Blexi, play!

K-Gr 2--In this early reader, Liam is eager to play with his mom's "new toy," a smart speaker named Blexi. The speaker plays music and tells jokes in response to commands from Liam's parents and older sister, but when Liam orders Blexi to "play the Dino-sawwwr Song!" it responds, "I am sorry. I do not have the Dining Sauce Song." Through repeated attempts, Liam is unable to speak clearly enough for the device to understand him. Liam breaks his sister's doll amid his growing frustration and anger, and then spends the remainder of the story working to make amends. Illustrations show Liam and his family with brown skin and black hair. The text is set in a dyslexia-friendly typeface, with a few short narrative sentences on each page. Additional speech bubbles are printed in a different color for each character to aid readability. This short story includes an extensive emotional vocabulary, naming each of Liam's emotions as he experiences them: confusion, anger, sadness, and, finally, pride. Many readers will identify with the frustration of interacting with new technology, and all will relate to the experience of moving through difficult emotions. VERDICT A strong addition to early reader collections.--Amy Reimann