Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Summary:  When Reuben the bear announces he’s gotten donuts for his scout troop, the rest of the animals can’t help noticing that he’s a bit damp in the crotch area.  He reacts with anger, accusing different friends of wetting his pants. The others respond calmly, telling Reuben it was probably just an accident, and that they’ve done the same thing themselves.  As the bear recounts his day (chugging lemonade, hiking near a waterfall, napping with his paw in his aquarium), it becomes obvious to all what really happened. Finally, Reuben blames his pants (“They sprung a leak”) and sheds them in his tent.  He never admits to his deed, but tells the others he’d forgive them if they did wet his pants. There are a few suppressed giggles, but it’s clear everyone likes Rufus, and they enjoy their donuts around the campfire. 40 pages; ages 4-8.

Pros:  This book will undoubtedly be received amidst hilarious laughter, beginning with the cover and title.  It’s pretty silly all right, but there’s a nice lesson to be learned from the way Reuben’s friends treat him; the sentence on the back cover, “Compassion is no accident” says it all.

Cons:  It may take a little reining in to get kids to see beyond the bathroom humor to the message of compassion.

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Published by Philomel Books

Summary:  When three snacks–a cookie, a pretzel stick, and a cheese doodle–escape from their packages, they discover a world of fun, not the dangerous monsters they’ve been warned about.  But when they discover a note from Mom encouraging a kid to have an after-school snack, they start to get nervous. They compare stories they’ve heard about kid monsters and their enormous teeth, and try to come up with a plan of escape.  Rolling around on the dirty floor won’t deter a hungry kid, they realize, and hiding brings about unintended consequences for the cheese doodle. Finally, they turn the note over and create a new one, telling the kid to just drink water when he gets home from school.  Cheese Doodle and Pretzel celebrate their victory, then turn to find Cookie. But there’s only a crumb or two and a half-empty glass of milk. 32 pages; ages 4-8.

Pros:  Terry Border’s photography bring the three snacks to life with plenty of silliness.  Kids will enjoy seeing how he creates a new world from familiar kitchen items.

Cons:  I found the ending disturbing.

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Published by Sterling Children’s Books

Summary:  Harpreet loves to dress according to his moods: yellow when he feels sunny, pink when he wants to celebrate, and red when he needs extra courage.  His head covering, called a patka, is always part of his carefully coordinated outfit. When his family moves across the country, Harpreet finds himself nervously wearing blue, sadly wearing gray, and shyly sporting white.  White becomes his go-to choice as he attempts to fade into the background of his new school. But when a chance encounter involving headgear leads to a new friendship, Harpreet happily begins to wear the colors of the rainbow once again.  Includes a note about Sikhism from Sikh scholar and professor Simran Jeet Singh. 32 pages; ages 3-8.

Pros:  A touching friendship story that most kids will connect with, while at the same time learning about a culture that may be unfamiliar to them.

Cons:  Harpreet’s pallette seemed a little limited, leading me to wonder where green, purple, orange, black, and brown fit in.

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Published by Chronicle Books

Summary:  “A stone sat still with water, grass, and dirt/and it was as it was where it was in the world.”  While the stone remains constant, perceptions of it change. To a chipmunk, it’s dark, but to an owl, it’s bright.  When a gull uses it to break open a clam, it’s loud, but it’s quiet to the snake resting on top of it. Over time (“And the stone was a blink/and the stone was an age”), the landscape changes and the stone becomes an island, then eventually is submerged underwater.  “Have you ever known such a place? Where with water, grass, and dirt, a stone sits still in the world.” 56 pages; ages 3-300.

Pros:  This is a truly amazing book with so many different levels: it can be read as a nature book for the kiddies, or as a Zen guide to learning to connect with the eternal in a transient world.  I wasn’t a huge fan of Wenzel’s Caldecott honor book They All Saw a Cat, but I sure would love to see this one get some Caldecott recognition.

Cons:  I feel like I need to retreat from the world and just think about this book for awhile.

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