A Box of Treats: Five Little Picture Books about Lilly and Her Friends

Book Description

Five little picture books about Lilly and her friends to share all year long.

About the Author
Kevin Henkes lives in Madison, Wisconsin. His novels include the Newbery Honor book Olive's Ocean, and The Birthday Room, Protecting Marie and Words of Stone. Among his picture books are Owen, a 1994 Caldecott Honor Book; Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse; and Julius, the Baby of the World. His latest picture book is Kitten's First Full Moon. In His Own Words... "I remember drawing at a very early age. I loved it. And my parents and teachers told me I was good at it -- that made me love it all the more. "I also loved books, and the ones I was lucky enough to own were reread, looked at over and over, and regarded with great respect. To me great respect' meant that I took them everywhere, and the ones I still own prove it. They're brimming with all the telltale signs of true love: dog-eared pages, fingerprints on my favorite illustrations, my name and address inscribed on both front and back covers in inch-high crayon lettering, and the faint smell of stale peanut butter on the bindings. I wondered about authors and illustrators back then -- #148; What did they look like? Where did they live? Did they have families? How old were they? -- but I never imagined that one day I would be one myself. "I became an author-illustrator when I was nineteen years old. I flew from my home in Racine, Wisconsin, to New York City with my portfolio, hoping to find a publisher. And magically enough Susan Hirschman at Greenwillow Books made my dream come true. My first picture book, All Alone, was published in 1987. Since then I've written and illustrated many picture books and written several novels. I like the variety of trying new ways to fill the pages between two covers. Experimenting with words and paint and ink keeps my job interesting. "I used to live with my parents and brothers and sister and work at a card table in my bedroom. Now I live with my wife, my son, and my daughter in our own house and work at a drawing table in my own studio. I never thought I'd be lucky enough to be a real author and illustrator. I wouldn't trade it for anything."


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This is indeed a collection of delicious treats (Shelia Rae's Peppermint Stick, Julius's Candy Corn, Wemberley's Ice-Cream Star, Owen's Marshmallow Chick and Lily's Chocolate Heart). Originally published individually, these five little books have been packaged together to introduce kids to Lily and her friends, or for those who know them to enjoy all over again. Sheila Rae has one peppermint stick. It is striped and thin and delicious. Her younger sister Louise wants its. Shelia Rae teases Louise and finally gets her comeuppance when she falls and the stick breaks in half. At which point Louise points out that there are now two and as Sheila Rae had said earlier, if she had two she would certainly share. Not to be outdone Sheila Rae hugs her sister and says she planned to share it all along. The pictures and expressions are wonderful and it's great to see sibling rivalry turn to sweet solidarity. It's Halloween and Julius is having a party. Sitting on the table were homemade cupcakes studded with candy corn. When his mother tells him not to eat the cupcakes, he decides to count the candy corn instead. After one comes "another candy corn" and "another candy corn" until Julius has counted them all. As he counted them, however, he popped each one in his mouth. But the cupcakes are still there when his friends arrives. Parents will recognize the literal way young children think. It is almost time for bed on Valentine's Day and Lilly has just one red foil wrapped heart left. She decides to save it and looks for the perfect place to keep it. Each place she checks just isn't suitable: Then Lilly discovers the perfect place—and pops it into her mouth. One hot day Wemberly isgiven an ice cream star. Ever the worrier, she is afraid it will drip on her dress. Then she realizes her stuffed rabbit Petal doesn't have any. She waits patiently for the ice cream to melt into two bowls. They both eat ice cream soup: "And neither of them spilled a drop." Oh what joy, it is Easter morning and Owen's basket is full. He can't wait to start enjoying all of the goodies. Among his favorites are the jellybeans, which he promptly devours, then the gumdrops, next the butter cream eggs and another favorite, the chocolate bunny. There is only one item left, a yellow marshmallow chick that looks just like his fuzzy yellow blanket. Owen plays with his chick all day and when evening comes, he puts it on his shelf with a sweet kiss goodnight. Henkes had created a tribute to holiday sweets, and this latest compilation doesn't miss a beat. 2004, Greenwillow/HarperCollins, Ages 1 to 3.


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