The old saw about life, lemons, and lemonade works well in this bright and bouncy picture book for kids who encounter disappointments (aka "calamities"). Your balloon disappears into the stratosphere, but . . . Grandma will see it flying by from her airplane window. Sandwich dropped into the sand? "It'll make some seagulls very happy." Broken toy? Grandpa can fix that! And time spent with Grandpa is fun for both. A scraped knee might be helped by a glow-in-the-dark bandage. The events are presented on a white background. Yes, there are down moments as calamity strikes, but double-page spreads also show grins, giggles, and smiles as the potential catastrophe is resolved. This book is upbeat, positive, and full of laughs, and a good way to emphasize the bright spots and fixes in life's tender moments. Cartoonlike figures outlined in black and cheery color washes in blues, yellows, and greens fill each page. The optimistic message ends with a fitting illustration: "when life gives you rain . . . look for the rainbow!"

PreS-Gr 1 Teachers and parents today know the importance of teaching young children resilience. This book explores common childhood frustrations, acknowledges the feelings, and helps point the way toward coping. The difficulties are everyday occurrences such as ice cream melting or legs getting scraped, not large-scale tragedies, so the tone remains optimistic throughout. Not every situation will resonate with every child, but the premise of looking for the positive has universal appeal. The book design and cheerful, exuberant pictures carry out the theme. A color-saturated full page describes the problem, along with a single page illustration. The "problem" spread leads to a two-page image celebrating a constructive outcome. For example, in the sandwich section, the text reads, "It's sad to drop your sandwich in the sand&30;but it will make some seagulls very happy." The illustration shows that another child split her own undropped sandwich and shared, helping children understand that sometimes they have to look further for a solution. Adults can forget how things that seem small to them can be significant in a child's world. The warm tone of this story is a reassuring reminder to children that a situation can be bad, but they will be okay. The simple design leaves room for exploration, writing, and discussion as children could think of something that happened to them and remember or imagine a way to handle it. VERDICT Most libraries will want to add this appealing title. Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, St. Christopher's School, Richmond, VA