Piccolo

Piccolo, a “very helpful” shrew sporting a jaunty scarf and cap, begins the day sipping coffee on a balcony overlooking an Italian cityscape rendered in golds, yellows, and oranges that radiate with promise. “Che città bella! What a beautiful city!” he exclaims. The shrew next makes plans to visit his favorite spots, starting with Miss Dolce’s gelateria (“It’s never too early for gelato!”). But before Piccolo can dig into a scoop of his beloved hazelnut, a cascade of requests for help arrives from the character’s many anthropomorphized friends. As he zips around on a turquoise motor scooter, each act of assistance takes Piccolo through places he loves in the town he loves, and even up to its highest heights: a final act, recovering a friend’s hat, leads him up a tower’s winding staircase and out to a clockface. Working in saturated, digitally enhanced brush and ink, Yaccarino (Bear and the Three Goldilocks) creates a world in which helping others facilitates la dolce vita—and dolci, too. An Italian glossary concludes. Ages 3–7. Agent: Rebecca Sherman, Writers House. (Sept.)