SNEEZY LOUISE

Her eyes are itchy. Her throat is wheezy. And she has a nose that is very, very sneezy. Louise can tell this is not going to be a good day. She sneezes at breakfast; her oatmeal goes flying. She sneezes at school; papers scatter. She sneezes in dance class; a whole line of ballerinas tumble to the ground. Every time, Louise must be reminded: “Geez, Louise! COVER YOUR MOUTH, PLEASE!” Breznak captures the fidgety fractiousness of the coming-down-with-a-cold child, for whom nothing seems to be going right. With droopy lids and a rubbed-raw nose, there is no mistaking Louise’s misery. Pedersen’s loose lines and splashy watercolors blow powerful ACHOOs across the pages (along with everything else that is caught in the draft). Children may have more fun acting out the loud, boisterous sound effects than with hygienic propriety, but the rhyming refrain—and gentle lesson in manners—is sure to sink in. A contagious debut. (Picture book. 3-6)