Turning pages to soothe kids’ itchy feet
A new year beckons, and people young and old long for an adventure. But even when the world conspires to keep everyone safe at home, books can transport readers through time and space. Young readers looking for a voyage — whether it’s down the block, around the globe or through the mythical worlds of creation — can scratch that itch with these picture books about trips long and short.
“Follow That Frog!” by Philip C. Stead, illustrated by Matthew Cordell. (Ages 4 to 8. Neal Porter Books. $18.99, due Tuesday.) Veteran author Philip C. Stead’s puckish sense of humor is on full display in “Follow That Frog!,” a stylishly illustrated adventure that begins with an intrepid young lady and a gigantic frog ... and then it gets really interesting. Old Aunt Josephine tells what sounds like the very tallest of tales to Sadie, recounting her youthful pursuit of a man-eating frog through Patagonia, across the Panama Canal, to the Canary Islands, and beyond. “I made the best of our adventure — taking in the sights, but never losing sight of the goal,” Aunt Josephine says. After she chases adventure around the world, it turns out that perhaps adventure is ready to chase her and Sadie — and even come, quite literally, knocking on the door.
“Feathered Serpent and the Five Suns: A Mesoamerican Creation Myth” by Duncan Tonatiuh. (Ages 5 to 9. Abrams Books for Young Readers. $16.99.) If a trip around the world isn’t enough adventure for you, then Duncan Tonatiuh’s tale of travel through the underworld is just the ticket. Gorgeously illustrated in Tonatiuh’s distinctive, Mesoamerican-inspired style, “Feathered Serpent” retells the myth of an amazing journey that ends with the creation of humanity. Quetzalcoatl, or Feathered Serpent, the god of knowledge, battles his way through nine regions of the underworld to recover the bones he needs to make humans. Across a mighty river, over a mountain as sharp as shattered glass, through a frozen land, Feathered Serpent passes every test — but still ends up “bleeding and terribly hurt” as he stumbles to safety. He and the other gods lend their own blood to remake mankind, creating the world as it is today. Tonatiuh ends his skillfully retold myth with an explanation of the story’s language and origins.
“What About X? An Alphabet Adventure” by Anne Marie Houppert, illustrated by
Daniel Wiseman. (Ages 3 to 5. Abrams Appleseed. $16.99, due Tuesday.) It’s an adventure of a smaller sort when the alphabet decides to go on a camping trip. Everyone seems to have something to contribute, X thinks, pressing his nose against the window of the bus as it fills with supplies. J is bringing juice boxes, K has a kite, but X is left with ... an X-ray machine. “But what fun would an X-ray be on a camping trip?” Over and over, he tries to find the perfect thing — and just when X is about to despair, he realizes he’s got exactly what their “exceptionally excellent” journey needs.