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In a tucked-away corner of the world, in a land full of sun, on an almost forgotten plot of earth, sat Rosa Farm. In her first novel, author Liz Wu takes readers on a delightful romp through this very special farm, where the animals, considered members of the household, never worry about being eaten or sold and always contribute to their keep.

Gallileon, a young rooster, wonders about his role on the farm until the morning Farmer Rosa takes his papa to the fair. Following much practice and anxiety, Gallileon heralds the new day for the first time in his father’s absence. Seizing on his youthful insecurities, the geese and ducks, bitter rivals with the chickens, challenge the rooster to demonstrate his crowing abilities at high noon. Gallileon delivers another whole-hearted cock-a-doodle-doo, only to see a dark blotch appear in the spot where the sun had been. He can’t help but wonder if he has confused or angered the sun by crowing at the wrong time of day.

After listening in on the geese and ducks, Pepina, Gallileon’s plucky chick sister with the polka-dot bow, discovers that their challenge was deceitful. Although she does not fully understand their trick, she knows that sun’s disappearance has something to do with the rumor of egg lips. When the pipsqueak spy is kidnapped, Gallileon faces another dilemma on the usually quiet farm. With the help of Cesar, a gentle yet determined pig, and Eli, a sly cat, the young rooster saves his sister and learns the skills of observation and gathering information. While Rosa Farm offers lessons in science and character, the fun here is found in the barnyard animals who resemble humans all too well, from the sibling banter between Gallileon and Pepina to the cat who knows everyone’s business and just when to use it. Matt Phelan’s line drawings add to the charm of this adorable story.

Hustling a young child off to bed is no small feat, as any grown-up who has tried can testify. For Mama and Daddy bunny, who have three young bunnies to wrangle into dreamland, nighttime has special challenges.

All is not well in the bunny household at bedtime, as author-illustrator Marisabina Russo indicates in the title of her new picture book, The Bunnies Are Not in Their Beds. The adults’ evening repose is marred by a host of onomatopoeic disruptions Click, Clack, Click, Clack signals that the bunnies are doing something other than drifting off to sleep. This noise launches the first of many trips up the stairs. Each time, the bunny parents give the little ones an exasperated reminder to return to bed. The progression of waning patience follows, evidenced by a change from tip-toeing, to walking, to marching sternly up to their children’s bedroom. Russo does a lovely job of appealing to both the adult reader and the preschool-aged listener. Upon opening the book, adults will appreciate the gently rendered neighborhood scene, with a picket fence and an array of wagons and trikes littering the yard. Subtly inserted wordplay enhances the fun, as in the board game under the bed entitled, Chutes and Lettuce. Simple, bright illustrations, done in gouache, complement the playful text. Of course, as all bedtime books should end, the characters here finally succumb to sleep, but not before a predictable outcome for the day-worn adults in the tale. In closing endpapers, Russo contrasts the opening portrayal of the bunny neighborhood with the same illustration at night, done in grayscale, as slumber becomes a reality. We hope readers of this new bedtime favorite will be equally successful in bedding down their own bunnies. Jennifer Robinson is a teacher in Baltimore.

This is a sad book. That’s the first thing you need to know about Amy Hest’s middle-grade novel, Remembering Mrs. Rossi. Eight-year-old Annie Rossi lives a seemingly idyllic life in a New York apartment with her father, an English professor, and her mother, a sixth-grade teacher. The Rossis are exceedingly happy until one day when Mrs. Rossi doesn’t feel well. She ends up in the hospital and is quite sick, perhaps with pneumonia (we’re not quite sure few details are provided). Annie is scared and tries to be brave; no one expects Mrs. Rossi to die, but she does.

This is not a story about Mrs. Rossi’s illness or death, however. This is a story about how Annie and her father cope and try to rebuild their lives after her death. Hest writes this tale in a gentle, real and heartfelt way. In the first chapter Annie and her father are taking a cold, nighttime walk through the streets of Manhattan, as they do from time to time when the house is too big and too quiet and Annie is waiting forever to sleep. Mr. Rossi tells Annie that when she was a baby and grew fussy, he and her mother often walked her through the streets at night in her baby carriage. Of course, Annie loves to hear such stories about when she was a baby and her mother was alive. This night, however, they are going to a special assembly in honor of Mrs. Rossi at the school where she taught. Her students have written a book, called Remembering Mrs. Rossi, which they present to Annie and her father. Annie cherishes this book, looking at it every day and often taking it to school. While Hest’s novel is centered on loss, it focuses on life, on finding new ways to be happy while remembering and honoring a lost loved one. At the book’s end, Mr. Rossi shows Annie pages he has been writing about his wife. As Mr. Rossi explains to Annie, he is trying to keep Mommy close . . . and let her go . . . and keep her close again. This brief but touching novel will stay in readers’ hearts for a long time to come.

Alice Cary is a writer in Groton, Massachusetts.

Aw, doggone it, who could resist the latest adorable offering from popular author-illustrator Matthew Van Fleet? The creator of the children’s bestsellers Fuzzy Yellow Ducklings and Tails has produced a new interactive book so cute it might even appeal to cat people. The irresistible pooches in Dog have fuzzy tails to stroke, soft ears that flop and icky, sticky tongues. The book’s flaps and tabs will delight little hands as dogs shake their heads and wag their tails on command. In the rhyming text, Van Fleet cleverly incorporates linguistic lessons into the fun. Kids will barely notice that they’re learning opposites and action words while they’re petting fuzzy tails and pulling tabs. For the first time, Van Fleet uses animal photos rather than drawings to illustrate his work. Collaborating with photographer Brian Stanton, he managed to get whippets, pugs and even a Jack Russell terrier to sit still long enough to be captured by the camera (no easy task, as this Jack Russell owner can testify). Our favorite spread is a howler in which Van Fleet lets readers (and young listeners) mentally complete the final line of his verse:

Fittingly, the dog’s nemesis makes an appearance on the final flap, as a wary cat sitting high in a tree surveys a crowd of eager canines below. The cat may be the only creature around who doesn’t want to dive in and join the action in this shaggy, tail-wagging menagerie.