Ten Kisses for Sophie!

PreS-Gr 1—Wells continues her Sophie series with this accurate look at childhood desire and disappointment. Mama and Sophie make yummy chocolate kisses with pistachio buttercream filling for Aunt Prunella's birthday party, but will 10 be enough for all the guests and Sophie to have one? This is the question that plagues Sophie all through the night. Only after she makes place cards for all the guests then counts them and the kisses (placed on top of the refrigerator "in case of midnight invaders") can she sleep knowing there is just enough for everyone. Then a morning phone call changes everything ("Why couldn't Cousin Martha stay in Saskatoon?"), and a very disappointed Sophie can barely eat the birthday meal. Luckily, Sophie has a clever, kind, and quick-thinking Granny who declares when offered a chocolate kiss—"I'm on a nut-free, chocolate-free, butter-free diet!" As Sophie devours the delicious treat, she is glad not to be on that diet! As in the previous "Sophie" books, Wells's uncluttered illustrations are a perfect complement to her text, with great facial expressions, subtle detail (e.g., chocolate-spattered dishes filling the sink in the background), and pastel colors.