When can waiting
for a party be both
a trick and a treat?
Just ask Julius

PreSchool-Julius's mother has baked cupcakes with candy corns ontop for his Halloween party. As he admires them, she informs himthat he can't eat them until the guests arrive. "So Julius startedcounting instead. `One candy corn,' said Julius." The illustrationsshow the little white mouse eating the candy-not the cupcakes-untilhe has "counted" them all. Just as he finishes consuming the lastof them, the doorbell rings, and the party begins. One to fourlines of short text on lilac, lime green, sunshine yellow, sugarypink, or candy-corn orange backgrounds face simple illustrations onall-white backgrounds. The cupcakes are arranged in a straight lineon a tabletop in each picture, enabling young listeners to helpcount the cupcakes (and candy corns) along with Julius. This is agem of a story; it's short and sweet and perfect for toddler andpreschool storytimes.
Olga R. Kuharets, Broward County Libraries, Fort Lauderdale,FL
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Reviewed with Kevin Henkes' Wemberly's Ice-Cream Star .
PreS. Food is at the forefront of these board books featuringtwo of Henkes' signature characters, the worried Wemberly and "babyof the world" Julius. Julius has been told not to eat the 10cupcakes for the Halloween party. Instead, he starts counting thecandy corn on the top of each treat--counting by popping eachmorsel of corn in his mouth. Wemberly, on the other hand, is soworried that her ice cream bar will drip on her dress (or thatthere won't be enough for Petal, her stuffie) that she and Petalfinally wind up eating ice-cream soup. The text is very short; thedrama is in the art, one image to each candy-colored page. Theyoungest of Henkes' fans might not understand all the nuances (yes,nuances) of these vignettes. But kids who love the characters willwelcome a new glimpse of them, and Julius' story could be used witha small group of toddlers for a Halloween story hour. IleneCooper
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