Summer A pop-up book

Carter completes his round of seasonal tributes with pop-up sprays of luscious-looking small fruits, garden bounty, and bright flowers. As before, the locale is a generalized western United States, and both early- and late-season flora and foliage are on display in the same scenes. Along with lots of labels for the neatly limned animals and vegetation in each broad, idyllic landscapefrom a "cedar waxwing" nibbling on a "cherry" to the marbled-paper "chickens" pecking beneath a tree heavy with ripe appleshe adds leading questions ("Who eats the flowers?" "Who looks like a stick?") to invite closer looks. Frisky "chipmunks" are named in the first tableau, then visible without an identifier in each of the following five for younger viewers to point out. Highlighted by a spiraling cucumber vine that turns the vegetable garden into a convincing tangle, the pop-ups are simple and (relatively) sturdy but rear gracefully to surprising heights considering the volume's small trim size.Skimpy with just six spreads but, like its companions, a simple, serene seasonal posy. (Informational pop-up picture book. 3-5) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.