Wistfully reflecting on all the things that...

Wistfully reflecting on all the things that will be left behind when her family moves to a new home far away, the young narrator of What You Know First (Joanna Cotler/Harper-Collins: $14.95) resolves to take along “a twig of the cottonwood tree” and “a little bag of prairie dirt” so she will always remember her first home. In this exquisite memory story, Patricia MacLachlan once again demonstrates that she is a master of mood and among the finest stylists in children’s literature. Her bittersweet tone finds a perfect visual counterpart in Barry Moser’s hauntingly beautiful tinted engravings, inspired by photographs from his and the author’s family albums.

Sara’s City (Clarion: $15.95) is another story by a writer who remembers what she knew first. In this case it is Sue Alexander who poetically recalls her 1940s childhood in Chicago, when night in the city was like “a dark coat with shiny buttons” and a ride on the El offered glimpses of back porches that were “little pieces of everybody’s world.” Alexander’s artfully understated story is beautifully enriched by Ronald Himler’s warm-hued watercolor and gouache illustrations; they re-create the look of urban America 50 years ago with such freshness and immediacy that you can hear the sound of the elevated train and smell the rain that pelts down on Sara’s umbrella.

There’s no room for nostalgia in Kathryn Lasky’s briskly irreverent She’s Wearing a Dead Bird on Her Head! (Hyperion: $14.95), the true story of the 1896 founding of the Massachusetts Audubon Society by two intrepid Boston women determined to stop milliners from using dead birds--slaughtered for the purpose--as decoration on society matrons’ hats. Political cartoonist David Catrow supplies brilliantly witty and satirical watercolor and ink drawings to spice up this lively fictionalized retelling of an important chapter in the history of bird protection.

Two giants of children’s literature, Maurice Sendak and Arthur Yorinks, team up for the first time to create a story about an Italian explorer of long ago, Giuseppe Giaweeni, who journeys to the New World, improbably lands in Florida and discovers The Miami Giant (Michael DiCapua/HarperCollins: $15.95). This enormous anomaly named Joe is one of a lost tribe of dancing giants, the Mishbookers of Miami. Giaweeni takes his jumbo find back to Europe, where--a la King Kong--his misunderstood performance causes a riot. “Maybe next time I’ll just tell jokes,” Joe says. Oy! A gigantic amount of talent has gone into the creation of a tiny story that may have some appeal to adults conversant with Catskills Borscht Belt humor. But what about the ostensible audience, the kids themselves? They’ll enjoy the pictures’ broad theatricality--what’s not to like about anything Sendak does?--but I suspect the insider jokes of the text will leave them scratching their heads in perplexity.

Meanwhile those perplexed by the complexities of collecting children’s books will find a reliable guide in Dan Stern’s The Family Guide to Collecting Children’s Books (DMS Publishers: $12.95). A Santa Monica-based expert in children’s literature, Stern offers readers an accessible, attractively designed introduction to “investing in the future while enjoying books of today.”