Ice Cream Face

Ice cream elicits an impressive repertoire of expressions from this book’s narrator, a self-named “ice cream kid.” Impatiently waiting at a candy-striped ice cream parlor, queueing with children and adults of varying skin tones, the brown-skinned child clutches a ticket and scowls at the “ice cream faces all around.” (These include “the bearded baby,” an infant with ice scream smeared on their chin.) But when patience is rewarded with a big scoop of red, yellow and blue—a classic “Superman” swirl—“my face melts into something sweet.” Then comes the high drama of a brain freeze, followed by a “sad face” and full-throated howl of despair when the rapidly melting scoop falls to the sidewalk with a “KERPLOP!” But the community of ice cream enthusiasts is supportive and sharing, and the child quickly attains a new cone made from others’ portions. Sheffield (Brick by Brick) employs photographs—most evocatively of the coveted ice cream scoops—digital painting, and subtly mottled collage in this amiable meditation on the joys of a rich emotional life starring a funny, self-aware protagonist who wears their ice-cream-loving heart on their sleeve. Ages 3–5. Agent: Laura Rennert, Andrea Brown Literary. (June)