Grace and Box by Kim Howard (review)

Howard, Kim Grace and Box; illus. by Megan Lotter. Feiwel, 2021 [32p] Trade ed. ISBN 9781250262943 $18.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R 4-6 yrs

When Grace is given the box that had housed the new refrigerator, her many adventures begin: Box becomes a rocket, a tent, Roman ruins, and a skyscraper. After a week of travel, Box is pretty beat up, and Grace is quick to diagnose the issue with stethoscope in hand, utilizing bandages, storytime, and vegetable soup. Grace makes Box a sinking ship and herself a pirate for their next adventure, then patches Box with tape and pieces of cardboard so they can have more adventures, even if Box is getting pretty sad-looking. Grace's eagerness to make her friendship with Box work in spite of his falling apart is contagious as she sets out with wide eyes, pink blush spots, and a little smile from adventure to adventure, doing everything she can think of to fix Box up. Illustrations show Grace as a very active protagonist, a Black girl with a round head and detailed Afro that reaches to the edge of the pages in some spreads, and her adventures are depicted in saturated hues in perky, slightly cartoonish digital art that sneaks Box into scenes of outer space and Hong Kong as though Grace really is there. This readaloud is bound to be a lot of fun at storytime, as Box's sloppily drawn smile and decrepit appearance worsen with each new adventure to much hilarity. Young viewers may seek a big box for their own imaginary travels, though it may not last as long as Grace's.