When she was "still a whisper," Maple's parents planted a tree. The pair grows up together, and Maple is a thoughtful playmate and caring friend (in autumn, she gives the bare tree her jacket). Before too long, her considerate habits prove useful for big-sisterhood. Nichols's emotive pencil drawings, glowing with digitally applied color, narrate much of this gentle, cyclical companionship story. (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A little girl and a tree grow up together in this sweet debut. Maple, named for a sapling planted just before her birth, plays alongside her special tree every day, giving it hugs and watching its foliage flutter. Her free-spirited, bracing sessions of solitary, outdoor fun appear as crisp vignettes on white backgrounds, their sequencing marking the marching passage of time, which stops for moments of reflection. A long, grassy double-page spread appears at spring, showing Maple bent knees to nose over dolls, directing a miniaturized theater production under the tree's canopy. Here's a child's world, where page borders crop out parents' faces and private reverie recurs as an all-consuming pastime, transmuted by Nichols through charmingly plain pencil illustrations and mild digital colors. Maple, sweetly nondescript with her round head, low braids, comfortable dresses and pink cheeks, could easily sit next to any young reader at preschool or day care. Leaf rubbings (from real maple leaves!) dazzle with their sudden crinkles, veins and tart greens and orangy yellows. Another small tree, right next to Maple's, marks the birth of a new sibling (Willow), who soon joins her sister under dancing leaves in this kid's kingdom. An arboreal homage perfect for children reveling in alone time or reeling with a new sibling's arrival. (Picture book. 2-6)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Debut talent Nichols explores the relationship between a girl and the tree she's named after, planted by her parents in her honor. It's less a story than a string of affectionate reminiscences: "And even though Flavia, Millie Jane, Lena, Lily, and Constance were all good names... Maple was the perfect fit." Maple sings and dances for her tree and offers her coat to it when it loses its leaves. In return, the tree offers shade, "and its leaves would dance just for her." A new sapling appears along with a new baby sister, Willow, whom Maple is old enough to welcome without jealousy. Nichols draws Maple as a sort of everygirl, with pin-dot eyes, a pert nose, and a curved line for a smile; her tree and its surroundings are similarly generalized. The narrator's voice, by contrast, has its own distinctive, understated humor: "Then something really surprising happened," one page reads, as Maple notices her mother's bulging middle for the first time. An exploration of different kinds of love and different kinds of acceptance. Ages 3-5. Agent: Joanna Volpe, New Leaf Literary & Media. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

PreS-Gr 2-When Maple was "still a whisper," her parents planted a tree in her honor, and "as Maple grew, so did her tree." This beautiful story about a young girl who shares her name with a beloved tree is delightful. Through the changing seasons and ultimately the arrival of Maple's brand new sibling, Willow, Maple and her tree face every difficulty together with optimism and determination. Stina Nielsen easily captures the essence of the story with light, melodic tones and flawless pacing that allows listeners a chance to absorb the message. Included on the CD are two versions of the story: one with accompanying page-turn signals to assist younger readers and one without. VERDICT This enjoyable story will appeal to young nature lovers, those looking for books about welcoming a new addition to the family, or acceptance in general. Recommended for public library collections.-Amy Joslyn, Fairport Public Library, NY © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

"Babies love to play!" begins this silk-screen-style board book, which features simple movable parts. A cardboard-cutout infant can be removed for swaddling and comforting; a real cloth blanket can be tucked in; and a diaper folds over Baby, just for practice. Each little boy and girl pictured is big-eyed and sweet, and Gillingham includes a range of ethnicities. Alongside practical information about infant care, the best lesson of all is that though all babies are individual, each one is adorable. BABY'S GOT THE BLUES By Carol Diggory Shields. Illustrated by Lauren Tobia. 32 pp. Candlewick. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 2 to 6) Shields and Tobia bring an earthy, hip sensibility to these faux-plaintive lyrics sung by a baby with a bad case of the blues. "Woke up this morning soggy,/ And that smell kept getting riper;/ But I can't talk, no way to say,/ 'Won't somebody change my diaper?"' Mom has a snaky tattoo; neighbors are as diverse as New York City; and just like babies everywhere, this one cheers up the minute he gets a cuddle. UPSIDE DOWN BABIES By Jeanne Willis. Illustrated by Adrian Reynolds. 32 pp. Andersen Press. $16.95. (Picture book; ages 2 to 6) When the world turns upside down and babies wind up with the wrong mothers, things get silly fast. "Piglet went ker-plonk in a parrot's nest./ Porky and pink with no feathers on his chest./ 'What a funny baby, no matter how I try,'/ Mommy Parrot said, 'this chick won't fly!' " Willis's rhyming verse is jaunty, studded with nourishing words like "drey" and "carnivore," and takes a delightfully light approach to teaching animal attributes. MAPLE Written and illustrated by Lori Nichols. 36 pp. Nancy Paulsen/Penguin. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 3 to 6) Maple loves spending time under the tree for which she was named, and treats it like a sibling: lending it her coat when the weather is cold, tossing snowballs at its trunk and playing under its boughs. When a real baby arrives, Maple has to figure out what they can do together. Nichols's depiction of her patient attempts to be a good big sister might be just the thing to encourage children in the same predicament to keep at it. THE BABY TREE Written and illustrated by Sophie Blackall. 36 pp. Nancy Paulsen/ Penguin. $17.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) In this engaging answer to the "Where do babies come from?" question, a little boy whose parents tell him they're expecting can only think to ask, "Are there any more Coco Pops?" Later, he hears the first of several puzzling explanations of the process: "You plant a seed and it grows into a baby tree." Blackall brings great charm to everything she draws, and here water-colors of babies nestled on boughs, in birds' eggs and finally, in utero, sweetly and comically separate fact and fiction. ONLINE A slide show of this week's illustrated books at nytimes.com/books.

When she was still in her mother's belly, Maple's parents planted a maple sapling in her honor. As the tree grew, so did the girl. Maple, who could be loud at times, sang songs to her tree, swayed around it, and even, sometimes, pretended to be a tree. Seasons passed, and through strong winds and falling snow, Maple and her tree still had each other. Then things changed. A tiny wisp of a willow tree is planted, just as Maple's mother is about to give birth again. Turns out the noisy baby, Willow, is just as enchanted by the maple tree's shifting leaves as her older sister. This sweet story about seasons of change and love in different forms reads like a wistful recollection of childhood. Nichols is a talented debut author and illustrator: her voice is quiet and unique, and her pencil-on-Mylar illustrations, digitally colored, are similarly both nostalgic and fresh in feel. Share with siblings-to-be and, of course, anyone named Hazel or Juniper.--Kelley, Ann Copyright 2010 Booklist