Leap

By Flowerpot Press
Price $16.99
Age 4-8 yrs.

Leap is the charming adventure tale of a boy who passionately dreams of going to the moon. Readers accompany this would-be rocketeer as he lays out plans before less-than supportive classmates, builds a rocket ship out of a dump truck, pilots it to the moon, and returns to a hero's welcome. Each page is a delight, humorously conveying the boy's exuberance through buoyant illustrations and clever words. Ingeniously child-like solutions to the challenges of space travel abound ('And so that I can breathe up there, I'll bring a zillion cans of air,'), ideas made all the the more enjoyable by the crisp rhyme in which they are told. Leap's illustrations are no less stellar. Rich, colorful artwork captures and conveys the story's humor and creativity. At the forefront of the story is the main character's cheerful confidence and stick-to-itiveness, qualities many of us parents would like to cultivate in our children and in ourselves.