It is officially catalogue season. This is both good and bad. Good, because I get all excited about all the new books coming out this fall, and bad, because it means a lot of data entry for me. This year is also bad, because I have officially quit my job for mid-September, which means I'm missing out on a lot of new books.

Anyway, that is my rambly excuse for why I have not finished the novel I've been reading for the past few days. So instead of talking about it quite yet, I'm going to talk about a picture book.

Each One Special is not at all new, but who cares? It's a great story, and deserves to be talked up. Harry is a cake decorator, and he can do some pretty incredible stuff (so, by the way, can illustrator H. Werner Zimmermann). Sometimes after school, Ben helps Harry out with the cakes. Everything is going pretty nicely, until the bakery where Harry works is bought by some not so nice people. "We want fast, not different . . . We want lots, not special . . . We want young bakers, not old."

Harry tries out some other hobby type things to keep him busy, but nothing makes him as happy as cake decorating, and he becomes depressed. Fortunately for everyone, Ben is a resourceful kid, and he comes up with the idea of clay. Harry becomes a whiz with the clay in no time, and soon Harry and Ben are selling their masterpieces, each on of which is special.

Don't you just want to sigh?

Each One Special written by Frieda Wishinsky illustrated by H. Werner Zimmermann
ISBN 1551431246
32 pages