My Family Four Floors Up

November 6, 2017
Stutson (Blue Corn Soup) and Krampien (A Book of Bridges) follow a father and daughter through the ups and downs of a day in their city home—quite literally, since they live on the fourth floor of an apartment building. It’s an ordinary day, rather than an especially eventful one: the two travel to a park, a rainstorm interrupts the girl’s play, and they return home for bath, books, and bed. Writing in the voice of the daughter, Stutson incorporates lots of “hellos” and “goodbyes” into her smoothly constructed rhymes, as well as words repeated for emphasis: “Hello, green park, bright blue sky,/ swing, swing, swinging way up high!” Krampien captures the action in large, comics-style scenes colored in bright shades of yellow, teal, mint, and pink, creating a warm sense of community—not even the storm puts much of a damper on the girl’s attitude. The book sticks to familiar territory, but the father-daughter focus, ready-to-read verse, and appealingly fresh and contemporary art should win it some fans. Ages 2–7.

January 1, 2018
Preschool-G A little girl is ready to start her day in this lovely rhyming story that takes readers on her adventures. After a good breakfast, she and her father say goodbye to their cat and walk four floors down, making the journey to the park with their dog, and passing many different people along the way: Hello sidewalk, / many feet! / Goodbye, / black cat, / city street. After crossing paths with ducklings and making sand cakes, the family makes their way back through the rain and up the four floors to a nice bath, a good supper, and a soft bed. The colorful, almost vintage-like illustrations pair perfectly with the bouncy, lilting text to create a warm and happy glimpse into everyday life in a city. Krampien's cozy artwork, populated by pleasantly cartoonish figures, has lots of background details little ones will have fun exploring. This cheery story celebrating everyday urban delights will likely appeal to kids who relate to the busy neighborhood in Julia Denos and E. B. Goodale's contemplative Windows (2017).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2018
This misleadingly titled book is a little girl's hymn to her life in the city; her day with her dad and dog begins with "Hello, morning, yellow sun, yummy breakfast. Day's begun" and ends with "Curtains billow. Windows light. Goodbye, daytime. Hello, night." The art has a cartoonish quality that fights with the rhymes' grace.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)