Blue Chameleon

In this small-scale but lively diversion, Greenaway Medalist Gravett (Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears) explores the possibilities of chameleon friendship—or even love. "I'm lonely," a blue chameleon says, knobby elbows scrunched sadly on knobby knees. If a chameleon is blue, whom does he woo? "Hi," says the chameleon on the left-hand page to a banana on the right; he's curved his body and changed his skin to match the banana. "Hello Hello Hello," he says to an unimpressed pink cockatoo, turning pink and angling his arms to duplicate her wings. A "swirly" snail, a brown boot, a "stripy" sock (the book also functions as a light primer on colors and patterns)—the chameleon can make himself look like anything. He can even turn white and disappear into the page (a white varnished outline shows him lying along the foot of the spread). Worry not: a happy ending is in store. As always, Gravett's art charms; colored pencil lines on rough paper give the pages warmth, and the chameleon's "disguises" repay attention as readers spot similarities to and differences from the things the chameleon mimics. Ages 2–6. (Mar.)