Saturday

Lendler (the Stratford Zoo Midnight Revue books) and Bloch (The Big Adventure of a Little Line) make hay of moments when exhausted parents are at odds with their energetic children. “Saturday means my parents don’t go to work,” explains the narrator, a boy with a big, round head and curly hair, “so it’s my job to start them early!” His parents grimace as their son catapults over their bed, their wide-awake eyes like fried eggs and their pillows askew. The chaos continues in Bloch’s waggish pencil-and-digital sketches: the boy nearly topples a tower of blocks on his sleeping baby brother, smudges his clothes at a birthday party, and turns the garden hose on his parents while tackling chores. Throughout, there’s a resounding sense that while Saturday is pure fun for the boy, his parents are being put through the physical and emotional wringer. There are moments of affection, too, as when the family clumsily cuddles on a couch, all elbows and knees. Painting familiar ups and downs, Lendler and Bloch do best when recalling the boy’s enthusiasm for togetherness, including the very next morning: “Yes! It’s Sunday.” Ages 4–8. (July)