The House at the End of Ladybug Lane
From a long line of neatniks pictured in portraits on the endpapers (an ancestor invented the garbage can, Dad vacuums the grass, Mom irons the linguini), wrinkly, rumpled Angelina Neatolini does not fit the mold. Although her parents won’t heed her desire for a pet (too messy), one night a hard-of-hearing, wish-granting ladybug mishears the girl’s pleas and gives her a host of pests—not pets. A little monster bakes up delicacies, a pink spider weaves lacy curtains, and a dozen doodlebugs cover the walls, all of which, of course, raise the parents’ ire come early morning. It turns out the delectable snacks are laced with magic that changes the parents’ minds, and they now love both their dazzling house and their still-not-neat daughter. Primavera’s flight of fancy, packed with delicious language, and Docampo’s imaginatively rendered gouache illustrations, filled with bold colors and movement, will tickle young readers’ funny bones. Grades K-2. --Patricia Austin