Good

Via confidence-boosting, concept-driven free verse that sets the titular term in boldface type, Pate pays tribute to the decency that lives inside each individual. A beginning affirmation sets a grounding tone: “At the heart of everything/ is you./ And you are Good/ just as you are.” Further on, “Trouble” threatens, as it “chews up joy./ Leaves you feeling/ not Good.” But proceeding in the face of these difficulties shifts “Good” from abstract concept to supportive companion (“Your Good is fast and strong./ It knows you”). Andrews’s static-feeling artwork renders block-colored settings and unlined depictions of two brown-skinned children flying a kite—an on-the-nose metaphor for the way goodness “lifts you up.” When Trouble strikes and the kite gets damaged by a tree, comfort is found in separation from its effects (“Don’t believe Trouble is you”) for a validating close that asserts, “You are Good/ just as you are.” Ages 3–9. (Aug.)