July Recommendations

In DEBUG THIS BOOK, written by Omar Abed and illustrated by Julie Rowan-Zoch, Cody is excited to share his computer screen, which displays the “magnificent story” he’s just written—” But wait! A bug (not the kind that needs an exterminator) has “broken” his book (and the handywoman can’t fix it). It’s a code bug and it quickly wreaks havoc. Cody begs readers to help out by performing a series of actions, such as “shooing it away” with their hands, not turning pages, turning pages slowly, turning them really fast, and shaking the book up and down. Finally, after many wrong turns, a solution is hit upon, which saves the day—and Cody’s story! Text is fun, interactive, and energetic, and an interesting author’s note/coding note incudes a bit about where the term “debugging” comes from. Vibrant, playful, and clever, the digital illustrations do a great job of reflecting both computer environment and bug, as well as adding to the excellent chaos of the story; plus there are lots of fun details worth rereading for, including the computer bug itself on many spreads.

WAFFLES AND JULIUS: NO HUGS PLEASE, by Ed Vere, features an exuberant dog and a grumpy-looking cat with very different goals. Waffles, who loves hugs, wants badly to give one to his friend Julius. Julius most emphatically does not want the honor. Waffles tries so hard to be patient while Julius catnaps, but finally he’s done waiting. Waffles thinks maybe a stick or a funny face would make Julius happy, but “No!” they do not. Neither do singing or chasing. After a very busy day, the sleepy animals are both ready for a nap. If Julius cuddles up next to Waffles, “that wouldn’t be a hug, would it?” The succinct and amusing text invites readers in, while the mixed media art uses strong colors and a winsome character design. The sweet ending comes full circle and holds up to repeated read-alouds. It’s very nicely done.

MOUSESTACHE MOOSESTACHE, by Rowboat Watkins, is a whole bunch of silly! It begins “Moustache. Moosetache. How do you DO-stache?” The characters are all sporting mustaches, including a house (housetache), a shoe (shoestache), there’s also a cowstache, and a nest that’s apparently a “coostache.” There are “Duckstaches! Cluckstaches! Stuck inside truckstaches!” Also, “Blimpstaches. Goatstaches. Shrimpstaches. Boatstaches.” The ridiculous rhyming goes on in this way for much of the book, escalating and carrying on until the original Mouse and Moose have run out of “roomstache,” at which point they wave to us, “toodle-OO-stache.” This one has to be read aloud to be fully enjoyed—it’s much funnier when you actually try to say all these words. And the illustrations, made with “pencils, pens, and whatever else happened to be under the artist’s nose,” show that Watkins himself had a wonderfulstache of a time making this book. “Tropical fruitstaches,” anyone?

THE STUFFIE STAND, by Maddie Frost, is the entertaining tale of Moose, who has loved stuffed animals ever since he was small. When he gets bigger he starts sewing them himself “stitch[ing] each one to perfection.” One day, he opens his own shop and the locals adore his cute, squishable stuffies. Including Mabel, who “SQUEE!” loudly proclaims she likes hers with lots of bedazzling. She offers to sell her bedazzled accessories alongside Moose’s more simple creations, and at first Moose is a definite no, but when his stand becomes way too busy, and he encounters “a case of NOODLE ARMS—a crafter’s worst nightmare,” he’s forced to consider his options. And humbly ask for help. A imperfectly perfect plan is formed. The text is lively and so are the cartoony illustrations, in this buoyant, bubbly, irresistible friendship story.

JAYDEN NOTICED, written by Carolyn Crimi and illustrated by Shamar Knight-Justice, is a story about moving to a new home, in which Jayden, who notices everything, must leave behind the comfort of a moon that “look[s] different every night as it peek[s] through the branches of his favorite oak tree.” When it’s time to go, Jaden packs the jar holding his rock collection, which includes his favorite wishing rocks. At the new house he notices that the trees are too short. He’s worried about making a friend. But then he finds a new rock “with a river of sparkle running down its middle”—a new wishing rock! And he finds a new friend who also notices things. And that night Jayden notices that the “too-short trees at his new house [don’t] block the view out of his window,” and he can see the entire big, bright moon in the sky right before he falls asleep with a smile. This touching story about one particular kid feels universal and reassuring, with digitally collaged illustrations supporting and enhancing the text.

In THE MOUNTAIN THAT WOULDN’T MOVE, by Sandra Dumais, Bear lives in the shadow of a large mountain. When the shadow is gray or blue, Bear feels likewise; when it’s pitch black, he feels “downright dreary.” So Bear declares the shadow has to go. She enlists Rabbit, Cardinal, and Gopher to help move the mountain, by pushing it a little to the left, then to the right, and then by standing on each other’s shoulders. But the mountain just stands still. Bear becomes obsessed, but nothing works. Finally, she collapses in despair. Her friends carry her up the mountainside. And there, right near the peak, the animals experience a glorious sunset. They decide they should keep the mountain where it is. This is a nicely-focused, nicely-told story; with engaging, colorful illustrations, it’s a very good read.

—Lynn