Sophie’s Squash Go to School

Sophie is starting school and she is pretty nervous. Her parents try to reassure her she will make plenty of new friends, but Sophie says she is happy with her squash friends, Bonnie and Baxter. Sophie doesn’t like much about the school — the chairs, the milk, and the other children who don’t understand Bonnie and Baxter. A boy named Steven tries to make friends with Sophie, but she just finds him annoying even though he also has a non-human friend, a stuffed frog named Marvin. Sophie rebuffs Steven’s efforts at every turn. But Steven doesn’t give up easily, and with the help of Marvin, he finally wins Sophie’s friendship. Sometimes it just takes some time to grow a friend, something Sophie should know, but she seems to have forgotten.

Author Pat Zietlow Miller gave herself a high hill to climb in trying to follow up her very popular Sophie’s Squash. This sequel will keep Sophie’s legions of fans happy. The story has all the fun and charm of the first book. The whimsical illustrations by Anne Wilsdorf are every bit as enchanting as the earlier one. This is beginning to look like a franchise that has real legs.