Why?
PreSchool-K&mdash;Jack, the almost-six-year-old featured inAlmost(HarperCollins, 2009), asks the timeless question again and again: "Why do they put holes in the crackers? Why doesn't hair hurt when you cut it? Why are there so many numbers?" The sweet, colorful pictures show a good-natured boy with a wide, cartoony face. Torrey expertly uses perspectives, shapes, details, facial expressions, and postures to extract the maximum impact from each page. Readers will laugh aloud at bonuses like the Quacker Oats container, showing a duck in a Quaker-style hat, as Jack asks, "Why does all the good-for-you food taste bad?" But there are also more personal inquiries. "Why do I have to take a bath?" he demands, as his mother wrestles his shirt off. "Why can't we read just one more book?" he begs his father, who is fast asleep, surrounded by an absurdly large pile of "Ducky Dave" books. He desperately asks his brother, "Why can't I come in?" and "Why can't I play with you?"Why? gently and humorously explores a child's daily encounters with this world of wonders, and even suggests a loving answer to the endless question.&mdash;Susan Weitz, formerly at Spencer-Van Etten School District, Spencer, NY(c) Copyright 2010.  Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc.  No redistribution permitted.