By Eugene Yelchin, Mary Kuryla
HarperCollins, $16.99, 29 pages
ISBN 9780061259258

In this book for ages four to eight, Mary Kuryla & Eugene Yelchin bring children from the real world to the world of imagination in dealing with the very real feelings of being the new child in the neighborhood.

Emma just moved to a new apartment in a new city, knowing none of the children in the apartment building’s play area outside.  She stands alone as they run through the sprinklers, watching and waiting for them to invite her to join in. When that doesn’t happen, she feels ignored and not welcomed, further upset by a bee buzzing around her. Retreating back into the building’s elevator, Emma finds the bee with her and she scolds him to find a flower. When he does leave the elevator, Emma smells flowers and follows the bee into a garden. Here she finds a growling bear dripping with honey, and runs quickly back to the elevator, only to have the bear, now dressed in a suit, carrying an umbrella, join her on the elevator.

 “The truth was Emma didn’t feel welcome.  She’d just moved into the city and everything was new.”

Emma’s real world feeling of being unwanted in her new setting is resolved through the fanciful encounter with the bear that guides her in her new setting.

Reviewed by Angie Mangino