Beetle gives Stick Bug an attention-grabbing coat for his birthday—but is that what Stick Bug really wants? A delightful story about friends learning to understand each other. It’s almost Stick Bug’s birthday, and his fashionable friend Beetle can’t wait to give him his present—a purple puffy coat! The coat draws a lot of attention and makes Stick Bug really stick out in the crowd. Beetle thinks that’s terrific! He brings Stick Bug all over town, happily boasting and bragging (while Stick Bug waits behind a tree, in a pile of leaves, or under a bench). Oh, dear—maybe Stick Bug isn’t as wild about the purple puffy coat as Beetle is! What can the two friends do? Charming illustrations bring to life both characters’ endearing struggles in this warm and humorous story about learning to pay attention to what makes your friend happy rather than what makes you happy. For people with good manners, there's a choreography in the giving and receiving of gifts. The giver presents an offering that is presumed to be thoughtful; the recipient expresses delight and gratitude. Whether thought or gratitude are really part of the exchange isn't meant to come up. And it almost doesn't in "The Purple Puffy Coat" (Candlewick, 32 pages, $16.99), an understanding picture book by Maribeth Boelts with delicate and witty illustrations by Daniel Duncan. Stick Bug is a slim, dapper fellow a week away from his birthday. When a cold wind makes him shiver, his devoted friend Beetle cannot forbear: "I already have your present, because that's just the kind of friend I am," Beetle announces. "Your present is SO amazing, and you need it SO much--I must give it to you early." Stick Bug opens the proffered parcel. "It's a purple puffy coat!" Beetle exults. "Isn't it breathtaking?" It is, but not the way he thinks. Poor Stick Bug doesn't want to be ungracious, but we can see that he's dismayed. Worse, Beetle insists that he display the mortifying coat in public. Only slowly does it dawn on Beetle that in imposing his own taste, he has made his friend unhappy. It's an awkward situation that's resolved with mutual magnanimity in this humorous morality tale for readers ages 3-7. -The Wall Street Journal Boelts's energetic text and Duncan't comical, delicate illustration, showing a thoroughly embarrassed Stick Bug and a delighted Beetle, combine to make this picture book a silly treat that will have readers giggling and pointing while learning valuable social-emotional lessons about personalities and relationships. Delightfully funny and warm.--Kirkus Reviews Squat, mustachioed Beetle makes a humorous counterpart to slender, bespectacled Stick Bug, and the addition of the voluminous purple coat to the latter's stickly form is especially amusing. It's clear no misbegotten coat will come between the two antennaed friends, and a quick repurposing by Stick Bug allows them both to enjoy it. --Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books The idea for this book was sparked by the very puffy, very bright-blue, very-too-big coat I once bought for our youngest son when he was in first grade.  Even though I thought he looked utterly adorable encased in blue puffiness, he thought otherwise.  It took him several silent, miserable wearings before he admitted that he hated his new coat.  Once I realized his horror, the coat went to Goodwill, and my son returned to his happy baseline. The experience of giving a gift based on the giver's preferences rather than the recipient's would morph, 20 years later, to become "The Purple Puffy Coat". Maribeth Boelts is the author of many books for young readers, including Those Shoes and A Bike Like Sergio’s , both illustrated by Noah Z. Jones; Happy Like Soccer, illustrated by Lauren Castillo; and Kaia and the Bees , illustrated by Angela Dominguez. Maribeth Boelts lives in Iowa. Daniel Duncan is the author-illustrator of the picture book South and the illustrator of Mr. Posey’s New Glasses, written by Ted Kooser, among other books for children. Daniel Duncan lives outside London.