The Big Blue Thing on the Hill

Zommer makes a rousing debut with a story about forest creatures faced with a menacing adversary. “It’s a meteorite!” cry the bears. “It’s a spaceship!” shout the wolves. Spoiler: it’s a VW microbus, and it stops right at the top of Howling Hill, the very spot where boars, badgers, bears, and foxes practice making terrifying noises at night. Several plans to defeat the so-called Big Blue Thing fail (“They huffed and puffed as they pushed and shoved with all their might”) until the Wisest Old Owl instructs the animals to organize the local insects into a Big Bug Flying Squad, whose swarms achieve in short order what howling and growing could not. Zommer’s digital artwork retains a cozy, painterly sense as he gives the boars splotchy coats, the insects delicate wings, and the microbus dainty white curtains (its human inhabitants never emerge). Best of all are his hilarious predators, whose cross-eyed stares, sheepish expressions, and toothy grins make them instantly loveable. Children will delight in the creatures’ dogged efforts to reclaim their home, and they’ll appreciate the bonus ending-after-the-ending, too. Ages 3–7. (Jan.)