Welcome to the Neighborwood

Sheehy makes an impressive children’s book debut, using dramatically unfolding pop-ups to introduce seven woodland animals with special construction skills of their own. In gracefully orchestrated spreads featuring crisp, cut-paper artwork, the animals appear alongside the structures they make: a honeybee rests on the wall of her hive, its golden combs remarkably dimensional; a beaver presides over its watery habitat (“If he can’t find a pond to build in, he makes one!”); and a land snail’s shell grows as “calcium and proteins ooze from folds on his back.” Sheehy describes each animal’s behaviors using succinct yet vivid language, and a closing scene brings all seven animals together to emphasize the interdependence of their “neighborhood,” one that humans are part of, too. A visually striking and enriching overview of animals living independently and as part of an ecosystem. Ages 4–8. (Mar.)