Cornbread & Poppy (Cornbread & Poppy #1)

Three generously illustrated chapters give Caldecott Medalist Cordell plenty of space to develop the friendship of two mouse friends who react differently to winter’s approach, and he wastes none of it. Conscientious Cornbread, who prepares diligently for cold and lack, wears plaid overalls and a worker’s cap, while Poppy, who has spent the foraging season engaging in adventures, sports coveralls and a pink kerchief. When it turns out that Poppy has collected nothing and the food is long gone, Cornbread—no less fond of his pal for her lack of planning—offers to help her find food, and even promises to search with her on Holler Mountain, a forbidding wilderness with slippery rocks and owls that eat mice (another mouse who traversed it “was never seen or heard from since”). Cordell’s loose, Steig-like ink line makes emotions easy to read as the duo’s interplay builds, Poppy marching blissfully along and Cornbread furrowing his brow. Their well-built adventure, the story’s back half, offers exertion, discouragement, and a wonderfully improbable change of fortune, with just enough suspense to keep readers engaged. Ages 4–8. Agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary Studio. (Jan.)