NEW SOCKS
by Bob Shea & illustrated by Bob Shea
Bold visual design expresses a winning exuberance in this debut, which features a chick named Leon crowing proudly over his new socks—“These New Socks fit just right! Orange must be my size!”—while taking them to “meet” a wood floor (“Whoa!”), a big-kids slide and maybe even the president. Bright footwear sometimes looming larger than his entire yellow, peanut-shaped body, Leon skips, tumbles and twirls across white pages, wings and eyeglasses delineated with just a few, thick lines, then dashes off at the end with a cheery, if awkwardly constructed “Now I’m all excited to get pants!” The presentation might point to a preschool audience, but the pleasure of sporting sharp new duds isn’t age-specific at all. (Picture book. 3-5)