Sophie’s Squash

Debut author Miller takes the idea of playing with one’s food to another level in this sensitive but funny story about a girl’s affection for a squash. When Sophie selects a butternut squash at the farmer’s market, her parents assume they will be having it for dinner. Sophie, however, quashes that plan by adopting the vegetable as her new best friend and naming her Bernice (“It was just the right size to hold in her arms.... Just the right size to love”). Despite gentle prodding to relinquish Bernice before she rots, Sophie brings her deteriorating pal to the library and somersaults with her in the yard. Miller’s easygoing storytelling taps into the familiar scenario of children making fierce attachments to favorite objects; Sophie is passionate without being bratty, her parents are pragmatic but not harsh, and Sophie eventually makes new friends, including Bernice’s offspring. Wilsdorf’s (Five Funny Bunnies) winsome ink-and-watercolor scenes adeptly capture both Sophie’s many moods (“Don’t listen, Bernice!” she scowls when her mother suggests baking the squash with marshmallows) and her unruly pigtails. Ages 3–7. Author’s agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary Agency. (Aug.)