BRAVE HORACE

Keller (Merry Christmas, Geraldine, 1997, etc.) brings the young leopard, Horace, back to the page, this time as the invitee to a monster-movie party. He’s both flattered and terrified, but doesn’t want anyone to know of his fear, attempting to dispel it by dressing as a fierce dinosaur, then as an alien (an inspired scene: Horace with a colander on his face, a pair of lightning-bolt- shaped wires spiriting upwards), but mostly by behaving like a little monster to his family. Only when his friend Fred displays even more anxiety can Horace, with a trooper’s mettle, come to the rescue and calm his own roiled waters in the process. Quick and declarative, the narrative makes Horace’s responses feel natural. He’s not original—the rascal who summons the courage to do the right thing—but he is charming. (Picture book. 4-9)