What a Day...: A Story in Emoji

The big-beaked raven who stars in this wordless outing has many plans, most of them devious. He bumps into a tree, leaving him with a bandaged beak. Bird friends lavish sympathy on him, so he bandages up other parts of himself to invite more attention. Pfister punctuates his spreads with large versions of the familiar emoji used on computers and smartphones. Smiley faces and hearts float around Raven as the other birds tend to him. Faces with cunning leers appear above Raven’s head when he cooks up his fake bandage plan. Only in the final pages does Raven have a change of heart, as he realizes that being kind can also feel good. The idea of using emoji to express a character’s emotions is unusual, though also somewhat redundant: emoji amplify the emotions in written statements, but Raven’s emotions are clear even without the floating smileys and other symbols. Even so, Pfister’s ability to tell a story visually remains strong, and panel images set into larger spreads contribute an elegant sense of unfolding events. A sheet of emoji stickers is enclosed. Ages 3–5. (Apr.)