I help

PreS-Gr 1--A young child is on a quest to be helpful. On the first page, the child finds a canteen, then fills it with water and heads out for a walk. Along the way, many folks and critters benefit from the water that is shared from the canteen. The sweet community presents many ways for the main character to help. Diverse characters of all ages grace the pages of this story. The welcoming and ever-smiling child is clearly pleased with their role in the neighborhood. In the final scene, the child and a sibling have made lemonade using water from the canteen and offer it free to everyone. Each page has only one short sentence. VERDICT Bound to be a success for beginning readers, this early reader is full of the repetition needed for introducing basic sight words. A great choice for libraries needing basic introductory early readers.--Linda Annable

A little one lends a hand. A brown-skinned child pours water from a canteen into a flying disc, which a dog uses as a water bowl. "I see a dog. I help," says the child as the dog eagerly laps up the water. This interaction repeats itself with slightly altered phrasing when the child shares water with a postal worker ("I help a man") and then with some feathered friends ("I help birds") before a neighbor helps the young narrator replenish the now empty canteen. At one point, the child even uses the empty canteen as a percussion instrument to help a band playing in a park. This early reader's thoughtfully controlled vocabulary makes it accessible to the newest of new readers. Throughout, Cepeda's energetic, warm depictions of the characters provide context clues to help emerging readers. As is characteristic of his style, Cepeda's use of gouache provides visual texture and a sense of vitality and dimensionality to the figures, while linework lends movement to the scenes. Back at home, the child helps a sibling, seen earlier, fill a pitcher with water, and the two make lemonade that they serve to a long line of people: "We help." People throughout the community are racially diverse. Helpful! (Early reader. 4-6) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.