Fireworks

Writing in limpid prose and illustrating in sunny, softly stroked multimedia spreads, previous collaborators Burgess and Chien (The Bear and the Moon) follow two East Asian–cued children through a hot city Fourth of July. “In the summer, the sun rises/ between buildings on our block/ to greet us at breakfast,” where one feeds a mouthful to the other as a smiling, white-haired caretaker watches from the kitchen. When the kids head out around noon, it’s already so warm that a leaky hydrant means “we do what all kids do” and leap into the water: “Whoop Weee Woohoo!” After a bodega stop, they see a park sax player blowing “brassy blasts/ that make us onlookers dance.” And that night, the two climb a fire escape to a roof for fireworks, waiting until brilliant light showers the skies: “A comet streaking across the sky BURSTS into a flower of fire (THE FIRST!).” In this joyous seasonal idyll, the creators capture with onomatopoeic eloquence the day’s sensations, and establish the children’s day as free and expansive, with plenty of time to savor sounds, sights, and “summer on our skin.” Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 4–8. (May)