OUR CORNER GROCERY STORE

Anyone would be lucky to live near a grocery store like Anna Maria’s Italian grandparents’ charming place. (Note: readers unfamiliar with the words nonno and nonna won’t know the store owners are the girl’s grandparents.) More chronicle than plot-driven story, this gentle book tracks young Anna Maria’s Saturday as she helps out at the store, from arranging produce displays to greeting customers (“Ciao!”) to end-of-day cleanup. Matter-of-fact descriptions are contagiously satisfying: “I make sure everything is in neat rows, while Nonno Domenico writes the prices on little cardboard signs” and “We sold lots of tomatoes and lettuce today, and every single box of strawberries.” Children will devour Beingessner’s wonderfully detailed illustrations, which lovingly depict the store’s bounty—especially the enticing candy counter—in a delicately etched style reminiscent of Roz Chast’s hand-lettered cartoons. (Don’t miss the cat in every spread!) Occasionally, the text is excessively descriptive (the candies listed in the text are clearly labeled in the artwork, for example), but overall, this warm, home-baked offering from Toronto is an affectionate tribute to small nonno-and-nonna stores everywhere. (Picture book. 4-8)