HAPPY 4TH OF JULY, JENNY SWEENEY!

Kimmelman and Cote (Round the Turkey, 2002) look at another holiday with a fairly clumsy, if well-intentioned, salute to the Fourth of July. Sturdy, uninspired couplets take young readers through an Independence Day: “Sun’s up high, / Fourth of July! / Lots of preparation / for a day of celebration.” So it goes, as the good people of Podunk get primed for the festivities. “Mr. Hill fires up the grill. / All the family eats their fill. / Katie toots her piccolo. / Jenny ties a big red bow.” And people there are aplenty, in a rather ham-fisted display of multiculturalism: “The Dalal family smiles proudly. / ‘We’re Americans now!’ they proclaim loudly.” Luis salutes the flag; Jimmy Yang sips lemonade. On the other hand, there is a parade with bicycles and a band, a mayor speechifying from a gazebo on the town green, and barbeques, fireworks, and a dog causing a ruckus, while the artwork has a good-natured clunkiness that fits the text. To close, Kimmelman has composed a page of facts about the Fourth: the reason for the design of the flag, key players behind the Declaration of Independence, the national bird, and the Liberty Bell. (Picture book. 4-6)