Flora's Very Windy Day, written by Jeanne Birdsall, illustrated by Matt Phelan, Clarion, $16, ages 4-8, 32 pages. Flora is fed up that little brother Crispin' makes a mess of everything that she does and she's the one who's blamed for it. So when Mother sends Flora outside with Crispin' to put an end to another mess, Flora doesn't feel very sisterly. She goes off in a snit and acts like she doesn't care that Crispin's boot aren't as wind-worthy as hers. Flora has super-special heavy-duty red boots and Crispin's are, well, regular old purple boots. Outdoors the wind is howling and as waves of leaves wash into her, Flora laughs at the wind and taunts it to try to lift her up. The wind doesn't like to be scoffed at and triples its strength, and though Flora doesn't budge, Crispin' begins to tumble up into the air. As Flora watches his scared little face drift away, all of her spite washes away. In a flash, she leaps out of her boots, spreads her coat to the wind and is swept up after him.
