Faster! Faster!

Playing horsey with Daddy, Higher! Higher!'s heroine directs him to go "Faster! Faster!" Turn the page; the girl rides a dog. Pooped pup is replaced by rabbit, who's traded for ostrich, then horse, then cheetah, then hawk (all, tellingly, wearing Dad's purple polka-dotted tie). The book's playful design, featuring rich, cartoonlike acrylics, speaks directly to young children.

She's been Higher! Higher! (rev. 3/09); now that book's thrill-seeking heroine takes an imaginative joy ride without leaving the earth's atmosphere. Playing horsey with her enthusiastic father, the pig-tailed little girl directs him to go "Faster! Faster!" Turn the page, and the girl is now riding on the back of a dog. "Faster! Faster!" The next double-page spread shows the pooped pup left behind while the girl speeds away on a white rabbit. And so the Pony Express-like pattern goes: exhausted rabbit ("pant pant") is replaced by ostrich, ostrich is traded for horse, then cheetah, then hawk (all, tellingly, wearing Dad's purple polka-dotted tie). Things are mixed up a bit when the hawk swoops down out of the sky and into the ocean for a bold double-spread "SPLASH!" whereupon the girl then hitches a ride on a dolphin. Eventually the girl finds herself on a sluggish sea turtle ("Faster? Faster?"), Dad's enviable reserves of energy finally depleted. Once again, Patricelli successfully channels a er's nimble imagination. The book's playful design, featuring hand-lettered text and richly colored cartoonlike acrylics, speaks directly to its young audience. Slow down and share this one with your little speedsters. kitty flynn