HEROES WEAR MASKS

Elmo gets ready for the first day of school by washing his hands and putting on his mask.

In straight-up, unvarnished behavior modeling, Elmo listens to his mother explain how to wash hands to the ABC song, heeds her warnings not to touch his face or his friends, and dons a mask just like “Super Grover,” since “heroes wear masks to keep others safe!” Pausing occasionally for deep breaths (“belly breathing,” as the “Tips for Grown-Ups” at the end put it) to calm his nerves, Elmo has a fun and busy day. All the socially distanced Sesame Street characters appear to be wearing masks with ear loops whether or not they have ears, and Kwiat gets around the problem of showing Elmo eating lunch without taking his mask off by simply posing him holding a juice box—which leaves young readers on their own to figure out what to do. Still, the sunny pictures mirror the narrative’s upbeat tone while showing how to maintain generous personal spaces while interacting with others and doing schoolwork in a classroom that seems to have both tables for individuals and large, open gathering spaces. The closing notes for caregivers rightly discourage trying to get children under 2 to mask up except under a doctor’s recommendation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 8.3-by-16-inch double-page spreads viewed at 85% of actual size.)

Functional, if simplistic and context free.