Make Magic! Do Good!

To get a sense of the tone of this poetry collection from Clayton (An Awesome Book!), look no further than the illustration note on the copyright page, which says the artwork was "done in two parts positive vibes and three parts watercolor rainbow sprinkles." Recurring themes in the nearly 50 poems include seizing the day, making friends of enemies, being kind, and blazing one's own trail. "[Y]ou won't be fast forever/ so the clever thing to do/ is to stop and help the others keep up/ because someday/ they'll be you," writes Clayton in "Running!" while "You Never Know" cautions, "Be nice to your friends,/ 'cause you never know/ when you'll be stuck/ in ten feet of snow/ with nowhere to stay/ and nowhere to go." What keeps the collection from sinking under its own good intentions are Clayton's illustrations, which are whimsical but not saccharine, and his sense of humor, which peeks through in poems like "The Breaks," in which a bear claims he broke his leg "just walking," before outlining the laundry list of daredevil stunts ("I jumped off a roof/ and onto a bike...") that accompanied said walk. Ages 7%E2%80%93up. (Nov.)