The Day the Books Disappeared

Room 6’s students are devoted readers: Arnold’s favorite book, The History of Flight, makes his mouth “curve into a capital U,” write Ho (We Who Produce Pearls) and Kusin Pritchard (The Keeper of Stories). But Arnold, who perches solo on a beanbag, can’t understand why anyone would pick a book about tomatoes or ostriches, and he’s “altogether offended” by a peer’s choice of a title about submarines. When he discovers that he can suddenly wish his classmates’ books away, he’s maliciously jubilant—until his own vanishes as well. Caldecott Medalist Santat portrays the classroom’s emotional world with equal amounts of humor and compassion. Digitally colored ink drawings take Arnold from evil-villain mien to genuine shock when it seems that nothing will restore the books. But after Arnold develops a little bibliophilic empathy—learning, for example, that one classmate reads about tomatoes because it reminds them of a relative—the works reappear, and Arnold finds that his own interests have opened up as well. It’s a seamless mix of magic and relatable classroom drama that models curiosity as a means to connection. Characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 3–7. Author’s agents: (for Ho) Caryn Wiseman, Andrea Brown Literary; (for Kusin Pritchard) Ginger Knowlton, Curtis Brown. Illustrator’s agent: Jodi Reamer, Writers House. (July)