True Companions

It's off to dog-training class for everyone's favorite Westie in McDuff Goes to School by Rosemary Wells, illus. by Susan Jeffers. McDuff hits it off with the new neighbors' dog, Marie, but makes no points with Marie's French-speaking owners when he won't get off of their sofa; he is enrolled in school to learn basic commands. Readers get a few lessons, too, in the French words for sit, stay, come and heel—along with a fun twist at the end. The artwork captures every nuance of the dogs' expressions. (Hyperion, $14.99 32p ages 2-5 ISBN 0-7868-0647-8; Sept.)

David Wisniewski continues his conspiracy theory in The Secret Knowledge of Grown-Ups: The Second File, explaining to youngsters the "real reason" that grown-ups want them to eat a good breakfast (otherwise your stomach "throws a tantrum") and not watch TV late at night ("so the actors can take a break!"). Once again, Wisniewski's meticulous cut-paper illustrations underscore his comical words of caution. (HarperCollins, $16.95 48p ages 7-up ISBN 0-688-17854-5; Aug.)

Alma Flor Ada returns to the Hidden Forest a third time for With Love, Little Red Hen, illus. by Leslie Tryon, once again relaying her tale through correspondence from storybook characters. Little Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks and others surprise the industrious but stressed-out Ms. Hen by secretly cultivating her corn, while two wolves plot to kidnap her for a chicken dinner. (S&S/Atheneum, $16 40p ages 5-8 ISBN 0-689-82581-1; Oct.)

New Pet by Dan Yaccarino continues the Blast Off Boy and Blorp series begun with First Day on a Strange New Planet. Blast Off Boy doesn't mind having swapped places with Blorp in the Galactic Space Exchange Program—except that he misses his dachshund, Scooter. Meanwhile, Scooter continues to hide from Blorp. Each boy finds another pet as a companion with comic results. (Hyperion, $15.99 40p ages 4-8 ISBN 0-7868-0579-X; Sept.)

The newest star in the hand-sized paper-over-board Biddle Book series by David Kirk is Little Pig Biddle Pig, a fetching pink porker who is "pretty and clean,/ Sweet as alfalfa/ And grand as a queen." But she is also lonely until she joins the other mud-spattered pigs in the muck. (Scholastic, $9.95 32p ages 2-up ISBN 0-439-30575-6; Sept.)

Following up on their Larry books, in which the Pinkwaters chronicled a polar bear's hankering for blueberry muffins, Irving and Muktuk: Two Bad Bears by Daniel Pinkwater, illus. by Jill Pinkwater, showcases the town of Yellowtooth as it celebrates the New Year with a Blueberry Muffin Festival. Inevitably, shifty-eyed Irving and Muktuk sneak in, costumed as penguins, chefs or "extremely large, hairy blueberry muffins." Officer Bunny is finally driven to ship them to a zoo in Bayonne, N.J., "the muffin capital of the world." (Houghton, $15 32p ages 4-8 ISBN 0-618-09334-6; Sept.)

In Simon and Molly Plus Hester by Lisa Jahn-Clough, the duo from My Friend and I and Missing Molly are peas in a pod. But the status quo gets overturned when Hester moves in and offers up a lot of new ideas for having fun; Simon soon comes to believe that his best buddy has been wooed away. The happy resolution reassures children that three needn't be a crowd. (Houghton/ Lorraine, $15 32p ages 3-7 ISBN 0-618-08220-4; Sept.)

When Poppy and Max Grow Up by Lindsey Gardiner does for prospective careers what her Here Come Poppy and Max did for the heroine's favorite animals. The volume rounds up a septet of the usual child-appealing vocational suspects, including chef, rock star, artist and vet, and mines considerable charm from Poppy's gawky, tousled cuteness and the wiry pooch Max's willingness to follow his owner's lead. (Little, Brown, $12.95 24p ages 2-6 ISBN 0-316-60342-2; Sept.)

The charming and self-assured feline introduced in Milton is back in Milton Goes to the Vet by Haydé Ardalan. Worn out after his trip to the vet (which wasn't as bad as Milton had expected), the hero eyes a bird and says, "That bird will keep a minute./ Right now I could use a nap." (Chronicle, $7.95 32p all ages ISBN 0-8118-2843-3; Aug.) Figgy the fox and Jefferson Bear, the animal pair from What Are Friends For? and What Will I Do Without You? star in Will You Forgive Me? by Sally Grindley, illus. by Penny Dann. After Figgy's brothers coerce Figgy into hurling JB's favorite "tickling stick," the fellow is too ashamed to tell his pal what happened—until he can set things right. (Kingfisher, $15.95 32p ages 2-6 ISBN 0-7534-5295-2; Sept.)

Another addition to the Unsolved Mystery from History series, The Wolf Girls by Jane Yolen and Heidi Elisabet Yolen Stemple, illus. by Roger Roth, urges readers to act as detectives. The volume presents the evidence, then asks aspiring detectives to evaluate: were two girls brought to an orphanage in India abandoned by their parents or raised by wolves in the wild? (S&S, $16 32p ages 6-up ISBN 0-689-81080-6; Aug.)

A companion volume to Big Numbers, the math concept book Little Numbers by Edward Packard, illus. by Salvatore Murdocca, explores the world of fractions. "We'll start big—with the number 1," kicks off the proceedings with a single seismosaurus on the front lawn. Things quickly diminish from there, as each turn of the page finds the critter shrinking—to 1/10th of its size, then 1/100th, all the way down to one trillionth. Murdocca's cartoon illustrations allow for more information—and comic asides. (Millbrook, $15.95 32p ages 5-8 ISBN 0-7613-1397-4; Sept.)

Many Happy Returns

Hilary Knight remains true to the original in his retelling of Cinderella. First published in 1978, his subdued hues and robust, stylized drawings create a once-upon-a-time enchantment. (Random, $14.95 40p ages 3-6 ISBN 0-375-81422-1; Sept.) Since its publication in 1967, book lovers have lauded Russell Hoban's The Mouse and His Child. Now 2001 Caldecott Medalist David Small's haunting charcoal-and-ink illustrations energize and elevate this moving tale of two toy mice that come to life. (Scholastic/Levine, $16.95 256p all ages ISBN 0-439-09826-2; Sept.)

Charlotte Zolotow's 1958 text conjures all the ways animals wind down for the night in The Sleepy Book: from "pigeons [that]/ sleep/ in/ a row/ pressing/ against/ each other/ for/ warmth" to "little boys/ and girls [who]/ .../ sleep/ warm under/ their blankets/ in their/ beds." Stefano Vitale's subdued, soothing colors painted on wood add a cozy, twilight backdrop to the poet's timeless text. (HarperCollins, $15.95 40p ages 4-8 ISBN 0-06-027873-0; Aug.)

Once again available from the husband-and-wife team behind Bard of Avon: The Story of William Shakespeare, here is another biography from the Elizabethan Age: Good Queen Bess: The Story of Elizabeth I of England (1990) by Diane Stanley and Peter Vennema, illus. by Stanley. Describing the conflict between Catholics and Protestants, the authors lay the groundwork for Queen Elizabeth's greatest challenges: stopping the bloodshed and uniting her country under one faith, and keeping the peace with the rest of Europe. Intricate artwork conveys the delicate lace and accoutrements of court dress, patterned ceilings and cobblestone streets. (HarperCollins, $16.95 40p ages 7-up ISBN 0-688-17961-4; Aug.)

In Galileo's Treasure Box (1987)by Catherine Brighton, young Virginia finds the tools of her father's work: two clear pieces of glass (that, combined, would create the modern telescope), a blue glass, a red glass and a feather. An afterword explains their significance; Brighton's artwork, rendered with a Renaissance perspective, makes the most of stairwells, doorways—even the leaning tower of Pisa. (Walker, $16.95 32p ages 5-8 ISBN 0-8027-8768-1; July)

For Budding Paleontologists...

In two oversize, shaped board books, young dinosaur enthusiasts can meet Stegosaurus and Diplodocus by Katherine Redfern. Crayon-bright illustrations, simple texts and pronunciation guides on each page offer an accessible introduction to these creatures and their friends (such as Protoceratops). Also scheduled for release in December are Tyrannosaurus Rex and Triceratops. (S&S/ Little Simon, $6.99 each 10p ages 1-3 ISBN 0-689-84478-6; -84479-4; -84548-0; -84547-2; Aug.)

Extreme Dinosaurs by Luis Rey takes the latest information about the newest dinosaur discoveries and paints the ancient creatures as they might have looked. While viewing these magnificent portraits, readers learn that the Carnotaurus, a two-legged dinosaur whose name means "meat-eating bull," was found in Argentina in 1985. The artwork shows its horns (which is why it earned its bullish name), its flat face, its "squat snout" and its tiny arms. (Chronicle, $16.95 64p ages 7-10 ISBN 0-8118-3086-1; Aug.)

And for dinosaur buffs who want the entire scoop, there's The DK Dinosaur Encyclopedia: From Dinosaurs to the Dawn of Man, published in conjunction with the American Museum of Natural History. After a brief discussion of how paleontologists reconstruct the details of prehistory, this comprehensive volume breaks the animal kingdom into four major sections, "Fish and Invertebrates," "Amphibians and Reptiles," "Dinosaurs and Birds" and "Mammals and Their Ancestors." Clearly labeled photographs of fossils and contemporary animals, a timeline running across each spread and short, fact-packed subsections make this an attractive book to peruse and pore over. A Dinosaur Hunter CD-ROM is also included. (DK, $29.95 376p ages 8-up ISBN 0-7894-7935-4; Oct.)