Mail Harry to the Moon! by Robie H. Harris, illustrated by Michael Emberley (Little, Brown, $15.99, 9780316153768/0316153761, ages 4-8 , June)
The "new baby" predicament from an older sibling's perspective has rarely been as humorously explored as it is here, with Harris's light touch and Emberley's portraits of the curly-topped narrator and his bald-headed nemesis. Author and artist, the seasoned collaborators of such candid titles about babies and bodies as It's Not the Stork! and It's So Amazing!, have a gift for getting at the heart of a matter--and pulling no punches. "Before Harry was born,/ there was ME!" the book begins. The text appears beneath a snapshot of the young narrator holding a gift of a prize rocket-ship toy, a bow still tied around it. "Now there's me./ And Harry." A trio of photos feature baby Harry with his older brother relegated to the background or cropped mostly out of the picture, that same rocket-ship toy looking much smaller against the boy's growing frame. Emberley outlines the brothers in black crayon with a watercolor wash, creating cartoonish figures with realistic emotions. A series of transgressions follow ("Before Harry,/ nobody took a bite of my banana"), and the narrator suggests increasingly more severe punishments ("Throw Harry in the Trash!" appears in type that occupies an entire page as he imagines Harry's beady little eyes barely clearing the opening in the trash can). The most poignant pair of spreads features the narrator on his Grandma's ample lap, their embrace so enveloping that it extends beyond the page limits; in the next image, Harry occupies that precious space. The small type in the older sibling's thought balloon registers his feelings of defeat: "Put Harry Back Inside Mommy." It's Harry's nonstop wailing that elicits the title response, but when the narrator wakes to silence, his greatest fear is that one of his wishes has actually come true. Might Harry really be on the moon? His anxious expressions resemble a parent's response as much as a child's. Even though the ending will come as no surprise to seasoned readers, it will bring a sigh of relief to youngsters, and the intergalactic journey there will delight even the most rebellious older sibling.--Jennifer M. Brown
The "new baby" predicament from an older sibling's perspective has rarely been as humorously explored as it is here, with Harris's light touch and Emberley's portraits of the curly-topped narrator and his bald-headed nemesis. Author and artist, the seasoned collaborators of such candid titles about babies and bodies as It's Not the Stork! and It's So Amazing!, have a gift for getting at the heart of a matter--and pulling no punches. "Before Harry was born,/ there was ME!" the book begins. The text appears beneath a snapshot of the young narrator holding a gift of a prize rocket-ship toy, a bow still tied around it. "Now there's me./ And Harry." A trio of photos feature baby Harry with his older brother relegated to the background or cropped mostly out of the picture, that same rocket-ship toy looking much smaller against the boy's growing frame. Emberley outlines the brothers in black crayon with a watercolor wash, creating cartoonish figures with realistic emotions. A series of transgressions follow ("Before Harry,/ nobody took a bite of my banana"), and the narrator suggests increasingly more severe punishments ("Throw Harry in the Trash!" appears in type that occupies an entire page as he imagines Harry's beady little eyes barely clearing the opening in the trash can). The most poignant pair of spreads features the narrator on his Grandma's ample lap, their embrace so enveloping that it extends beyond the page limits; in the next image, Harry occupies that precious space. The small type in the older sibling's thought balloon registers his feelings of defeat: "Put Harry Back Inside Mommy." It's Harry's nonstop wailing that elicits the title response, but when the narrator wakes to silence, his greatest fear is that one of his wishes has actually come true. Might Harry really be on the moon? His anxious expressions resemble a parent's response as much as a child's. Even though the ending will come as no surprise to seasoned readers, it will bring a sigh of relief to youngsters, and the intergalactic journey there will delight even the most rebellious older sibling.--Jennifer M. Brown