Albertine's Got Talent!

Debut talents Power and Valentine deliver a gently humorous story of a girl seeking her innate talent. Seamstress Mom "could run up new outfits for dolls or superheroes in ten minutes flat"; Dad is a prize-winning gardener; and her brother, Sam, is a soccer ace. "But Albertine mostly hung around," Power writes, as Valentine shows her draped dramatically over the arm of a sofa. Albertine's parents try to help her find her "thing," in an ill-fated string of gymnastics, swimming, and woodworking classes. "They'll teach you lifesaving, diving, and floating," Albertine's father tells her; on the next page, though, she's stranded in the middle of the pool in her polka-dot two-piece and floaties. "But they mostly taught her sinking and swallowing water." Power's repeated use of "they" in these scenes is an odd choice, one that suggests ineptitude on the instructors' part, not Albertine's. But Valentine's cozy gouache paintings never have too much fun at the freckled heroine's expense, and her theatrics provide a subtle clue to her gift—as a storyteller and performer—that she discovers by book's end. Ages 3–7. (Oct.)