A rainy city begins this alphabet book for older readers; roads and clearer skies lead us out of the urban landscape to the pastoral. A few of the themes represented here are the bucolic—“barn cats”, “hay”, and “pigs”—but the contemporary rural setting is this book’s force. “Inoculate” and “ammonia fertilizer” are terms a country kid would be acquainted with (and a suburban kid might want to learn about). This is a busy book as carefully etched depictions of an active farm community are accurately revealed. Along the bottom quarter of this book is a continuous pathway leading us not only through this town but through the four seasons. Nomination: Tony Carmack

Young Henrietta Hen lays her first egg and not knowing its importance gives it away to a crafty fox. She must now find a way to get it back. She learns a difficult life lesson and the reader learns the many ways that eggs may be cooked. The color palette of red and orange seems warm and inviting and yet also suggests a certain amount of caution may be wise. The farm scenes change slightly with each animal that advises Henrietta. The text is on white pages facing the illustrations and is large and simple enough to encourage beginning readers to enjoy on their own, but it should also be a great storytime read. Bridget Harvey