FLORA'S VERY WINDY DAY

A little girl paints on a low table; her smaller brother reaches out and knocks paint and crayons all over. Flora screams, and her mom, at her laptop and looking stressed, tells her to take Crispin outside. It’s very windy, so Flora puts on her “super-special heavy-duty red boots.” Outside, Flora laughs at the wind, which cannot blow her away, but she informs it that her little brother has only regular boots. Before you know it, Crispin has been blown away, and Flora, alarmed now, sheds her fine red boots to follow him. Various creatures ask for Crispin, but Flora replies each time, “He’s my brother and I’m taking him home”—to which each responds, “If the wind lets you,” setting up the climactic confrontation, which echoes Sendak and others while remaining true to this story. Phelan’s illustrations are simply wonderful: His line floats and traces the air currents, his colors are subtle but strong and he captures Flora’s multiple emotions and Crispin’s silent toddlerness in every rosy-cheeked image. Emotionally true from cover to cover. (Picture book. 4-8)