THE UPSIDE-DOWN BOY AND THE ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER

Moral: Odd is good.

Daniel loves to walk backward and on his hands. He eats soup for breakfast and cereal for dinner. Why he enjoys this is never explained, and of course it doesn’t need to be explained to any school-age child. But headstands are very bad behavior on a field trip to the prime minister’s house, or at least that’s what his parents and teachers say. So Daniel spends the days before the visit in training, practicing facing forward and sitting up straight. Any school-age child will see where this picture book is going, and they may place bets on when he’ll finally flip upside down. It happens close to the end, as he leans down to pick up a coin from the floor. But two pages later, the prime minister’s assistant is pointing to a photo of David Ben-Gurion, the first prime minister of Israel, upside down on a beach. And by the next page, the assistant is standing on his head, to applause from everyone. Even a parent or teacher might approve of the lesson: Headstands are good training for a future in politics. Unfortunately, the artwork makes the characters (with a few exceptions, light-skinned Israelis) look less free-spirited. Their body language is often stiff or contorted. But the actual historic photo of Ben-Gurion, reproduced on the final page, is whimsical and inspiring. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-18.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 74.3% of actual size.)

Oddball politicians are still sometimes worth celebrating.