HENRY UPSIDE DOWN

The students of Classroom Ten prepare for Garden Time—and wonder who will be named class gardener this week.

When Ms. Tanaka picks Henry, he feels “like warm honey.” The garden is a calming place where he’s always felt welcome. Since running the garden is a big job, Henry chooses BFF Katie to be his assistant. But when Ivy, Katie’s pal from tumbling class, joins them, she turns Henry’s quiet, well-ordered world upside down—doing handstands with Katie, keeping up easy banter, and “being a best friend to Henry’s best friend.” Though Henry diligently checks the list of gardening assignments Ms. Tanaka gave him, there’s nothing there about dealing with an interloper. But when the gardeners address a task they’ve been avoiding all week—readying the icky worm farm for the next gardener—Henry slowly goes from feeling left out to learning to appreciate Ivy. Focusing on the oft-unanticipated nuances of friendship, this is another sweetly sincere addition to a series centered on a youngster apparently on the autism spectrum. Ideal for burgeoning readers, Bailey’s prose is elegant in its simplicity, conveying gentle yet potent truths. Once more, she crafts a quiet tale that will speak to young worriers; Henry’s unnerved by change yet empowered to confront upheaval in his own way. Homing in on subtle moments of frustration, Song’s black-and-white, watercolor-and-ink illustrations continue to delight, this time with spots of yellow. Henry, Ms. Tanaka, and Ivy present East Asian; Katie’s brown-skinned.

Like a balm for anxious minds.