THE ONE AND ONLY MARIGOLD

Marigold loves her ratty old purple coat more than just about anything, so she even wears it in the shower. She refuses to replace it, pronouncing, “I’m a very loyal person” (though she’s in fact a monkey). Her mother makes her go coat shopping anyway, and nothing is acceptable…until she finds a purple coat exactly like her old one. “Marigold’s Purple Coat” is the first of four connected vignettes in this charming picture book whose snappy, funny stories of monkey-hippo friendship are as appealing as the folk art–style gouache illustrations and lively-but-clean design. Confident Marigold and the more thin-skinned Maxine are true childhood friends; that is to say, they deliberately bug each other, play tricks, fall out and eventually make up with no awkward explanations or hard feelings. McElmurry outdoes herself with gorgeous landscapes, and with Marigold’s goofy hair and stubborn stances infuses even more humor into the already laugh-out-loud stories. (Picture book. 5-8)