MARDI CLAW

Two young crabs compete to hold the best underwater party in this picture book.

While land dwellers celebrate Mardi Gras, underwater creatures have an equivalent festivity they call Mardi Claw. At Crab school, Clown Crab (who’s orange with white splotches) leaves party invitations for everyone except Blue Crab (who’s green-blue with red claws). Blue retaliates by throwing her own Mardi Claw party. Each host unveils bigger and better attractions: a music-playing jellyfish at Blue’s gathering, a juggling octopus at Clown’s, seahorse rides at Blue’s, two tap-dancing turtles at Clown’s. The guests scuttle from one to the other and back again until they collide and form a happy conga line (“It was the most festive Mardi Claw the coral reef could remember”). Blue and Clown make up and resolve to host next year’s Mardi Claw party together. Snyder narrates by way of straightforward, non-rhyming text, presented in a large, bold font. The crabs’ rivalry forms a simple but effective analogy of child behavior, sweetly complemented by Crisante’s digital illustrations, which are colorful and dynamic, capturing both the protagonists’ personalities and the wild diversity of ocean life. A three-page addendum details the crabs’ scientific names, habitat ranges, and a few key facts about each, including that blue crabs are named for the color of their claws—which observant readers may find confusing, given that Blue appears directly below, pointing out this tidbit with one of her distinctly red claws.

A bright, beautiful work that serves as a gentle introduction to diversity and schoolyard dynamics.