MARTIN BRIDGE: READY FOR TAKEOFF!

Aimed at “Horrible Harry” fans, but a cut above in content, these three domestic episodes weigh in with some unusually meaty insights. First, young Martin sees a special gift intended for someone else work a miraculous change in the disposition of his surly school bus driver; then, troubled by a neighbor’s request to replace in secret her small daughter’s dead hamster, he starts to wonder whether his own parents lie to him sometimes; and finally, feeling that he’s not getting proper credit for suggesting that his friend Alex paint flames on a widely admired model rocket, Martin goes into a snit—but only until he figures out that a good friend is worth a little give and take. Pale ink-and-wash sketches on every spread nicely capture Martin’s changing moods and close family relations. Fledgling chapter-book readers of a reflective bent will appreciate Kerrin’s way of delivering life lessons without hammering them home. (Fiction. 8-10)