Bun Bun Button

Brimming with nostalgia, heartfelt sentimentality, and eccentricity, this portrait of a tight-knit intergenerational bond will charm Polacco enthusiasts with its old-fashioned tone and bright illustrations. Even when she is illustrating a picture of a grandmother reading to her granddaughter, Polacco fills the pages with tumbling action, familial warmth, and love. The small heroine with the big name (Paige Elizabeth Darling) cuddles with her grandmother in their favorite blue chair surrounded by pets (five Siamese cats, two terriers, a goldfish, and an unlikely pet squirrel). After Gramma makes Paige a calico bunny that the girl christens Bun Bun Button, Paige ties it to a helium balloon and it flies away. Her grandmother consoles her with the idea that the wind might blow it back (“We Darlings are lucky, after all”). Although Bun Bun’s homecoming strains credulity, Polacco isn’t overly concerned with reality—this is, after all, a world in which Gramma’s pets stand up on hind legs and dance in unison to celebrate the stuffed animal’s return. Rather, Polacco offers a cozy ode to the inherent magic in a visit with a grandparent. Ages 3–5. (Oct.)