That Always Happens Sometimes

For Max, the kid who narrates this story by Frank (Tomorrow Is Waiting), school mornings slide off track when distractions, like squirrels outside the window, fly in the face of a get-ready list. Per the title, it’s the kind of event “that always, always happens sometimes.” Max’s classroom to-do list (“keep hands to myself”) is often forgotten, and tennis balls quiet the feet of only Max’s chair (“I used to get in trouble for the sounds my chair makes, but now I only get in trouble for the sounds that I make”). Engaging questions hint at the child’s internality: “Have you ever abandoned your lunch because you were thinking about having an extra face under your hair like some Lego figures do?” In watercolor, ink, and pencil drawings with bold black lines, Steele (The Brilliant Ms. Bangle) includes lots of boisterous detail as Max’s teacher asks small groups of students, portrayed with various skin tones, to build a tower with “index cards, a twenty-four-inch piece of masking tape, and a pair of safety scissors.” It’s, at last, something that “has never happened before,” and Max’s creativity results in a classroom triumph—and a heady moment for a memorable voice. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Miriam Altshuler, DeFiore and Company. Illustrator’s agent: Erica Rand Silverman, Stimola Literary. (July)