KISS KISS

A puzzled teddy bear asks its child, a round-headed, button-nosed tot clad in a yellow top with stocking-cap hood, “What’s a kiss like?” The ensuing conversation describes “supersoft” kisses from mama, prickly-but-tickly kisses from papa (and his five-o’clock shadow), cotton-candy kisses from full-bearded grandpa and so on. The “tasty” kisses from Christopher, who loves chocolate and never wipes his mouth, may elicit a “yuck!” or two; the kisses that “make me blush” will probably sail over the heads of this French import’s toddler audience Stateside. The petite trim, warm palette and soft-edged, just-surreal-enough digital illustrations beckon, moonlike faces huge and expressive against the appropriately textured backgrounds. When they’re finished, readers will enjoy creating their own catalogues of kisses. (Picture book. 2-5)