Stickler Loves the World

The eponymous protagonist of this wonder-oriented picture book, who appeared previously in Smith’s A Gift for Nana, has eight googly eyes, a round twiggy body, bat-like ears, and a positive mental attitude that’s off the charts. After running down a list of favorite things, Stickler effuses: “Our world has some pretty weird stuff in it!... Oh, to see it all anew. Wouldn’t that be amazing?” When a seeming visitor wearing a “cutting-edge space helmet” appears, Stickler immediately takes up a tour-guide role, ignoring clues that the being is actually a bird stuck in an empty tin can. Smith, through Stickler, does the planet proud: elaborately textured oil paint, gesso, and cold wax spreads make sunbeams feel warmly welcoming, huge stones look poetically weather-beaten (“Behold! The joy of ROCKS”), and helicopter seed pods seem like a revelation (“Then there are THESE THINGS dancing for us”). The visitor is eventually revealed to be Stickler’s pal Crow, who seems genuinely transformed by Stickler’s openhearted joie de vivre— “You really did open my eyes.” Centering irrepressible joy that’s a force of nature itself, the work lovingly portrays an “amazing... weird... wonderful” world that’s worth experiencing anew. Ages 4–8. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Aug.)