GOOD MORNING, SWEETIE PIE

In a perfectly delicious outing, Dyer’s (Sophie’s Masterpiece, p. 422, etc.) sunny, openhearted watercolors, drenched in color and cheer, match the tender, in-the-moment rhymes and rhythms of Rylant’s (Little Whistle’s Dinner Party, p. 1300, etc.) verse. The poems follow a small child’s day: breakfast, the sandbox, a ride in the car, a bath, bedtime. Each poem is illustrated by Dyer’s expressive paintings; the children are a multiethnic band of toddlers and photographs of the kids used as models for each poem are included at the end. “Baby Loves a Rainy Day” touts the praises of staying in to play with blocks, a book, and music; “Going in the Car” has a girl and her papa in a yellow Volkswagen Beetle, running errands and waving to everyone they see. In “Sweetie’s Messes,” the bouncy rhyme states, “Suppertime with baby girl / Leaves Papa looking funny. / He’s got some squash in his left ear / And one shoe’s full of honey!” Irresistible. (Picture book. 3-7)