FIREWORKS

Two children cut loose on the Fourth of July.

As the book opens, the brown-skinned, dark-haired youngsters explain that “in the summer, the sun rises between buildings on our block to greet us at breakfast and it beats warmer and brighter when we venture out across steamy city sidewalks.” At noon, relief arrives as the children gleefully run through the water sprayed by a fire hydrant. On their way to a local bodega, they wind their way through a park before devouring ruby-red pieces of watermelon. Words dance across the page (“Shooka-shooka shooka-shooka”) as the kids move to the sounds of salsa music. Back at home, Grandma cooks dinner for the children, and as night falls, the youngsters scale a “rickety ladder” to the rooftop, where they wait until…“POP!” Fireworks rain down in a literal explosion of colors and words cascading over silhouetted images of the kids. Burgess’ succinct, sensory-rich, onomatopoeia-laden text beats with an infectious rhythm, while Chien’s impressionistic mixed-media artwork sets the mood beautifully on each spread, from a hazy scene where people seem to fade into the background amid the heat to the dazzling depictions of fireworks, followed by a cozy montage of Grandma getting the kids ready for bed. Landmarks indicate that the tale is set in New York City; this is an immersive tribute to the unique pleasures of an urban Fourth of July.

A radiant celebration of all things summer.