Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Summary: Iris loves to push the button on the elevator to her parents’ apartment. So she feels betrayed when her toddler brother takes over her job, and reacts angrily by pushing all the buttons at once…which breaks the elevator. While she and her family wait as someone from maintenance fixes it, Iris spies a broken button being tossed into the trash. She retrieves it, tapes it to the inside of her bedroom closet, and begins to have magical adventures in her own private elevator. Later, an evening with a babysitter gives Iris an opportunity to bond with her brother, and when she wakes up the next morning, she decides to include him in her next adventure. The book ends with them in an unfamiliar landscape based on the book they read the night before. 56 pages; ages 4-8.
Pros: Here’s a Caldecott contender for sure, by the team that brought you Drawn Together. There’s just enough text (in Iris’s voice) to keep the story going, making this a book that pre-readers can enjoy from the amazing illustrations alone. A sure-fire winner for a wide range of readers (probably well beyond my 4-8 recommendation).
Cons: I was confused as to why Iris’s brother’s stuffed tiger was also named Iris.