Let Me Finish!

Call it a preemptive strike: Lê schools children who are new to reading (and probably more likely to be the spoiler than the spoilee) on the evils of the spoiler. A bespectacled boy (his glasses are huge and red) is sooo excited to read his new book. He settles in under a tree and starts turning pages. Before he gets very far, though, three noisy birds with a lot to say poke their beaks into his business: "Ooh, I loved that book!" "Me too! Can you believe her best friend turns out to be a robot?" "And that her hat was actually a time machine?!" The book's pattern is set: boy selects book, boy seeks out quiet spot to read, boy's experience is spoiled by creatures who've already read the book, boy pleads with them to, next time, just let him finish. The story ends with a metafictive twist that's a clever play on getting lost in a book. Roxas's mixed-media illustrations take the boy-and readers-on an imaginative journey, from what looks like a very cheery library building to a cave, a jungle, the mountains, the sea. The perspective is varied, from close-ups of the smiling or frustrated child to more crowded, hectic spreads showing all of the animals butting in. There's lots of forward momentum; in trying to evade the creatures, the boy is almost always moving toward the right and thus toward the page turn. There's also a built-in lesson about how books work for new readers-and about how to be considerate when discussing a favorite book in front of others. elissa gershowitz

Lê schools children on the evils of the spoiler. A bespectacled boy selects books to read, but his experience is spoiled each time by creatures who've already read the books, despite his pleas to, next time, just let him finish. Roxas's mixed-media illustrations take the boy--and readers--on an imaginative journey with varied perspective and lots of forward momentum.