Violet and Victor Write the Best-Ever Bookworm Book

Twins collaborate (sort of) to write a story in this first picture book from Kuipers (Lost for Words). Violet Small, “six minutes older” than brother Victor, is an expert speller, but she relies on him for ideas. Not that she always takes them: Victor’s idea for a story about Wilbur, “the biggest, strongest, bravest worm in the worm farm,” immediately morphs into a tale about “Violet... the cleverest, strongest, bravest girl in the whole entire school.” In color-coded mixed-media illustrations (purple elements signify Violet’s contributions to the developing story, orange for Wilbur), Murguia (I Feel Five!) creates extravagant visual representations of the possibilities that await readers (and writers) of stories: a volcano crafted of dictionary pages joins origami birds and elves and dragons that could have wandered out of one of Andrew Lang’s Fairy Books. While the twins’ relationship isn’t exactly a balanced one (Victor basically acquiesces to Violet’s inner editor throughout), it’s believable, entertaining, and likely to inspire readers to try putting their own stories together (with or without sibling input). Ages 3–6. Author’s agent: Jackie Kaiser, Westwood Creative Artists. (Dec.)