Stop! Bot!

The action in this urban interlude unfolds in front of a city apartment building whose narrow shape is echoed by the book’s tall, thin trim size. Yang (Bus! Stop!) constructs his spreads using a palette of brick red and sandstone, slate and cornflower blue. A family strolls by the building’s entrance, the younger brother flying a remote-controlled toy. “I have a bot!” he announces to the doorman. Suddenly the bot starts rising: “Stop! BOT!” the family cries. The doorman leaps into action and heads up the apartment steps. Outside the building, neighbors peer out of their windows, proposing ideas: “My broom may reach the bot!” one apartment dweller cries, poking a push broom out his window. The bot flies higher. “Can my fork and spoon snag your bot?” a cook says, making a grab with impossibly long implements. The camera angle rises from story to story; at the very top, the bowed legs of a large, furry creature come into view, the family’s unlikely rooftop savior—so long as there are bananas to trade. Yang works within the constraints of the building’s form to generate intriguing possibilities presented with clarity and wit. Ages 2–5. Agent: David Goldman, the David Goldman Agency. [em](July) [/em]