLEPT WITHOUT A CARE--
ROSALITA, A PINK CADILLAC, AND FRANKIE, A '57 BEL AIR.

FRANKIE AND ROSALITA AWOKE TO A LOUD SOUND, A RUMBLING BEAT.
THEY KNEW IN AN INSTANT IT WAS THEIR SON, RACING IN THE STREET.

JOHNNY 99 SLAMMED ON IS BRAKES WHEN HE SAW HIS DAD.
HE KNEW HE HAD DONE WRONG AND THAT HIS DAD WOULD BE MAD.

Growing up is hard to do, especially when you're a Super Sport model with lots of horsepower under your hood, just longing to rev and race with the best.

But Dad's headlight bezels are beetling and his grill is grumbling, and Johnny 99 knows he's in for the familiar lecture about racing in appropriate places.  He pleads that he's born to run, and that kids just want to have fun. Mom and Dad suggest that he needs a grounding in the garage.

At last the repentant boy racer approaches his parents with a personal improvement road map.

"I'VE BEEN THINKING. MAYBE IT'S TIME I LEFT MY HOMETOWN.
YOU KNOW, SEE NEW THINGS AND SEE WHAT ELSE IS AROUND.

And in the oldest storybook tradition, Johnny 99 sets out to find fortune and enlightenment on the open road. He travels the highways and byways of the U.S.A., sending picture post cards back to his anxious parents. Johnny's confidence grows as he finds his way by fields and farms, from the heartland to sunset by shining seas.

Proud of his road prowess, Johnny 99 confidently heads back towards home, his engine high-revving. And then Johnny takes on the Badlands. But his coolant hasn't been checked, and he finds his radiator boiling over and his block in dire danger.

Luckily, two helpful highway patrol cars spot him and give him a timely tow back to town, and with his fluids on full, a somewhat chastened Johnny heads sedately toward home.

But if it's not a burning desert, it's a flash flood! Driving into the night, Johnny suddenly brakes to a panic stop. The bridge over the river is a total washout. He can't cross--and neither can anyone else. Johnny makes a fast U-turn back in the direction he came, parks by the roadside, and directs his headlights down the highway.

I FRANTICALLY FLASHED MY LIGHTS AND HONKED A WARNING SIGN.
THE CARS ALL SAW ME AND BRAKED... JUST IN THE NICK OF TIME.

And on the Fourth of July, Johnny's tour finally takes him back to his town's Main Street, where he is greeted as a hometown hero.

His speech hits home:

"MOM,, DAD, I DID A LOT OF GROWIN' UP ON THIS TRIP, AND I NOW REALIZE
YOU WERE RIGHT. THERE'S SOMETHING BETTER THAN RACING AND WINNING FIRST PRIZE.”

In Wendy Parnell's Born to Run: The Story of Johnny 99 (Rocket Star Press, 2015), young Johnny returns an older, wiser muscle car, one who no longer thinks loud mufflers and jackrabbit starts are the proper rules of the road.

While author Wendy Parnell's versification may need the timing on her scansion adjusted and her rhymes aligned, artist Matt Hall's illustrations are turbo-charged treats. Hall's photo-realistic paintings portray Johnny as a rev-crazy 1969 Camaro SS, with rakish hood and mag wheels, always revvin' for a drag race, while Mom and Dad are slightly out-of-style Cadillac and Chevy Bel Air rag-tops who like to park it safely in the garage by the time the moon is up. Hall's car characters are sure to be a hit with young fans of the classic movie CARS, and his wonderfully picturesque roadside scenes--from the Cadillac Ranch with its half-buried Caddies to the Pacific shores of San Diego--and his charming reproductions of vintage post cards, and county fair surreal backgrounds make for vibrantly stunning picture book art. Matt Hall's illustrations take this one roaring across the finish line as the checkered flag comes down--a winner going away.

And Baby Makes Three..." Zombie In Love 2 + 1 by Kelly DiPucchio

MORTIMER AND MILDRED HAD A PROBLEM.
IT WASN'T A BIG PROBLEM.

IT WAS A LITTLE PROBLEM.

Zombies Mortimer and Mildred had fallen in love at first sight and now are living in newlywed bliss in their quaint vine-covered mausoleum near their friends in the graveyard.

But one twilight they find a surprise left on their doorstep--an old orange crate with a lively human baby inside, with a sign that says TAKE ME!

Being parents throws the undead couple for a loop. They name the baby Sunny, swaddle his bottom in some old mummy wrappings they have around the house, and set out on the rocky road of parenting.

But a baby is not exactly a good fit for creatures-of-the-night Mort and Millie.

Sonny is fussy at feeding time. He refuses a spoonful of bat pudding and actually spits out his pureed brains! He's not even green; he's a sickly color of pink. His teeth come in instead of falling out. And he never cries.

AND WORST OF ALL, HE WAS AWAKE ALL DAY AND SLEPT ALL NIGHT.

POOR MORTIMER AND MILDRED WERE DEAD TIRED.

In desperation, Mortimer and Mildred take Sonny to the pediatrician. Dr. Frank M. Stein, who pronounces Sonny in the pink of health.

That's good news, Mortimer and Mildred suppose, but it still doesn't give them a clue what to do to get some semi-eternal rest. They foresee endless weary days half awake, reading endless bedtime stories, playing pattycake and peek-a-BOO.

But at last there's a breakthrough!

SONNY FINALLY SLEPT THROUGH THE DAY!

Kelly DiPucchio's follow up to her best-selling Zombie in Love (see review here) takes her lovelorn hero and his smitten sweetheart into the trying days of parenthood. But with a few good day's sleep, Mortimer and Mildred stop falling apart (literally) and begin to enjoy the milestones in raising Sonny. When Sonny tries to climb out of his skull-bedecked crib and hits the floor with a crash and a wail, Mildred's first thought is to take a picture for the baby book.

"QUICK! GRAB THE CAMERA!

SONNY JUST TOOK HIS FIRST FALL!"

Illustrator Scott Campbell comes up with plenty of sight jokes in this second book, mostly executed in an appropriate palette of putrid greens. The Zombies' front door mat says R.I.P. and earthworms frolic in their graveyard lawn and house. Brains are everywhere, from baby pull toy to hobby horse head, and Mildred teaches patty-cake with Mortimer's two detached hands. In a wry double entendre Mildred tells Mortimer than Sonny has his nose (actually!), and with big gap-toothed grins (and one missing nose), all three pose together for a selfie, as Millie declares herself "the luckiest ghoul" ever.

One reviewer points out that DiPucchio and Campbell's books are perfect for both Halloween and Valentine's Day, and Publishers Weekly proclaims that for either occasion Zombie in Love 2 + 1 (Atheneum, 2015) is drop-dead funny and will "keep kids cackling."

The Parent Swap: Would I Trade My Parents? by Laura Numeroff

"Sarah's parents allow her to have chocolate milk BEFORE dinner. I wish my parents let me have chocolate milk before dinner.

William has three cats, two hamsters, some fish, and a dog named Olive. I wish my parents let me have a dog.

Ben and his parents like to go camping. I went with them once. We slept under the stars. I wish my parents let me sleep under the stars."

It seems that the parental grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Who wouldn't have a few envious thoughts about friends whose parents let them do fun stuff like riding in a cool old convertible with the top down, or eating homemade blueberry pancakes for breakfast, or going to square dances and giggling through their mixups in the do-si-dos.

Laura Joffe Numeroff, author of the best-selling If You Give a Mouse series, has a recent book, Would I Trade My Parents?, which humorously deals with the parental envy problem. The young hero sees his friends' interesting and varied lives with their own parents and there's a lot there to envy. As he gazes ruefully at his own unexciting pet, a hermit crab in a cage, how could he not wish he could have cats, hamsters, AND a dog like his friend William, whose mom owns an actual pet shop? Who wouldn't like to watch TV 'til bedtime any night her homework is done like Katie?

But then, his own parents are pretty cool, too. His mom teaches him French and plays piano duets with him. His dad takes him on long walks, talks to him about everything, and teaches him to recognize different kinds of clouds. His mom puts a note in his lunch every day, his dad reads to him every night, and they all hop on their bikes for a long ride every weekend. His own parents, on reflection, are not too shabby!

"I wouldn't trade my parents. I know that they are the best!"