FOUR FRIENDS IN THE GARDEN

With colors bright as a summer day and patterns just as cheery, Heap takes her characters from Four Friends Together (2003) on another gentle romp. Florentina, the flowered bear, is on the swing when a beautiful blue butterfly (pleasingly modeled on the rare morpho eugenia) lands on her toe. When she calls her friends to see, it flies off. Mary Clare, Seymour the sheep, and Rachel the rabbit (they actually look like children in a sheep wig and bunny jammies, respectively) chase it towards the lemon tree and the rose bush, but end up sitting, hot and tired. The butterfly returns when the children are still, and Florentina brings lemonade for all. Besides making a simple and quite engaging story, Heap’s acrylics employ wonderful design: the rose bush is a pink tree with rosy swirls; the lemon tree stitched with whole lemons. Very nice. (Picture book. 3-6)