Piccolo

K-Gr 3–“Buongiorno!” “Ciao, amico!” “Per favore aiuto!” Brightening the flavor of his narrative with Italian expressions—each punctiliously translated in place without affecting the flow, and also in a visual glossary at the end—Yaccarino sends Piccolo, a helpful shrew, motoring about his quaint if hilly città bella (beautiful city) on a scooter, greeting friends and lending a paw at need. After performing various tasks that take him to the art museum, the local ruins, and other favorite destinations, Piccolo arrives at day’s end at his very favorite spot, the gelateria, only to find it closed! Ah, but here is Miss Dolce, the kindly owner, with one last favor to beg: “I have some extra hazelnut gelato but no one to share it with.” A button-eyed animal cast waves amiably from illustrations that seem as simple as their sketchy figures and flattened perspectives—but on closer inspection reveal such strokes of sophisticated wit as a praying mantis in monkish robes and tonsure, and in the museum a tweaked version of a famous ancient sculpture that might be redubbed “Raccoön.”