cover image WHAT DO I DO?

WHAT DO I DO?

Hui Hui Su-Kennedy, . . Viking, $15.99 (40pp) ISBN 978-0-670-05885-3

Younger kids may feel they really can't do all that much—at least, not when compared to their older siblings or adults. But as Su-Kennedy proves in her visually striking debut, they're actually quite a self-confident, self-sufficient bunch. "I wash," she writes, showing a boy scrubbing his body all by himself. "I brush" serves as caption on the opposite page, as a girl methodically brushes her hair; a faraway look makes her seem wiser than her years. Other demonstrations of children's abilities are more fanciful. "I listen" shows a child imagining that an elegantly attired wolf is playing the violin; on the opposite page, readers see the actual scene—she listens to the radio on her urban terrace, surrounded by a panoply of sounds (a neighbor's kettle sings, traffic buzzes, a handyman hammers). The word-and-picture matches veer off course a few times; some pairings seem less imaginative ("I share" simply shows children playing together), while others may puzzle readers (one example for "I drink" pictures a child watering a plant). The ending feels pat as well—"Because I'm happy to!" is the sum-up rationale for everything children do. Still, the chiffon watercolor textures and strong, confident outlines give the characters an air of calm competency that younger readers will likely find flattering, while the simple vocabulary makes the book a natural for those in the early stages of word recognition. Ages 2-up. (June)