Rex (My Race Car) invites readers to spend breakfast, lunch and dinner with a family of round-faced, redheaded kids as they explore their kitchen's contents. He appeals to all five senses as he covers the colors in a fruit bowl, opposites ("The watermelon is big. The raisin is small") and—best of all—messes, all duly noted in brief declarative sentences ("The bacon is sizzling. The egg is fried"). But even as the sentences stack up (the fruit bowl spread has nine), the simple repetitive syntax never grows wearying. Rex has a winning eye for domestic detail (in the cabinet, a yellow arrow points to where "The candy is hidden") and his boldly colored, comic-book stylings provide plenty of visual variety. Youngsters may well be inspired to go on a kitchen safari of their own; at the very least, they'll conclude that—as Rex might put it—the book is fun. Ages 3-6. (Sept.)
