In this testament to the power of the word please, precocious Sophia tries to persuade her family to get her a giraffe for her birthday. Approaching each family member individually, Sophia cleverly tailors her presentation to fit her audience, offering "evidence" to her mother, who is a judge, and a "business plan" to her businessman father, and she even bolsters her case with a compelling visual chart or slideshow, for example. But to no avail. Sophia is told she is too "effusive," too "verbose," too "loquacious," and just too wordy, until she tries a single word, please, which works its promised magic and gets her her wish. The loose, brightly colored watercolor illustrations miniscent of Chris Raschka's unique style ature a tutu-clad, increasingly frustrated Sophia interacting with her biracial family, and effectively capture the story's essence and gentle humor. The text's elevated language offers many opportunities for vocabulary building, but its chuckle-inducing wit is what will make Sophia and her family a reader favorite.

PreS-Gr 1 Poor Sophia. Her birthday is coming, and she only has One True Desire (a pet giraffe), but four major obstacles stand in her way, namely her mother (a judge), father (a businessman), uncle (a politican), and grandmother (a strict disciplinarian). She gives each member of her biracial family an individualized presentation including visuals and supporting material, but each one says no and critiques her presentation as being too wordy. In a last ditch attempt, Sophia does a group presentation of one word ("Please!"), accompanied by a compelling pair of pleading eyes. This effort garners (surprise!) success, so she follows it up with two equally important words"Thank you!" Averbeck's text is a fun take on kindergarten meets the board of directors. Kids will get it even if they don't understand a few of the words ( effusive, loquacious, verbose ). Ismail's watercolor and colored-pencil illustrations are childlike in the best possible wayfeaturing bold colors and faces showing great expressions, Sophia's drawings, a pooping giraffe, and just the right amount of detail. They are a perfect complement to the text. VERDICT An amusing story to which kids and adults can relate. Plus it's nice to see a biracial family and female judge in the same book. Catherine Callegari, Gay-Kimball Library, Troy, NH