I'M 3! LOOK WHAT I CAN DO

Light, pretty pictures with subtly plentiful patterns provide visual interest unmatched by lackluster text and vague point of view. In the harmless but familiar theme, satisfaction in daily achievements receives voice from a little girl in the first and second spreads, then her brother, then classmates at school and finally the original girl and brother at home again. This slippery narrative perspective doesn’t quite mesh with the first-person statements, and the feats themselves, while meaningful in real life, are described too plainly to excite on the page: “I can sleep in my bed,” “I can try different foods,” “I can sing a song,” “I can put away my toys.” Carluccio’s digital collage illustrations, on the other hand, provide plenty to engage, mixing and matching fabric textures with paint and scratch patterns, all soft enough that they never clash. The mundane sentences and audience-limiting age specification won’t work for group storytime; save this for close-up readings by kids who enjoy gently complex aesthetics. (Picture book. 2-4)