PAPER PARADE

Forced to stay inside while a parade passes outside, a child produces a parade of her own in this tippety-tappety take on turning lemons into lemonade. Bad timing: just as band music comes floating in the window, baby brother Joe needs “a nap, nap, nap.” So his apartment-bound big sister sets to with paper and scissors, constructing marching figures to a rattling, drumbeat commentary: “Tickity tee / Follow me! / Ba-rum-pum-pum / Here we come!” After dozing off for a brief parade dream, she then suspends her creations on a coat hanger over baby’s crib. Briant rolls, pleats, and curls brightly colored papers to make models and modeler both, then poses them artfully against pastel backgrounds. This high-stepping debut (for him) makes an infectiously hand-clapping, toe-tapping read-aloud, as well as an invitation to the pleasures of handmade play. (Picture book. 6-8)