Spots in a Box - Hardcover

Helen Ward has twice won the British National Art Library Award. Her books include The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse, Varmints, and The Cockerel and the Fox, which was short-listed for the 2003 Kate Greenaway Medal.

PreS-Gr 2—A die-cut cover ushers readers into the company of a guinea fowl "without any spots,/which [makes] him feel odd/'cause the others had lots." So he writes a letter requesting some. When boxes of spots of all kinds start arriving, however, they are all wrong. Some are too tall and long, others too small. There are "inky-font dots" and dots made from "splats, drips, and blots." Die-cuts reveal spots that "turn[ed] out to be no spots at all," and foil spots are too "sparkly and bright." There are even spots more suitable for other kinds of creatures. Finally, though, a box arrives with multicolored, textured spots that, while not usual guinea fowl attire, put a smile on this bird's beak, and he dons them "the very next day." There is so much to enjoy here. Large, humorous watercolor illustrations depict the guinea fowl in profile with an empty box on his head as tiny spots spill across the pages,becoming entangled in ribbons unraveling from a "box of not-spots," or connecting "connect-the-dots spots" (which children might be tempted to imitate) with pencil in beak. The brief, well-rhymed text invites readers to chime in, and there are interesting spots to see and even feel as well. An important message about having the courage to be different is an added bonus. VERDICT A first purchase for every library.—Marianne Saccardi, Children's Literature Consultant, Greenwich, CT