By Andrea Beaty
A rhyming romp about a little girl who asks why about everything and won't stop until she figures it out.
Ada Marie Twist doesn't say a word until she's three, and then it's a question, and she basically never stops. Why are things pointy? What's that smell? She pokes and prods and hypothesizes her way through the house, tapes a note to the cat, and drives her parents a little bonkers until they realize the right thing to do with a bottomless question is to help her chase the answer. It's told in bouncy Dr.-Seuss-style rhyme, the whole thing gallops, and David Roberts's pictures are packed with funny little details you'll catch on the fifth read. Ada is Black, curious to her bones, and named for two real women scientists.
Some children ask a hundred questions a day; this is the book that tells them their curiosity is the good stuff, not the annoying stuff, and it does it without a single lecture because the story is funny. The rhyme makes it a joy to read aloud even the tenth time, and Ada being a Black girl who loves science means a whole lot of children get to see themselves as the scientist for once. It's the third of the Questioneers picture books, so if this one lands there are companions waiting.