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Tahboub, Hala

The Interrupted Plans of Mango and Nan

40 pp. | HarperCollins/Clarion | August, 2025 | Trade ISBN 9780063254213 $19.99
(2) K-3 The plan: for Mango and Nan to go get ice cream (vanilla in a cake cone, of course). The interruption: a leaky tap that Nan apologetically decides they must stay home to fix: "We can't let water go to waste. It's not good for the planet." Mango, who loves the planet but also loves ice cream, finds a perfect, albeit highly absurd, solution: attaching Nan's extensive garden hose to the faucet and "taking all the water plops with us to get ice cream." The two cheerfully pull the lengthy hose through town, watering the neighbors' flowerpots, cooling off sunbathers at the local pool, and even putting out small grill fires with the increasingly powerful spray -- until it becomes so strong that neither of them can hold on. Luckily, after the hose shoots skyward, the plops rain back down to water all the town's trees, leaving Mango and Nan to celebrate their resourcefulness...at an ice cream stand (vanilla in a cake cone, of course). From their introduction via handwriting -- Mango's shaky scrawl versus Nan's neat cursive -- Tahboub's duo are endearingly quirky, as is Nan's simple red-brick home with goldfish floating in its pipes, a stark contrast to the more modern cubic houses nearby. They're also close-knit: Nan frequently rests a supportive hand on Mango's shoulder or holds his hand, and Mango wishes he had learned more about plumbing in school in order to help. At the center of the tale's entertaining twists and turns is Tahboub's affection for the everyday plans, errands, and adventures shared between loved ones -- resulting in a tale sweet as ice cream (in any flavor).
Reviewer: Ed Spicer | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2025

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