Faraway Friends

Has Sheldon’s best friend really moved away to Jupiter? Sheldon gets the idea when he sees “Jupiter Moving Co.” on the moving van, and he immediately launches an elaborate backyard fantasy based on that assumption. With his dog, Jet, lending support, Sheldon builds a rocket out of a grill, a garbage can, and Jet’s doghouse, and together they take off for the far end of the solar system. Jupiter remains elusive as a destination, but Sheldon makes a discovery that’s far more important than anything extraterrestrial: a new, like-minded neighbor back on Earth. Illustrator Cox (Merry Moosey Christmas), making his first foray into writing, is a steady-as-she-goes kind of storyteller—there’s little in his text that the pictures aren’t already showing, and the relationship between Sheldon and Jet offers few surprises. Still, the story has lots of good-hearted energy (Cox employs comics-style panel sequences to move the action forward briskly), and Sheldon’s go-getter personality generates just enough momentum to provide narrative liftoff. Ages 3–6. Agent: Jodell Sadler, Sadler Children’s Literary. (May)