Augustine

Readers will hop on board for this polar tale, which also serves as a subtle art history introduction. Artistic Augustine, an adorable, blue fuzz-covered penguin (named after Pierre-Auguste Renoir), must leave the South Pole when her father gets a new job at the North Pole. Her straightforward first-person account of the move reflects her mixed emotions. "I'm going to miss my room.... When it's time to say good-bye, I feel sad." In a format that invites lingering, the left side of each spread contains nine vignettes, separated into box-like panels, relating to the action on the facing page. The center of the grid always features one of Augustine's drawings, a penguin-esque take-off of a famous painting. For example, when Augustine gets "cold feet" about attending a new school, she draws a penguin mimicking Edvard Munch's The Scream . In another spread, portraits of her Arctic classmates frame one that Augustine sketched of her new teacher, a long-eared, coyly smiling rabbit (à la the Mona Lisa ). Plays on words frequently punctuate the narrative. For instance, the heroine calls a lonely time on the playground, drawing with only her blue pencil, her "Blue Recess Period." Watt's (Scaredy Squirrel ) pencil crayon and acrylic illustrations will likely win over young audiences, while her clever art references may well engage older readers (she lists all the masterpieces from which Augustine draws inspiration at the end). Ages 3-7. (Sept.)