Marco Goes to School
In Too Busy Marco (2010), the red parrot had too much on his plate. Now he is BORED. Marco’s mom has the antidote—school—which turns out to be more interesting than he expected. Well, not school per se. That’s boring. But there are things in the classroom that pique his imagination, and before long he and the other kids are piling blocks up to reach the moon. The New Yorker cartoonist Chast is as offbeat as ever. Watercolor-and-ink drawings in her distinctive style have plenty of visual asides and silly moments that bolster a somewhat slight text. A slightly older picture-book crowd will be the best audience. Grades K-2. --Ilene Cooper