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By Ian Falconer
Atheneum, $17.95, June 6
Olivia, a bossy, headstrong yet
charming young pig with a passion for fashion, ballet and opera, is back in the fourth of a series of lovely picture books inspired by the author's niece. Falconer, who draws covers for The New Yorker and designs sets and costumes for opera productions, does wonders with simple, expressive drawings in charcoal and gouache. The plot is
simple: Olivia is shocked to hear that no band will perform at the fireworks her family is going to. The rest is piglet history. Olivia Forms a Band was tested at home with two almost-6-year-olds who declared that Olivia is one funny pig.
Olivia Forms a Band
And don't miss:
*Casey at the Bat by Ernest Thayer, illustrated by Joe Morse (KCP Poetry, $16.95, in stores). A stunning visual reinterpretation of the classic baseball poem relocated in the inner city (ages 4 and up).
*Max's Words by Kate Banks, illustrated by Boris Kulikov (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $16, Aug. 14). A typographic delight about a boy who collects words to compete with his coin-and-stamp-collecting older brothers (ages 4 to 8).
*Vegetable Dreams/Huerto Sonado by Dawn Jeffers, illustrated by Claude Schneider (Raven Tree, $16.95, in stores). A bilingual (English/Spanish) story about a girl and an elderly neighbor who share dreams of a bountiful garden (ages 4 to 8).
*Honky-Tonk Heroes and Hillbilly Angels by Holly George-Warren, illustrated by Laura Levine (Houghton Mifflin, $16, in stores). Illustrated history of pioneers of country music (ages 6 to 10).
*Eats, Shoots & Leaves: Why, Commas Really Do Make a Difference! by Lynne Truss, illustrated by Bonnie Timmons (Putnam, $15.99, July 25). Illustrated version of the best-selling witty punctuation guide (6 and up).
*Victory by Susan Cooper (Simon & Schuster, $16.95, July 1). Interwoven tales of a 19th-century boy pressed into service in the English navy and a 21st-century girl who loves books on Admiral Nelson (9 to 12).
*Gideon the Cutpurse by Linda Buckley-Archer (Simon and Schuster, $17.95, June 27). First in series about 21st-century kids whose anti-gravity machine lands in 18th-century London (ages 9 to 12).
*Peter and the Shadow Thieves by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson (Hyperion, $18.99, July 14). Second in a series of prequels to Peter Pan (ages 10 and up).
*Raiders Night by Robert Lipsyte (HarperTempest, $15.99, Aug. 1). Novel about pressures faced by a high school football star (14 and up).
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