No buddy like a book

In this snappy addition to the shelf of book-extolling books, Wolf (The Snow Fell Three Graves Deep) supplies a string of examples showing how books can teach and enlighten. An unnamed narrator vacillates between offering cheery advice ("So step aboard the Book Express./ It's waiting at the station") and divulging things learned in volumes read ("We learn why icebergs stay afloat.../ and why Titanics sink"). A group of children of various ethnicities, including a brown-skinned child with low sight, make a series of book-led discoveries. Two of the gang sail off in a balloon to a celestial city of domed towers as others build a rocket booster and make a pinhole camera, which Farley (Dozens of Doughnuts) draws in enough detail for readers to try making themselves. Others explore the globe ("I've anteloped in Africa/ and kissed a crocodile/ as I was sailing all alone/ along the river Nile") and encounter spectacular bird specimens in a museum. Though colonialist-explorer elements sound dated, Wolf's playful tone keeps the loosely associated episodes powering forward. Sturdy, stubby-nosed characters by Farley, meanwhile, beguile, and fantasy landscapes divert, including a wondrous spread that reimagines the constellations. Ages 4--8. (Feb.)

A journey into the cosmos contained in books and the adventures they provide for readers. The reading of this book is an inclusive one from the outset, as the story begins with the communal affirmation that "we learn important stuff from books." Wolf emphasizes the power of the reader's imagination, without which a book doesn't have life, since, "books are only smears of ink / without the reader's mind / to give the letters meaning / and to read between the lines." Thus comes the invitation to board a train called the Book Express, and the perspective switches to the main character, a child of color with a lovely, spiky ponytail that acts as an exclamation point to the child's reading adventures: studying rocket science, leading a V-shaped flock of birds, exploring distant landscapes (often while reading on animalback), and more. Farley's illustrations are endearing and captivating, bringing newly imagined worlds to life through colorful illustrations. A most striking spread shows the night sky, with both known and new constellations filling the page. The trope of opening a book that reveals ideas, excitement, and new experiences within has been explored before, but Wolf's interpretation feels refreshed by both catchy rhymes and a cast of characters diverse in race, gender, age, and ability. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11.8-by-20.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 41% of actual size.) A sweet reminder of the worlds held within books and our power to play in them. (Picture book. 4-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.