September's Book of the Month--You Go First

September’s Book of the Month, YOU GO FIRST, written by Ariel Bernstein and illustrated by Marc Rosenthal, stars Cat and Duck, two friends whose fondness for each other forms the heart of this active, funny, caring story.

When Cat and Duck, “two very good friends,” go to the playground, they find that the slide they want to play on has been replaced with a new slide, one that’s bigger, curvier, and “the MOST fun!” according to Duck, but possibly “too much fun?” according to Cat. Cat uses plenty of stalling techniques in trying to persuade Duck that they should play on something else, instead. When, finally, Duck agrees not to go on the slide, Cat now worries that Duck will “miss out on something she wanted” and, because Cat is “a very good friend,” a solution is found. It turns out that Duck is “a very good friend,” too!

The text is clever yet uncomplicated, uses uses well-placed repetition, and is never preachy. Illustrations are in colored pencil with digital color in a pitch-perfect, expressive, cartoony, kid-friendly way and, if you love picture books, you really shouldn’t miss it.

--Lynn

Shelf Awareness--Things in the Basement

MG Review: Things in the Basement

Things in the Basement by Ben Hatke (First Second, 240p., ages 6-10, 9781250909541)

Things in the Basement is a gorgeous, maze-like graphic novel for young readers that features big brother Milo on a reluctant subterranean quest to find his baby sister's "special sock."

Milo, his mother, and twins Lucy and Leo have moved into a new house. Milo's overwhelmed mother asks the boy to check the basement for Lucy's missing sock, the one knitted with Tia Maria's "special yarn." The boy, whose floppy bangs hide his eyes, anxiously heads down to the laundry room... where he discovers another room hidden behind the water heater. He spies a rat scampering away with the missing sock and chases it--into another basement. And then another! Here he finds an old-fashioned drawing room, complete with a skull. Though Milo is at first frightened by the skull's "clattr-clack[ing]," "Chuckles" joins the hunt for the elusive "sock rat." Boy and skull encounter an eyeball-squid monster, a ravenous Gobbler, and a ghost who's haunting an enormous sock pile as they try to complete Milo's task.

Ben Hatke's inspired plot is visually driven, creative, and multilayered. Lavish mixed-media illustrations employ sharp angles and a muted palette--often sparked with dramatic bursts of color and light--to create a strong sense of place and mood. Hatke (Mighty Jack) uses borderless, curvy panels and full-bleed spreads with careful intention to depict action and build suspense. The bulk of the story is told through art with dialogue clarifications when needed and sound effects that add to both the fun and the scares. As Milo aptly points out, "this is a really big basement"--it is, and it's home to a really big, imaginative story! --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author.