Silent film star Buster Keaton was known for incredible stunts that blended physical feats with keen comic sensibility and timing. Here Catherine Brighton focuses on Keaton’s childhood and young adulthood spent in Vaudeville and on the road. Her muted color illustrations have an old-fashioned cinematic or comic-book feel, with many pages featuring multiple panels, while the spare narrative is written in Keaton’s dryly funny first-person voice as he reflects on his early years of stage shows and travel with his parents. (“As for school, I went only one day. Miss What’s-Her-Name said, 'You, Keaton, give me a sentence with the word delight.’ Without thinking, I said, 'It’s dark, turn on delight.’ ”) A developing fascination with the movies—a real threat to Vaudeville—caused tension with his father, so he set off to make his own name. Most young readers will be unfamiliar with Keaton, and a brief introduction at the volume’s opening would have been a helpful lead-in to this picture book biography, but there is much to intrigue and delight in the volume’s detailed images and accompanying text. A closing author’s note provides more information about Keaton and some of his films. (Ages 7–10)

FAMOUS AT FOUR! Four-year-old Buster Keaton became one of the best-known comedians of his age and inches when his father threw him across a vaudeville stage, shouting “Keep your eye on the kid!” The crowd roared as he easily landed on his feet and instantly became a star. As Buster grew, he set his sights on the budding world of Hollywood and went on to become one of America’s most beloved silent-film stars. Airy detailed illustrations evoke small-town USA in the early 20th century. Told in Buster’s voice, this captivating biography introduces young readers to a boy who became an American icon and changed the face of comedy and the film world forever.