THE FAVORITE BOOK

Using fewer than 200 words and soft watercolor, pen, and ink illustrations, Murguia creates a safe place for a child-centered conversation about decision-making.

“How do you choose a favorite, a best?” the text inquires. “Do you examine, determine, inspect, / measure, and weigh before you select?” Or are you “the sort who follows your heart?” Maybe “you follow along and go with your friends? / Or are you the type who starts your own trends?” Young readers will see themselves in the everyday decisions pondered by characters about a favorite color, pet, sweet treat, and activity with friends. Imagine choosing a hat that’s “the real you” from among a headdress of peacock feathers, a royal fascinator decorated with a dove, a castle-shaped turban, a gardener’s hat (complete with a shy groundhog), and others. Or, empoweringly, deciding to skip the reptile house at the zoo because reptiles aren’t your favorite. Could having more than one favorite be the best choice? It might. This quiet conversation closes with realistic, hopeful messages: “A favorite can change…if you re-select,” and “there are so many things in this world you can love.” The primary cast of children depicted consists of two black kids and three white ones, the whimsical scenarios they star in easy to interpret and sometimes gently Seussian.

A thoughtful, age-appropriate discussion of decision-making that could well become a favorite.