Journeys in America

Several titles look back at the multifaceted American experience. John Muir: America's Naturalist by Thomas Locker profiles the man who helped start the Sierra Club and whose writings were so influential in sparking the conservation movement and the national park system. Muir's devotion to the wilderness comes through in simple language and luminous paintings of Yosemite Valley, a grove of Sequoias and Alaska's glaciers, among other sites; ghosted mini-sidebars highlight quotes from Muir on each spread. (Fulcrum, $17.95 32p ages 8-up ISBN 1-55591-393-8; May)

For Paul Revere's Ride: The Landlord's Tale by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Charles Santore assumes the perspective of the narrator's "friend." For "Listen, my children, and you shall hear/ Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere," an elderly, dapper gentleman leans forward in front of a fire that casts a mysterious light across his face; a view from the foot of the ladder into the tower of the Old North Church depicts the man's climb with two as-yet-unlit lanterns; and time seems to stop as Revere and his horse await the signal from across the Charles River. (HarperCollins, $16.99 40p all ages ISBN 0-688-16552-4; Mar.)

Drawing on the research from her Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy, aimed at adults, Diana Preston charts the ship's course for a younger audience in Remember the Lusitania! Here she focuses on the stories of three children who survived the torpedoing of the British ship (by a German submarine) on its voyage from New York to Liverpool, England in 1915. Vintage photos and illustrations portray the doomed vessel and her passengers. The final chapter follows the fates of the three children and other featured passengers; an epilogue recounts the incident's role in the United States' entry into WWI. (Walker, $22.95 112p ages 8-12 ISBN 0-8027-8846-7; May)

Renowned photographer Flip Schulke looks back at a lifetime spent documenting some of the most important events and people of the last half-century in Witness to Our Times: My Life as a Photojournalist, with Matt Schudel. Best known for his inside pictures of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s (to which his friendship with Martin Luther King Jr. granted him special access), Schulke also photographed Muhammad Ali, the space program and Fidel Castro. Generously illustrated with b&w photos plus a 16-page color insert. (Cricket/Marcato, $19.95 128p ages 12-up ISBN 0-8126-2682-6; May)

Dvorák in America: In Search of the New World by Joseph Horowitz recounts the composer's 1890s sojourn in the United States, along with 30 period photographs, and his exposure to the music—most notably Native American songs and African-American spirituals—that influenced his famous New World symphony. (Cricket/Marcato, $17.95 168p ages 11-14 ISBN 0-8126-2681-8; Apr.)

Calling All Concepts

A variety of titles help expand the understanding of youngest readers. Now in board book format, John Burningham's Colors, Letters, Opposites and Numbers, first published in 1985, explore the basics with playful ink and pencil illustrations. In Colors, he demonstrates "purple" with a boy at sunset swallowing an entire bunch of grapes; for "brown," a boy bathes a hippo. "G" for "goat" finds a boy butted into the air by a goat slyly glancing at readers in Letters. Numbers counts a growing number of children playing in a tree until they reach 10; in the final, numberless spreads, a tiger climbs the trunk and scatters the 10 playmates. (Candlewick, $5.99 each 20p ages 2-5 Colors ISBN 0-7636-2045-9; Letters -2046-7; Opposites -2044-0; Numbers -2043-2; May)

The paper-over-board Zoe's Hats: A Book of Colors and Patterns by Sharon Lane Holm pairs the briefest of text with illustrations of a red-headed heroine modeling her collection of colorful chapeaux, including an old-fashioned floppy "violet hat" with a veil and a "pink" wooly hat with pom-poms. The final pages display all the hats and ask readers to name the colors and patterns. (Boyds Mills, $13.95 32p ages 2-6 ISBN 1-59078-042-6; Apr.)

In I Can Do It Too! by Karen Baicker, illus. by Ken Wilson-Max, a simple rhyming text and the artist's signature bold, bright colors outlined with thick black brushstrokes appear on heavy cardstock pages. A girl shouts the titular refrain as she emulates the activities of the adults around her, such as pouring juice or riding a bike (or, in her case, a trike), gaining confidence even if she doesn't always do everything perfectly. (Handprint, $13.95 24p ages 2-4 ISBN 1-929766-83-1; Apr.)

The oversize board book My First Touch and Feel series continues with My First Puppy and My First Kitten. Realistic photographs against a white background contain die-cut shapes that allow youngsters to learn by touch as well as sight. In the first book, readers can look at a spread of "Munchies" and feel the "rough treats" and the smooth "plastic bowl." In the second, "Catnaps" allows readers to feel a cozy stack of towels and a bumpy basket bed. A new addition to the My First Board Books series, My First Opposites Board Book in a trim size suited to smallest hands, contrasts "Big and small" fish photographs against a deep blue background through to a black bear cub paired with a polar bear cub for "Black /White." (DK, $9.99 each 10p ages 1-5 ISBN 0-7894-9625-9; -9626-7; Apr.; Opposites $6.99 32p ages 3-5 -9268-7; May)

Little School by Beth Norling follows 20 ethnically diverse preschoolers from "morning song" to their families' arrival to pick them up at the end of the day. Pastel snapshots of the children at work and play include singing, quiet time and a bathroom break, and details of the classroom (dress-up box, wooden blocks, etc.) and playground (see-saw, jungle gym, etc.) are labeled within the spreads or in boxed panels on the borders. (Kane/Miller, $15.95 32p ages 4-8 ISBN 1-929132-42-5; Apr.)

Adding to its paper-over-board series of First Books, Kingfisher approaches education in a playful way with First Color Book by Ann Montague-Smith, illus. by Mandy Stanley, featuring such fanciful objects as a red dragon and a blue submarine. The text prompts children to complete patterns, identify wrongly colored objects such as a purple loaf of bread, and more. A laminated color wheel poster folds out at the back of the book. (Houghton/Kingfisher, $9.95 48p ages 2-5 ISBN 0-7534-5572-2; Apr.)

The Plush Learning Series presents four fruit-shaped board books with plush covers and pop-up interiors, each introducing a single color: Apple (red), Orange (orange), Lemon (yellow) and Pear (green). Artwork by Gary Taxali depicts four objects in the appropriate color on each spread, from a green alligator to a yellow taxi to a ruby ring. (Piggy Toes, $7.95 each, 10p ages 2-up Apple ISBN 1-58117-191-9; Orange -192-7; Lemon -194-3; Pear -193-5; Apr.)

For Budding Science Explorers

Two new titles encourage kids to explore the world around them. WoodsWalk: Peepers, Pikas and Exploding Puffballs! by Henry Art and Michael Robbins acts as a guide to identifying common flora and fauna in the forests of North America. Organized by season and illustrated with photos and drawings, this thorough volume reveals fascinating facts and features useful tips, such as how to recognize animal tracks, spot nests in winter and distinguish between tasty and poisonous berries. (Storey Kids, $21.95 128p ages 8-up ISBN 1-58017-477-9; $14.95 paper with French flaps -452-3; Apr.)

A paper-over-board title with a spiral-bound text and plastic laboratory equipment in a pull-out kit, Bubbleology: A Hands-On Science Kit by Jim Moskowitz and Casey Carle, illus. by Jim Paillot and Mike Dammer, makes a science of blowing bubbles; 30 experiments involve bubble tricks, contests and even bubble art designed to produce "bubblemania." (Innovative Kids, $19.99 32p ages 7-up ISBN 1-58476-165-2; Apr.)

First Steps in Reading

The Big Red Dog takes on the teacher role in Clifford's Phonics Fun: Reading Program Pack 2. His eager students can cart around 12 staple-bound paperbacks packed in a cardboard carrying case with a plastic handle. Clifford stars in titles focused on learning specific sounds, such as the "qu" sound in Quick Clifford or the "th" sound in Clifford and the Bath. (Scholastic/Cartwheel, $12.99 16p each ages 4-up ISBN 0-439-40383-9; Apr.)

Once readers have mastered the sounds, they can create compound words with Build-a-Word: Hands-On Reading Fun! by Nora Gaydos, illus. by Jackie Snider. Each page contains three die-cut windows; two handles below the outer windows slide two different words together to form a new word in the center (along with a new picture). A rhyme helps aid the budding reader, as in "Look at the sun that shines with a glow./ Look at the flower beginning to grow." On the facing page, readers can slide "sun" and "flower" together to form "sunflower." The illustrations feature 50 more compound words for readers to discover. (Innovative Kids, $12.99 10p ages 4-7 ISBN 1-58476-163-6; Apr.)

Cool Companions

As summer waits just around the corner, new series titles arrive and favorite characters return. With Summer's Vacation, Lynn Plourde and Greg Couch complete their seasonal cycle begun with Wild Child. Summer, a girl with fiery hair like the rays of the sun, frolics while Mother Earth and Father Time warn her not to neglect her chores. She malingers a little too long, leaving the earth brown and dry, but comes to her senses in time to make things right. Inventive language energizes the rhyming text, and Couch's shimmering paintings, in acrylic and colored pencil, evoke the hazy, lazy days of childhood. (S&S, $16.95 32p ages 3-8 ISBN 0-689-84223-6; May)

After surviving School Picture Day, Mrs. Shepherd and her class return in Teacher Appreciation Day also by Plourde, illus. by Thor Wickstrom. Maybella Jean Wishywashy can't decide how to honor her teacher, and makes one well-intentioned mess after another, which Mrs. Shepherd stoically endures. A rhyming, read-aloud refrain and zany artwork showing Maybella's antics pack the punch in this tale of the eventual victory of the nonconformist. (Dutton, $16.99 40p ages 5-8 ISBN 0-525-47113-8; Apr.)

Elinor's mother is not happy when mischievous Violet returns for another summer visit in Elinor and Violet: Two Naughty Chickens at the Beach, by Patti Beling Murphy, a companion to Elinor and Violet: The Story of Two Naughty Chickens. The two chicks play some more petty pranks but the peer pressure mounts when Violet taunts Elinor to go swimming at the beach without a grown-up. Elinor does the right thing in a story enlivened by prettily patterned gouache paintings. (Little, Brown, $14.95 32p ages 3-6 ISBN 0-316-91034-1; May)

Vicki Cobb continues her Science Play series with I Face the Wind, illus. by Julia Gorton. Beginning with a girl facing a strong wind, basic observations teach the properties of air to budding scientists. The mood is playful but the facts are specific and focused and Cobb includes experiments eminently doable by the preschool set. The digital artwork uses bold forms and creative typography to keep the tone breezy. (HarperCollins, $15.99 40p ages 3-5 ISBN 0-688-17840-5; Apr.)

Two new titles in the Little Big Book series edited by Alice Wong and Lena Tabori focus on boys and girls. The Little Big Book for Girls collects literary excerpts (including selections from Heidi and National Velvet), poems, songs, activities, recipes and miscellaneous facts focused on females. Activities include appliqué art and finger knitting. The Little Big Book for Boys, with a similar array of material includes excerpts from novels such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Black Stallion, with activities such as juggling and building a terrarium. Both volumes come in a small, chunky format with vintage illustrations throughout. (Welcome Books, $24.95 each 352p ages 6-12 ISBN 0-941807-81-9; -70-3; May)

Spencer Johnson, M.D., adapts his bestseller for a picture-book crowd: Who Moved My Cheese? For Kids: An A-Mazing Way to Change and Win!, illus. by Steve Pileggi. Readers can follow the four friends Sniff, Scurry, Hem and Haw as they negotiate a maze in search of the cheese that they think will make them happy. "The Handwriting on the Wall" summarizes important lessons such as, "When you stop being afraid, you feel good!" Six discussion questions follow the text. (Putnam, $19.99 64p ages 5-up ISBN 0-399-24016-0; May)

The paper-over-board collection Franklin's Family Treasury by Paulette Bourgeois, illus. by Brenda Clark, gathers four stories about the titular turtle originally published as picture books: Franklin Goes to the Hospital (2000), Franklin's Baby Sister (2000), Franklin and Harriet (2001) and Franklin Says I Love You (2002). All are aimed at reassuring children facing new challenges. (Kids Can, $15.95 128p ages 3-8 ISBN 1-55337-479-7; Apr.)