A pair of board books offers rich vocabulary in English and Mandarin Chinese. Squirrel Round and Round describes the changing landscape and activities of its inhabitants as a squirrel travels through the seasons of the year. The squirrel observes blooming camellias, noisy cicadas, ripe persimmons, and more as winter turns to spring then to summer and fall. The first frost and fresh tracks in the snow bring the squirrel back to winter. In Hurry Home Hedgehog, a young hedgehog hurries to make it home before a storm. “Pinecones fall / Plunk, plunk” and “Mice race for their holes / Skitter, skatter” alerting Hedgehog to the coming storm. “Crack! Baroom! / The sky sounds angry” and “Rain falls hard like soybeans / Ping ping, pang pang” before hedgehog makes it safely home to his warm den and his Mama. Attractive illustrations painted in impressionistic colors are simple yet detailed. (Ages 1–3)

In English and Mandarin Chinese, Belle Yang’s bilingual board books celebrate the natural world with simple concepts and beautiful, bold illustrations.

Squirrel is busy all year long, from one season into the next and back again. Birds feed their babies in spring, fireflies wink on a summer night, yellow leaves flutter in fall, and squirrel makes fresh tracks in winter’s snow. Look for an explanation of tonal marks at the end of the story, along with a pinyin translation of the Chinese characters.