The Perfect Seat

A dapper moose and rosy-cheeked calf leave a bookstore eager to read, but they struggle to find a place to perch in this well-paced story. Faced with a procession of imperfect seats arranged in opposites, they mount a search (“Too Big” sees them small within a café’s giant armchair, “Too Small” finds them perched uncomfortably on a fire hydrant). Lê offers some lighthearted comic variation to the formula, as the adult spins on a tire swing (“Should the perfect seat make you this dizzy?”), and as two sit on opposite sides of a bench that spans both pages of a spread (“Too... Wide”). Gordon’s mixed-media illustrations in grays and greens create a comfortable mood just right for lap reading, and readers can follow the two seat seekers via an endpaper map. Though the end is no surprise, this one is just right for the story time set. Ages 3–5. [em](Nov.) [/em]