Heatwave

Readers can tell that the heat is on from the get-go in this climate-oriented picture book--its pages are deep red, against which the landscape and figures are rendered in spidery lines and grayscale tones. At the beach, folks droop hoping for a shred of respite. A child and a dog sit and swelter instead of chasing a ball, a newspaper front page reads "RECORD HEAT ACROSS GLOBE," and minimal, staccato text ("100 degrees, // in the shade.// Try not to burn") appears as enervated as the figures look. Then the rain arrives--at first, drop by blue drop, and then in striations and torrents that vanquish the red hues in favor of a cool, aqueous blue. As the people seek shelter, rain and moonrise give way to the blue-hued night's temperatures and an individual's preparations to sleep in the breeze of a fan. Redniss (Heatwave) eschews hard climate-change-related information in this spare work that aptly depicts the sensory experience of living amid one hot, hot planet's various cycles. Characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 4-8. (May)