The Pink Umbrella

Understated text and gauzy pencil-and-pastel artwork transport readers to a seaside village where social life revolves around the Polka-Dot Apron, a café run by a young woman named Adele. “It’s where everyone meets,” writes French author Callot. “Where they cry, laugh, yell, argue and love.” Adele herself “is the village’s sun—lively, sweet and sparkling,” but her spirit plummets whenever the weather turns rainy: on one gray day, Godbout (When Santa Was a Baby) shows her scowling from beneath a floral magenta quilt, refusing to open the café. Over a few sunny days, rain boots, a raincoat, and umbrella—all bright pink—show up at the Polka-Dot Apron. Readers will likely guess who is responsible (a handsome handyman named Lucas) before Adele does, and a subdued romantic undercurrent swells as she begins to appreciate the rain: “The wind was fresh, the drops slid off the leaves, the snails were out.” It’s a languid story, and mystery rain gear is a pretty low-key hook, but it’s also an atmospheric portrait of village life and the small actions that build loving communities and relationships. Ages 6–9. Illustrator’s agent: Emily van Beek, Folio Literary Management. (Jan.)