Some Things Change
What's black and white and likely to be read all over? This cheery paper-over-board addition to Murphy's (Please Be Quiet!; My Puffer Train) canon of penguin books for toddlers. Here, a young penguin observes how the things in its life and surroundings are apt to change a cardboard box becomes a ship, water turns to ice, walls in the home are painted different colors. Moods and minds change, too, a fact that seems to make each day a new adventure. But while many things are in flux, the book's final spread offers a reassuring exception: the constant love of a parent. "Some things stay the same," reads the text, as the art depicts a parent-and-child hug. Everything about the book's design is appealingly bold, from the solid-colored backgrounds and thick, hand-lettered style of the text to the penguin's bright fried-egg, yellow-on-white belly. Young children will appreciate the verisimilitude and comforting notes that Murphy hits just right. Ages 1-4.Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.