Blue & Bertie

Litten (Bike On, Bear!) delivers a deceptively simple story that celebrates individuality, acceptance, and friendship. Bertie and his fellow giraffes—with their long necks and rounded bodies, they almost look like a row of eighth notes or soup ladles as they nibble leaves from tall trees—follow the same schedule every day. Having overslept one morning, Bertie wakes up alone and lost, fretting about how he’ll find his herd, until he encounters a giraffe “who was just like him—except he was blue!” (Bertie and his brethren are yellow.) As they travel together, Blue shows Bertie a world of vivid flowers, unfamiliar birds, and a rushing herd of zebras, sights he’s never seen before. After Bertie rejoins his herd, Blue (who fears he won’t belong) is instead accepted “just the way he was.” Closing scenes that show the giraffes amid the colorful birds and flowers Bertie previously discovered underscore Litten’s message about the value of breaking outside of one’s comfort zone—and getting to know people who don’t look exactly like you. Ages 4–8. Agent: Alan Lynch, Arena Illustration. (June)