Beverly Billingsly Takes a Bow

Lois and Roland score the two lead roles in the school play Stormy Weather--the Thunder Queen and the Sun King. Disappointingly, our heroine Beverly is stuck playing the Wall and the Shrub. (Worse yet, her only line is "Please stop kicking me.") It is not the chance at stardom for which she had hoped. Still, she decides to give it her all--memorizing everyone's lines, helping build sets and make costumes, and baking cupcakes to sell at intermission. In the end, the Shrub saves the day, whispering cues from behind the foliage when the Thunder Queen forgets her lines. Young readers will see their own hopes and fears in Beverly, who agonizes over and completely blows her audition, but learns, as her parents teach her, that "There really are no small parts." Beverly, created in thick black lines à la Lauren Child or Lucy Cousins, is just as winning as she was in Alexander Stadler's Beverly Billingsly Borrows a Book. Comic touches abound in this sweet, compassionate book about a play, perseverance, and the power of a shrub. (Ages 3 to 7) --Karin Snelson