What's Alice Up To?

Intriguing perspectives dominate this simple story of a pet's surprise birthday party. As a girl busies herself collecting unusual objects throughout her house, her spotted dog wonders, ""What's Alice up to?"" Alice drags off a cushioned chair, climbs a tree to commune with some bluebirds and sneaks away to cut paper decorations. ""She's hiding from me in her room all alone./ Where's Alice taking that lovely soup bone?"" the dog complains. The closing scene reveals a backyard birthday party for the surprised canine (seated atop the cushioned chair), attended by the family cats, the bluebirds and a neighbor painted to look like a clown. In each double-page spread, Jessup--an animator making his children's book debut--creates shifting visual planes by marking off walls or branches in the predominantly white background and filling in foreground details, like the dog's red collar and Alice's blonde hair, with bright watercolors. Children will be curious about Jessup's well-placed clues, and those who like to draw may pick up a few pointers. Ages 2-5. (Oct.)