cover image Chu’s First Day of School

Chu’s First Day of School

Neil Gaiman, illus. by Adam Rex. Harper, $17.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-06-222397-5

In his second outing, Chu the sneeze-prone panda is anxious that his classmates won’t like him. At school, the students take turns introducing themselves and what they love to do (“My name is Pablo. I love to climb up things,” says a tamarin). “There was a lot of chalk dust in the air,” writes Gaiman ominously, and Chu soon shows off his singular talent with a sneeze that blows the roof off the school and sends everyone flying (“That’s what I do,” he says). Gaiman and Rex expertly blend humor and tension to delicious narrative effect. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Merrilee Heifetz, Writers House. Illustrator’s agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (July)