My Family Four Floors Up

Stutson (Blue Corn Soup) and Krampien (A Book of Bridges) follow a father and daughter through the ups and downs of a day in their city home—quite literally, since they live on the fourth floor of an apartment building. It’s an ordinary day, rather than an especially eventful one: the two travel to a park, a rainstorm interrupts the girl’s play, and they return home for bath, books, and bed. Writing in the voice of the daughter, Stutson incorporates lots of “hellos” and “goodbyes” into her smoothly constructed rhymes, as well as words repeated for emphasis: “Hello, green park, bright blue sky,/ swing, swing, swinging way up high!” Krampien captures the action in large, comics-style scenes colored in bright shades of yellow, teal, mint, and pink, creating a warm sense of community—not even the storm puts much of a damper on the girl’s attitude. The book sticks to familiar territory, but the father-daughter focus, ready-to-read verse, and appealingly fresh and contemporary art should win it some fans. Ages 2–7. (Jan.)