PreS-Gr 2 Kicking off with a boastful title that seems to oversell its contents and a giant "gold medal" sticker on the bold red and blue cover, this picture book attempts to encourage and celebrate the act of reading and loving a special book. Creative visuals use saturated colors and graphic shapes to cleverly show a reader making her way through the story. She walks with her nose in her book, following wherever it leads--through the streets, to the bus stop, and then far away into her imagination. Each high-contrast spread offers plenty of details and discoveries to explore. Unfortunately, the text doesn't have the zest of the art. The sentences read like a chant but lack a unifying rhythm: "We're not heading home./At least not until we/reach the back cover!" The book rounds off at the end with a fun visual twist and an invitation to start again at the beginning. Those who already love reading need no push to fall into a book, but skeptics may find this heavy-handed sell somewhat unconvincing. Julie Roach, Cambridge Public Library, MA

Designer/illustrator Alexander sets expectations high with an eye-catching cover and a title that promises a lot. Said title doesn-t actually have much to do with the content of her story, though, an ode to the power of books. While there isn-t much to the storyline-it follows a book-loving girl on the adventures reading takes her-Alexander-s artwork lives up to the hyperbole of the title. Colored in bold primary reds, yellows, and blues, her blocky, pared-down images have the feel of linoprints (and call to mind Dan Yaccarino-s work in Doug Unplugged). -Read along. Read aloud. Or in your head,- writes Alexander as she shows the pigtailed girl with her nose buried in a book while hitching rides on a crowded city and a rolling travel bag. From there, the girl goes skydiving, crosses a sunbaked desert (where, in addition to being an immersive read, her book provides helpful shade), and ventures into the belly of a sleeping dragon, before retiring to bed. The somewhat generic, rah-rah prose (-Page by page you-re carried away-) pales next to the imagination evident in the artwork. Ages 3-7. (July)