Two Historic Debuts
A pair of reissued books makes available the launches of two significant careers. The Wing on a Flea: A Book About Shapes, Ed Emberley's first book, published in 1961, makes an affable companion to his playful yet instructive series of drawing books. His breezy, rhyming text and cheerful visuals invite kids to explore the concept of shapes. More subtly, aspiring artists can follow Emberley's example of using basic shapes to create more complex pictures. Black pages effectively show off the bold, primary colors and shiny, gold leaf accents of the deceptively simple pictures. (Little, Brown, $15.95 32p ages 6-8 ISBN 0-316-23487-7; Sept.)
Bill Martin Jr. pairs up with Michael Sampson to create a sparkling, shorter version of Martin's first book, The Little Squeegy Bug, a warm story about identity and belonging, published 51 years ago. Newcomer Patrick Corrigan contributes appealingly stylized, digitally prepared art in which luminous hues light up the pages. After the earnest title character meets a brazen bumblebee, he longs for similar silver wings and a stinger in his tail. But a wise spider bequeaths him with his own identity as a firefly. Inventively designed, the volume features type of various sizes, often mimicking the movement of the likable bug. (Winslow, $16.95 40p ages 4-7 ISBN 1-890817-90-2; Sept.)
New Formats for Old Favorites
Jane Simmons's beloved duck makes a splash with a quartet of First Daisy Books in miniature board book editions, packaged in a compact carrying case, Daisy: The Little Duck with Big Feet! The four previously published titles are: Daisy's Favorite Things; Go to Sleep, Daisy; Daisy's Day Out; and Daisy Says Coo! The delightful yellow heroine stands out against the deep blues and greens of the pond while the spare, predictable text and ample onomatopoeia ("slip, slip, slop" describes the duck's walk) invite audience participation. (Little, Brown, $9.95 8p each ages 2-4 ISBN 0-316-79454-6; Sept.)
While fans of 20th-century time travelers Fred, Sam and Joe may already own the hardcovers, new readers and die-hard fans will relish the arrival of The Time Warp Trio Gift Set. This tidy paperback collection contains books one through four in Jon Scieszka's popular series that began with Knights of the Kitchen Table. Lane Smith's distinctive b&w illustrations add character. (Puffin, $13.99 paper ages 7-11 ISBN 0-14-230058-6; Sept.)
Based on Rachel Field's 1929 classic, Hitty: Her First Hundred Years, Hitty's Travels: Civil War Days by Ellen Weiss, illus. by Betina Ogden, features the doll heroine in a chapter book format. Here Hitty belongs to a plantation owner's daughter as the girl befriends Sarina, an enslaved girl. (S&S, $3.99 paper 80p ages 6-9 ISBN 0-689-84671-1; Sept.)
Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth, first published in 1961, is now available in a Spanish language edition, La caseta mágica, illus. by Jules Feiffer, trans. by Alberto Jiménez Rioja. This classic story of a boy's life transformed by the appearance of a mysterious portal in his bedroom is illustrated with wry pen-and-inks, Feiffer's first children's book. (North-South/SeaStar, $7.95 paper 256p ages 8-12 ISBN 1-58717-109-0; Sept.)
