Fall Ahead!

Fall is right around the corner--next month, folks--and that means crisp apples in the farmers' markets, little and not-so-little ones traipsing back to school, and, of course, new books hot from the presses (or fresh through the Internet). This fall's output promises some enticing reads. Here are a few I'm especially looking forward to curling up with:

I'll start with a picture book. One thing that always makes me happy is a new book by Amy Schwartz. Her Bea and Mr. Jones is one of my all-time favorites. Her latest is a tribute--in rhyme--to the things that make her happy. Among them: "fuzzy sweaters, long letters, slippery floors, dinosaurs." Pub date: October 7

And yet another Dr. Seuss book has been "found." This collection is a follow-up to 2011's The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories. I wasn't all that taken with it (read my review here; there's a reason stories are "lost") but, still, new stories from the great Seuss is always a cause for celebration. Pub date: September 9

Yipee-Ki-Yay! Kate DiCamillo has started a new series of chapter books for beginning readers. Tales from Deckawoo Drive will feature characters from DiCamillo's previous series about Mercy the pig. The first book stars Leroy Ninker, a would-be cowboy who works at the concession stand at the Bijou Drive-In Theater. Illustrations are by Chris Van Drusen.

Pub date: August 26

Readers of this blog will probably be more familiar with Cece Bell as the author/illustrator of the endearing beginning reader The Sleepover, starring best friends Rabbit and Robot (read my review here). Bell has also written and/or illustrated several picture books. El Deafo is a departure, a graphic novel memoir about her struggles with hearing loss at an early age. 

Pub date: September 2 

Rabbit & Robot: The Sleepover (CYBILS Nominee)

Ah, the sleepover. The bowls of buttery popcorn, the fuzzy PJs, the watching of movies into the wee hours, the tears and hurt feelings as young tempers fray. As a kid I looked forward to nocturnal play dates; as a parent I dreaded them.

In Cece Bell's book for beginning readers, Best buds Rabbit and Robot are having their first sleepover. It's at Rabbit's house and he's fairly hopping with excitement. A bit of a control freak, Rabbit has firm ideas about what should take place at a sleepover and he has a list to prove it.


1. Make pizza
2. Watch TV
3. Play Go Fish
4. Go to bed

As the poet Robert Burns famously wrote, "the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray." Apparently, a rabbit's plans too. Robot doesn't want carrots on his pizza; he prefers nuts, bolts, and screws. When he removes all the hardware from the table and chairs, the friends have no place to eat their dinner. Rabbit has a major meltdown until Robot spreads a blanket on the floor and they enjoy an indoor picnic.

Each remaining chapter deals with another item from Rabbit's list. Rabbit can't find the remote to watch TV, then Robot's batteries conk out while the friend are playing Go Fish, and at bedtime Robot is without PJs and has to borrow a pair from Rabbit. By lights out, Rabbit has manages to ease up enough to suggest that maybe Robot can make the next day's to-do list. Maybe.

Channeling Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad characters, Bell creates her version of mismatched friends. While Rabbit always has to have his way, Robot, who resembles an anthropomorphic iPhone, is more easy-going and accommodating. The cartoony illustrations are a lot of fun, especially the ones that show Robot zigzagging around the house on his one wheel. Beginning readers are sure to enjoy this new series. Who wouldn't want a robot for a friend!

Rabbit & Robot: The Sleepover
by Cece Bell
Candlewick Press, 56 pages
Published: September 2012