What’s Sweeter

PreS-Gr 2–In a meandering tone similar to The Happiness of a Dog with a Ball in its Mouth, this book takes the form of a list of the sweet things in life. At first, the text follows a formula of “what’s sweeter than,” for example, “how little ducks walk in a row.” The template breaks mid-book in a refreshing change to “Is there anything sweeter,” ending with “no, nothing could be sweeter, except maybe you.” Some of the listed topics are concrete (“the soft spot behind a cat’s ear”), others more abstract (“when something fits you just right”), and still others would not be defined as “sweet” but still somehow fit (“a fire truck getting a bath”). Tate create charmingly childlike digital illustrations with a variety of analog materials. Wobbly doodles of children appear on sparsely illustrated pages with cream and yellow backgrounds. The few exceptions stand out, such as watercolor butterflies exploding off a painted page. While the book’s pacing will not hold the attention of every child, those who read it will find themselves enthralled.