Frankie’s Favorite Food

As classmates prepare to dress as their favorite eats for a school play, foodie Franklin cannot bear to narrow things down (“How could he decide between a bowl of chowder and some fresh guacamole?”). After he asks to take the stage as “pancakes topped with tomato soup and sprinkled with popcorn,” among other combinations (a mushroom-clad student pulls the cap over their eyes), Frankie’s teacher suggests that he lend his food savvy as costume manager. Happily, his can-do attitude and work adding “last-minute garnishes” backstage and sweeping up costume detritus leads him to realize his culinary character. The story can feel a titch formulaic, a sort of conveyance for the real star: Garrity-Riley’s charming gouache, ink, and colored-pencil costumes, which capture children in all manner of costume comestibles. What’s not to love about a pickle wearing a knapsack, a balletic bowl of ramen, or a calm-looking tin of sardines waiting in the wings? Ages 3–7. [em](Aug.) [/em]