Just Enough

Rather than describe their preschool hero in terms of snips and snails and puppy dog tails, Daniels (The Feet in the Gym) and Jessup (Grandma Summer) rely on 19 simple but evocative and always affirming adjectives for inspiration, such as ""small,"" ""strong,"" ""quick"" and ""wild."" For example, as the redheaded boy is seen making a pizza crust and mopping up a glass of juice that he's accidentally knocked over, Daniels writes, ""STRONG enough to pound the dough. CLEAN enough to wipe a spill,/ an apple juice/ on the loose/ spill."" It's an intriguing narrative conceit, but one that gradually runs out of steam, in large part due to Daniels's word choices (""clean"" doesn't feel like the right word for describing the boy's sense of domestic responsibility). Jessup's illustrations are the book's saving grace: with perspectives that range from extreme close-ups (chubby fingers holding a slimy worm) to lyrical panoramas (a family gathered under a starry sky), he captures a world that is a bona fide boy's paradise. Ages 2-5. (Sept.)