Angel and the paper trail

An anonymous note leads a quiet new kid to a whole crew of pals. When pale-skinned, blond-haired Angel musters his courage and asks taller classmate Oliver to help retrieve a library book from a high shelf, a note falls out of the book's pages. Wondering who wrote the heart- and sun-adorned message, which wishes its reader a "bright and sweet" day, Oliver and Angel join forces and play detective. They start with Oliver's buddy Rose, whose handwriting resembles the note's. Rose isn't the author but suggests checking with Bea, who loves to draw the sun. In turn, Bea suggests asking Miles, who "dots his 'I's' with hearts. It's his specialty." Each query enlarges the enthusiastic circle of sleuths, and when the note is blown away, Angel proposes a way for the new friends to pay its power forward. Horne's illustrations home in on a welcoming schoolyard populated with expressive, kind students of varying skin tones. Good cheer, teamwork, and empathy propel this story likely to echo with readers needing a confidence boost. Ages 6--10. (July)

A shy new student looking for a book finds some new friends instead. Angel wants the bright orange book lying on top of the library shelves, but he's too short to reach it. Summoning his courage, he asks taller classmate Oliver for help, and a note falls out of the book: "I hope your day is as bright and sweet as this shining sun." Oliver immediately sees this as a mystery to solve and takes Angel around to his various friends at recess in an attempt to find the note's author…and along the way introducing Angel. The handwriting looks like Rose's, the picture of the sun like something Bea would draw, and the hearts over the I's are Miles' specialty. But none are the author. And then the wind steals the note away. Saddened by the end of the investigation, Angel thinks of something to do with his new friends that will also benefit other new kids like him: They craft a note of their own to place in a library book. Horne's illustrations are charming, the children's body language and facial expressions saying everything as new friendships form. Angel is light-skinned, Oliver is tan-skinned, and Bea and Miles are brown-skinned. While this method of welcoming children is slower to work than a buddy bench, it's still a unique and doable idea. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A love note to shy new kids. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.