Penny and Her Marble

Henkes ups the emotional stakes in his third book starring Penny, in which guilt hangs heavily over the young mouse. Penny is instantly smitten with the blue marble she discovers on a neighbor’s lawn, and she sneaks it into her pocket. Her backward-glancing eyes as she runs home clue readers in that she’s ambivalent about her decision, something she considers for the next few chapters. Henkes crystallizes the way guilt worms its way into the mind of someone who suspects she’s in the wrong, while putting his heroine at ease in the final pages. Ages 4–8. (Feb.)