(2) PS Illustrated by Lauren Child. This visually and metaphorically resonant picture book follows a child living through a day when they are not "sunshine yellow" or "balloon bright." Instead, they describe themself as "gray today. I just am. I am gray. Gray is when I don't feel like me." Dockrill uses simple and evocative metaphors to reflect a feeling to which many young readers and listeners (and probably many older ones, too) can relate, and to demonstrate the bleakness of dour thoughts. A sympathetic caretaker provides gentle reassurance that the colors inside a person don't go away, even on gray days, and their love for the protagonist won't go away either. Child's distinct mixed-media illustrations, with engagingly varied compositions, shift between grayscale and sunny hues to create a contrast that embodies the sense of being "gray like the storm in the clouds" in a colorful world. The text lets readers and listeners accept feelings of darkness, and reminds them, "It's OK to feel gray." The art manages to convey both the protagonist's emotions and the wonders that can be present on an average gloomy day. Altogether a welcome reminder that even on the grayest days, hugs (and support from others) can help, and color can return.

Reviewer: Amy Pattee | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2024

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Lauren Child. In July 1888, women and girls working at a match factory in East London went on strike to protest dangerous working conditions and poor pay. Carroll takes the story of this significant event in labor history and uses it as the armature for her own version of Hans Christian Andersen's weeper "The Little Match Girl." Carroll's little match-seller has a name, Bridie, and a strong voice, luring customers with stories and outrageous patter. Her whole family is in the match trade, her mother in the factory, herself on the frigid streets selling, and her small brother at home fashioning match boxes. Like her nameless original, Bridie experiences visions, but unlike her predecessor she turns these visions into social action and survives to tell her tale. The mash-up of history and Andersen-tale works beautifully, especially on the metaphorical level with light, enlightenment, warmth, and energy battling it out against darkness, ignorance, chill, and despair. Child's illustrations, collages in black, gray, and red with a rich use of pattern, incorporate text at certain points to create an arresting, graphically dynamic page. Serve this up with Pinkney's lushly illustrated picture-book edition of the Andersen and with Maguire's Matchless for a feast of Victoriana and an invitation to discuss child poverty, capitalism, and the power of organized labor.`

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2023

(3) 4-6 Translated by Tiina Nunnally. Illustrated by Lauren Child. This glorious oversize edition, felicitously translated, celebrates the hundredth anniversary of Lindgren's birth. Child has outdone herself in conveying the mayhem and magic of Pippi's world. Using her trademark collages and clever typographical designs, she makes us believe that Pippi can hardly be contained within the pages and might come bursting forth the minute we turn our backs.

Reviewer: Terri Schmitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 1950

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Lauren Child. Fra Angelico's angel Gabriel acts as docent to aspiring detective Dan on a tour of his local art museum. Along the way, young Dan gets an introduction to iconography and symbolism in a dozen paintings (primarily biblical and mythical subjects). Reproductions of the paintings appear against the backdrop of brightly colored museum walls, alongside cheerful cartoon-style museum goers.

Reviewer: Norah Piehl