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YOUNGER SIBLING GETS NEW ATTITUDE AND NEW NICKNAME

Little One Step

By Simon James

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Candlewick, $15.99

Ages 4-8 years

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On every hike, somebody's last, somebody's "legs feel all wobbly." The littlest duckling here is trying to be brave and strong, like the other two, who know they're lost but figure they'll find Mama if they just keep going. The atmosphere is visually gentle: The surrounding woods are not dense but sketchily filled in, with plenty of white space on the page. The older ducklings give the littlest one a strategy ("'Have you tried doing One Step?'") and, even better, the promise of a new name ("'We'll call you Little One Step from now on,' said his middle brother."). The ending is happy not only because they find Mama (we knew they would), but also because the littlest one boldly proclaims his new name to her. "Little One Step" is, after all, a big improvement on the nicknames sometimes handed out by siblings.

I'm Not Invited?

By Diana Cain Bluthenthal

Atheneum, $16.95

Ages 4-7 years

This book doesn't face the worst-case scenario, because it turns out that the party Minnie thought she wasn't invited to was for her friend Charles' sister, not for Charles. Along the way to that final-page revelation, however, Diana Cain Bluthenthal provides a first-rate catalog of how miserable it can feel to be left out. Though many schools try to legislate party invites for all, just like Valentines, there are exclusionary moments and they hurt. Minnie's obsession with when the invitation will come is realistic, as is its darkening of life from tooth-brushing time to the family dinner table. An implicit plea to not cause anyone else that pain.

Rise the Moon

By Eileen Spinelli, pictures by Raul Colon

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Dial, $16.99

Ages 4-8 years

Raul Colon's palette was made for a book about moonlight, with golds and blues and grey-flowing-greens. Whether it's a "moon-wakened mouse" or a "dreamy moonflower vine," the forms curve and glow against the night sky. The unusual and ambiguous syntax of the title makes the moonlit world all the more mysterious, like the old almanac advice that pumpkin seeds should be sown at moonrise. So, whether cows are jumping over it or dancers leaping beneath it, Eileen Spinelli and Colon have created a dually attractive land of magic.

Elvis Presley's Love Me Tender

By Elvis Presley and Vera Matson, illustrated by Tom Browning

HarperCollins, $15.99

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Ages 4-8 years

OK, I know what you're thinking. What's next, "Great Balls of Fire" for toddlers? Just give this book a chance. It's not about those white jumpsuits and scarves. The words of the song (humming it already?) are illustrated with full-page oil paintings of a father and daughter. He's helping her learn to ride a bike, or they're reading, or watching a pond, or blowing out birthday candles. The world that's represented is privileged, with golf and skis along the way, but the tenderness with which he buttons her sweater, or his pleasure at her hand-drawn birthday card, are strong and real. It comes with a CD, but do you need it?

Annie Rose Is My Little Sister

By Shirley Hughes

Candlewick, $15.99

Ages 4-7 years

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How does she do it? Shirley Hughes keeps drawing and telling over and over the endless story of children's family lives, and each time it's real and even better. The chubby sturdiness of the bodies, the raggedy, loved quality of stuffed animals, the combinations of joys and annoyances that come from having brothers or sisters -- Hughes creates a world we can believe in and want to be part of. Mom wears glasses and has hair that goes in many directions, and the house has plenty of child litter on the floors. The fit of Annie Rose's hand into her big brother's is true, just like the book -- loving and felt.

Russell, who teaches English at Indiana University Northwest, reviews children's books each week for the Chicago Tribune, a Tribune Publishing newspaper.


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