cover image BEVERLY BILLINGSLEY BORROWS A BOOK

BEVERLY BILLINGSLEY BORROWS A BOOK

Alexander Stadler, . . Harcourt/Silver Whistle, $16 (32pp) ISBN 978-0-15-202510-6

In this sympathetic tale of a budding bibliophile, a light-gray animal with bearish ears and a tentative manner receives her first library card and uses it to borrow a volume on dinosaurs. She smiles politely as the green, birdlike librarian tells her the due date. "On Wednesday, after school, she studied the iguanodon. On Thursday and Friday, she read about the ankylosaurus. She spent several days building a prehistoric jungle habitat," then realizes the book is overdue. Fearful of a fine (or jail, according to a coyote-like schoolmate), she avoids the library until her mother discovers the problem and helps her return the overdue book. The beaky librarian lets it slide. In his picture-book debut, Stadler shows that a minor issue can loom large for a child (the heroine, sporting pajamas with the due date stamped all over them, has a nightmare starring a green triceratops—with a hairdo much like the librarian's—demanding the book). His quavery ink line drawings and filmy gouache palette suggest the work of William Steig, while his naïve images of anthropomorphic creatures call to mind Lauren Child's illustrations. A reassuring tale for those experiencing their first bittersweet taste of independence. Ages 3-7. (Apr.)