Buzz (by Janet S. Wong)

Accompanying the graceful, sometimes rhyming prose are double-page spreads with artfully cropped close-up images. Illustrator Margaret Chodos-Irving uses printmaking techniques to add pattern and texture to her bold, colorful compositions. The perspectives are interesting and varied, from the overhead view of the kitchen at breakfast time to an ankle-high image of Mommy dashing off in her bee-colored socks. The sharply contrasting colors and block-style images, and Mom in her '50s-style swing coat, give the art a playful retro feel that enhances the book's charm as well as its adult appeal.

When read to a gathering of 3- to 6-year-olds, the group was abuzz. By the sixth page everyone, including the youngest ones, were anticipating the word buzz and repeating it. Long after the reading, many of the children still chanted the buzz-word amid peals of giggles.