Nobody

Who made the mess in the kitchen? Nobody. That's the name of George's imaginary friend, whose happily shadowy presence animates this sweet depiction of a family shocked by George's, um, ingenuity in the kitchen while his parents sleep. Liz Rosenberg's freshly told, brightly illustrated (by Julie Downing) tale for youngsters and their parents.

Age 5 and up.

June 18: George Orwell's "As One Non-Combatant to Another" was published on this day in 1943. Orwell's poem arguing against pacifism quotes from Churchill's "finest hour" speech, delivered to Parliament and the nation on this day in…

Very few debut novels exhibit the charm, assurance, emotional depth and bravura fabulation which the lucky reader will discover in Helene Wecker's

advertisement