The ice cream vanishes

When snack-obsessed Squirrel, convinced it has a magical ability to make tasty treats disappear, finds a dropped ice cream cone, it enlists as its assistant Bear, who takes long enough to awaken that the frozen treat vanishes from (i.e., melts on) a sun-warmed rock. But the two soon stumble on the perfect stage for further prestidigitation: an ice cream truck momentarily abandoned by its human owner. Squirrel hits on just the magic words--"Bear, you've got to try this!"--and before a forest animal audience, Bear makes a pink ice cream cone "vanish" in one slurp. Inspired, the animals don waffle and sugar cones as hats and swarm the truck to make some magic of their own: a bunny gets covered in soft serve, and a turtle rolls an ice cream sandwich out the door. Fans of the Norma and Belly series and other bear-studded books from Sarcone-Roach (There Are No Bears in This Bakery) are sure to lap up this work--heavily stroked acrylic, gouache, and pen and pencil illustrations have all the appeal of a rainbow cone generously sprinkled with visual jokes. Ages 3--7. Agent: Paul Rodeen, Rodeen Literary. (June)

A sweet-eyed squirrel with magic aspirations is determined to prove their prowess…with a little help from a friend. Squirrel introduces themself at the start as an expert in making snacks disappear by eating or hiding them. What Squirrel really wants to do, though, is use magic to make the food vanish entirely. When a stray ice cream cone is discovered, Squirrel seeks out the help of friend Bear. But what's this? After being left out in the sun, the ice cream is gone! Drunk with power, Squirrel locates an empty ice cream truck and holds a magic show for a plethora of woodland creatures. Afterward, sugary goodness for all! "It turns out that we were all good at magic," says Squirrel as ice cream of every kind disappears down bestiary gullets. Squirrel's inability to tell when something has vanished due to magic rather than because it has melted or been eaten by Bear (or, in one funny scene, because it has wound up stuck to Bear's backside) soon wears thin, but there is real enchantment in the book's illustrations. Small details fill the pages, yielding new things to see with every read and reread. Sugar cones make excellent hats, with readers treated to an adorable array of them. Glowing colors complement wonderful facial expressions. This tale merrily accompanies Sarcone-Roach's other bear-related tales, The Bear Ate Your Sandwich (2018) and There Are No Bears in This Bakery (2019). (This book was reviewed digitally.) I scream. You scream. We all scream for vanishing ice cream. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.