THE JELLYBEANS AND THE BIG BOOK BONANZA

No matter what your passion, there’s a book written just for you. Anna, a young gray rabbit, loves to read and takes a book with her wherever she goes. Her friends, though, have many different interests. Emily (a terrier) loves to dance, Nicole (a cat) loves to play soccer and Bitsy (a pig) loves to paint. They call themselves the Jellybeans, with a nod to their diversity and named after their favorite candy. When the homework assignment involves a class trip to the library to select materials for a book report, Anna is excited, but the rest of the Jellybeans are wary of this unfamiliar place. After a bit of resistance, librarian Ms. Beasley-Buzzer (a plump and motherly goose) leads each child to the perfect read, based on his/her interests. When book-report time comes, the Jellybeans stand hand in hand in front of the class, sharing their love of reading. Munsinger’s watercolors depict the characters with maximum cuteness; Numeroff and co-author Evan’s story is similarly warm and simple—if also unabashedly didactic. (Picture book. 3-6)