Adults will coo and sigh, but little kids won't get all mushy about these winning baby animal stories.
They'll just embrace them for their upbeat look at life for the very young. After all, children know better than to get moist-eyed over legitimately warm-and-fuzzy endings.
Tops on the list is "And Tango Makes Three" by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, with illustrations by Henry Cole. This is a true story of two male penguins at New York's Central Park Zoo who received and hatched an egg from another penguin couple. The resulting baby was called "Tango" because "it takes two to make a Tango," the penguin keeper notes.
This unusual book (Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, $14.95) makes a powerful statement about what it takes to create a happy family. As Tango and her two fathers play in the penguin house, children cheer "hooray" for all three of them. The proud parents look as overjoyed as any humans.
And at night, the three "snuggled together and, like all the other ... families in the big city around them, they went to sleep." Readers will shout "hooray," too.
In "Widget and the Puppy" (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $16), a placid dog gets a puppy-sitting assignment. At first Widget is wary, as his charge wreaks havoc everywhere. But when Widget rescues the pup from a bad situation, the relationship shifts from antagonism to affection. Widget eventually discovers that he has the best possible companion.
Like a big brother, Widget takes his responsibility seriously. By the end of the book, written and illustrated by husband-and-wife team Lyn Rossiter and Jim McFarland, an observing pack of girl cats watches Widget and his pal with bemused stares. Girls just don't understand a "guy thing."
The illustrations are riotous; the storytelling is clever. And nothing beats a puppy with a bright red tongue, as well as two wagging tails at the book's end.
Progressing from youth to young adulthood, the story of "Farfallina and Marcel" (HarperTrophy, $5.99) underscores the inevitability of change and the constancy of friendship even when change happens. In this paperback re-issue of an award-winning title, readers become acquainted with a gosling and caterpillar whose love for each other transcends their transformations into maturity.
The illustrations are sumptuously colorful, the narrative poignant. Author-artist Holly Keller touches on the essence of what it means to have a faithful companion throughout the stages of life. The give-and-take attitudes of Farfallina and Marcel are a perfect example of what real friends do for each other.
Togetherness, all three books point out, is an important benefit for kids. And youthful relationships invariably offer benefits to adults as well.
That's good news for readers, who will realize their own importance in the world around them.
- Lois Henderlong is a freelance writer who has reviewed children's books for publications across the Midwest. She lives in La Porte, Ind., and can be reached at loisirene@csinet.net.
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