Six self-contained chapters illustrate the strong friendship between nursery-school-aged Jamie and his stuffed Highland bull, Angus. Jamie hides his favorite toy from a bouncy friend, practices drawing and painting, develops an elaborate let’s-pretend game involving all the different traditional tales he’s heard, goes for a family walk in the country, rearranges his books and contemplates playing on his own. The much-loved British author captures small boyhood perfectly, showing Jamie enjoying both the rough and noisy play with his mother’s friend’s daughter and the quiet pleasure of an occasional drink at the blue border of the carpet as he and Angus pretend to be horses. This gentle sequel to the award-winning Jamie and Angus Stories (2002) will include pencil drawings by the same illustrator. With language suitable for good second-grade readers as well as a younger audience, these stories can stand on their own or lead readers and listeners back to the first volume. (Fiction. 5-7)
