When her mom is sick, little Lily has to spend the day with Marilyn, an adult friend of her parents who is a stranger to Lily. Marilyn has two children of her own, a baby and a school-aged son, so she knows exactly how to care for a shy toddler who feels strange in unfamiliar circumstances. She doesn’t overwhelm Lily with attention, and bit by bit she finds small ways to make Lily feel as though she belongs. Not surprisingly, Lily doesn’t want to leave when her dad comes to pick her up at the end of the day. In her winsome pen and ink and watercolor illustrations, Shirley Hughes once again shows her mastery at depicting the ordinary life experiences of preschoolers, showing their feelings by getting every facial expression and body posture exactly right. (Ages 3–5)

A resistant Lily discovers that new experiences don’t need to be scary in this engaging, deftly told story certain to resonate with young children.

One morning, Lily’s mom wakes up with a sore throat and achy head and needs to stay in bed. But Lily’s dad needs to go to work. Who will look after Lily? When Dad arranges for her to spend the day at Melanie’s house, Lily is none too happy. "Don’t want to go!" she says. Even though Melanie has a friendly dog named Ringo and a funny baby named Sam, Lily is shy and wants to sit under the table with her toy Bobbo. But maybe a chance to make silly collages, or feed Sam lunch, or hold Ringo’s leash might make her feel braver—and maybe she’ll start having so much fun she won’t want to leave at the end of the day! With illustrations that keenly convey emotion through the subtlest gesture, Shirley Hughes mines a familiar situation for its most genuine moments and creates a truly reassuring story for young children.