BESS AND BELLA

Bess is playing outside with her doll when out of the snowy sky falls Bella, a little bird with a lot of suitcases. So begins a whimsical tale full of warmth and imagination. Bella’s many suitcases hold tea things (she explains that she got started flying south late, because of packing, but she flew anyhow “until frost on my wings made me fall FALUMP from the sky”). Then a bunch of doggy firefighters come by to put out a fire and Bess invites them to tea. After they rescue a mouse baby and Bella’s Mary Poppins–like valise supplies the makings of marmalade mousse for mice, it begins to snow and Bess is called in for supper. Bella lives in Bess’s room all winter and in spring, when she returns to her nest, a very interesting child appears outside Bess’s window and asks if she wants to come out to play. Sweetly soft watercolor and pastel images—a full page facing text, a small ornament as header or footer—cheerfully delineate bird, doll, dogs, mice, plaids and patterns, florals and tea things. (Picture book. 4-7)