Adele's Album

This unique, album-sized volume (16 10) initially seems cumbersome, but readers will quickly discover that it is in excellent proportion to the material contained inside. A wordless story follows a progression of small events: chicks in bubbles waft gently across a spread. Household objects, barnyard animals and fantastic figures (a traffic policeman with many arms, for example) appear, disappear and turn up again to interact with each other in a way that borders on surreal. The more a child retains from successive viewings, the fuller the story becomes. Bordered in black ink, the colored illustrations convey not only the minute details of the design, but also the broadly comic, somersaulting action of several main characters. The burgeoning story line will inspire lively discussion during lap-time readings. All ages. (September)