GROWING LIKE ME

With appealing simplicity, Rockwell (Our Earth) spotlights changes in nature, as a barefoot boy observes the world around him, noting, "Everything is growing, just like me." The lyrical narrative presents examples of natural evolution: "Blue eggs, safe and warm in their nest... will hatch into robins that sing in the grass" and "A speckled cloud with a fish standing guard... will soon be lots of shining silver fish, swimming round and round the pond." Keller's (A Bed Full of Cats) unadorned, boldly colored watercolor and pen-and-ink pictures bring these changes into crisp focus, alternating full-bleed scenarios with close-up shots that zoom in on a caterpillar, pollywogs and an acorn lying on fallen leaves. After viewing the acorn, readers flip the page—and turn the book from a horizontal to a vertical position—to see the boy swinging from the branches of a sprawling oak tree, as he entreats the acorn to "Sprout and spread roots! Stretch your green leaves up to the sky! Grow into a tall oak tree." The volume ends by bringing home an example close to readers: as the narrator addresses his cherubic baby brother, asking him what "will you grow up to be?" and responding, "One day you'll be a big boy—just like me." An amiable introduction to natural growth. Ages 2-5. (Mar.)