Izzy Paints

After making an inaugural trip to an art museum with their yellow cat sidekick in tow, big-city denizen Izzy, a gray koala, is so inspired by the dazzling expressions on display—Miller (Tiny Kitty, Big City) tips a hat to Frida Kahlo, Henry Moore, and Wayne Thiebaud, among others—that they decide to become an artist, too. Fortunately, Izzy has both a closet crammed with art supplies and a snappy-looking artist’s smock. Unfortunately, the creature is immediately overwhelmed by the blank canvas (“Izzy is stuck. Will Izzy give up?”). But the sun shining through the window—the very same “electric yellow” that’s Izzy’s favorite color—sparks the budding artist’s creativity, and what begins as a single yellow scribble is soon amplified by “jade drips, indigo dots, magenta splashes, and teal swirls” that splatter across the spread (“Izzy feels free. Izzy’s heart sings”) before being proudly shared as a finished work. Rhythmic, declarative sentences and stripped-down characterizations and settings let the creative process and its rewards shine—and, via the artist’s spattering, splattering hues, bring new meaning to the term “flying colors.” Ages 4–8. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Nov.)