ADÈLE & SIMON IN AMERICA

Still channeling Kate Greenaway in the art, though adding her own vein of sly humor, McClintock recycles the plot of her award-winning Adèle and Simon (2006) across a much larger stage. To the vast annoyance of big sister Adèle, absent-minded young Simon proceeds to strew his gear—from journal and pencil box to buckskin jacket and cowboy hat—across the turn-of-the-20th-century United States as indulgent Aunt Cécile conducts the two on a coast-to-coast—and back—tour. The broad, very finely drawn American scenes reward close study; not only are the small tourists and their lost items there to be picked out, but each spread is stocked with bustling figures and business, along with accurately rendered architectural and historical detail. The repetitive narrative may pall on adult readers of the well-heeled pair’s previous outing, but children have more tolerance for that sort of thing, and the elegant period visuals supply plenty of eye candy. (Picture book. 6-8)