When Roosevelt, a baby hippopotamus, gets things wrong (as he often does) his older sister is always standing by to point out his mistakes. "Are you blushing again, baby brother?" she asks him, looming large, and he usually is. He turns pink with embarrassment whenever she teases him. Lombard, Roosevelt's avian friend, restores his ego by assuring him he's not blushful, he's "hopeful, mindful, thoughtful, skillful and wonderful." With every positive adjective, Roosevelt's sister gets a little smaller and the background color gets a little less pink. Raschka excels at reinforcing meaning with subtle changes in shape and color. In fact, when it comes to picture book composition, masterful is what he is. (Ages 2-5)