LULU'S PARTY

What’s the best thing to do on a rainy day?

To combat a dreary, gray afternoon, a well-intentioned owl named Lulu decides to host a rainy-day soiree in her cozy forest cottage. Warm and cheery ink-and-watercolor illustrations show Lulu’s initial attempts at a tea party, which doesn’t go particularly well, as her stuffed-animal guests are surprisingly silent. So Lulu decides to branch out and call her friends Charlie, a rabbit, and Oliver, an elephant. “Come to my party…I have the perfect treat for a rainy day,” she says. When an unintended ingredient finds its way into her treat—hot chocolate—just before the guests arrive, it looks like her little surprise is ruined. Can Charlie and Oliver salvage the situation? With kindness, determination, and some creativity, they are sure to find a way. Gentle and sweetly humorous, this simple story is a paean to friendship, problem solving, and cooperation, with the childlike and appealing pictures adding an ideal complement. Fans of Chase’s first book about these forest friends, Oliver’s Tree (2014), will not be disappointed, while those just meeting these sweet animals will effortlessly fall in love.

Adorable.