Henry & Leo

Zagarenski (The Whisper) frames her splendid, tapestrylike paintings within a story that focuses their power. Henry’s family loves him, but his insistence that his toy lion, Leo, has feelings is a problem. “Leo is a stuffed toy,” his sister sniffs, “and toys aren’t real.” When Henry falls asleep on a hike and drops Leo in the woods, his mother assures him that they’ll search for Leo in the morning. In a series of hauntingly lovely wordless spreads, Zagarenski returns to the forest under the warm light of a full moon, where a bear, fox, and hare discover Leo. They sip out of mugs while Leo draws a picture of his house; he rides home on the bear’s back. When Henry spots Leo on the lawn the next morning, his sister says wonderingly, “But I looked in that very spot last night,” allowing readers to share in Leo’s secret. Lost-toy stories can be frightening, but Zagarenski presents the forest as a place of beauty and refuge, and the closing endpapers suggest that Leo and Henry find more to do there. Ages 4–7. (Oct.)