Greenlight

Stationed at the bottom of a traffic signal by the sea, sweet-faced Greenlight sees all the brightly colored, square-shaped vehicles speeding beneath it, but it feels deeply unappreciated and often left alone. "They stop for Redlight. They slow for Yellowlight," it complains. "But me? It's like they can't get away fast enough."

Fed up, Greenlight stops shining, closing its googly eyes to shut out the world. But this self-imposed time-out actually proves salutary. In detailed cut-paper collage art that employs primary and secondary hues to render a green-space landscape populated with variously diverse human figures, Carzoo (Lou) depicts the moment as a meditative state that allows Greenlight to move through a series of affirmations: "You'll know when you're ready./ Take your time./ The world is waiting to see you shine."

Realizing that it doesn't need others' approval ("All this time I thought/ if they didn't like me, I couldn't like me!"), and taking the occasion to center itself, Greenlight opens its eyes and signals "GO!!!" Right away, the piled-up traffic awaiting its sign clarifies just how important Greenlight is. With a wink of humor and a lot of heart, it's a story that sheds a moving light, so to speak, on powerful mantras of self-acceptance, awareness, and appreciation. Ages 4-8. Agent: Adria Goetz, Martin Literary. (July)

PreS-Gr 3—The book's cover is colorful and appealing, and the green light herself has tons of personality. She's recently taken to feeling bad about her work and, thus, herself. The red light makes everyone stop; yellow urges caution. Both of those are important jobs. Green light tells the cars to "go" and then is left behind, leaving her down in the dumps. The story, however, has no real believable resolution. Nothing can be done about this situation and there is no pivotal transformation to satisfy readers that the green light has changed. Perhaps the use of anthropomorphism precludes noting the importance of the lights in the real world and the dire consequences of ignoring them.

VERDICT It seems there is a mismatch in this book. Using traffic lights to address the topic of feelings through inanimate objects does not immediately jump to mind. Books like Jacqueline Woodson's Each Kindness are far better suited to the task.—Joan Kindig

Much like Carzoo's forlorn fire hydrant (who makes an appearance here) in Lou (BCCB 06/22), Greenlight makes for a charming protagonist with relatable insecurities, while the premise invites readers in on the joke and gives nuance to what seems like a straightforward message. . .

The book emphasizes the value in determining one's own worth, but it also points to the possibility that others see our strengths in ways that we do not. . . This would pair nicely with the aforementioned Lou to lend an emotional/social learning element to a traffic-focused storytime. — Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books