Kids are never as simple as they seem—or so we tell ourselves as they stare, gape-mouthed, at the latest Thomas the Tank Engine DVD—and neither is this elegant, mod-themed picture book. Ljungkvist, who lives in Brooklyn, draws all the rooms in a house and the sum of their contents (tulip table, record player, purple pumps) using one unbroken line. Simple text encourages the young ones to count, distinguish colors, and quit asking to watch Thomas.
Follow the Line Through the House
By Laura Ljungkvist, Viking Juvenile, $16.99.