What I Do Best

Like its predecessor, this chipper if somewhat strained paper-over-board follow-up to What I Like About Me! sets out to build self-esteem and offers interactive diversions. A group of multicultural young people announces what they are good at: one diligently cares for her pets, one boy makes his friends laugh and another is a computer whiz. Nolan's rather choppy and sing-song rhyming verse runs to the banal (e.g., ""I may be short. But I can shoot a basketball. I'm good at sports. I don't need to be tall""). More inviting are the touch-and-feel features and moveable parts: kids can touch a furry cat (on the pet-lover page) and the mustache and eyebrows of a Groucho Marx-like face disguise (for the one who makes friends laugh), and a spinning wheel changes the images on a computer monitor and lets the young basketball star shoot a basket. In the final spread, all the characters congregate around a giant, gold-foiled trophy containing a blank space for readers to crayon in their own feats. Sakamoto's art depicts these ceaselessly smiling kids as a decidedly cheerful, confident crew. Youngsters may well find their enthusiasm contagious. Ages 3-7.