(3) K-3 Dial Easy-to-Read series. Illustrated by Ann Schweninger. Beginning readers will likely recognize Amanda's experiences with her first loose tooth. She wiggles it nonstop at first, then agonizes over whether to let Father pull it. After losing the tooth (literally), she finds it again, only to lie awake wondering about the Tooth Fairy. The amiable pencil and watercolor illustrations in Easter-egg hues feature nattily dressed piggies.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(3) K-3 Dial Easy-to-Read series. Illustrated by Ann Schweninger. Amanda's high expectations of first grade are all met--except she still can't read. As the days pass, she has the usual misadventures: getting lost in the big building, confronting a bully. Slowly, she builds her word power and learns to read. Amanda's experience will resonate with first graders everywhere. Reassuring pencil and watercolor illustrations show Amanda's ups and downs.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(3) K-3 Dial Easy-to-Read series. Illustrated by Ann Schweninger. In four short chapters, Amanda Pig gets a cooling "hot-day surprise" in the garden; she and best friend Lollipop trade lemonade for entry into the boys' fort; Amanda and Lollipop open a lemonade stand, then drink the stock; and she waits with her family for a cool evening breeze. The combination of simple text and expressive illustrations will encourage new readers.

Reviewer: Angela Leeper

(3) K-3 Dial Easy-to-Read series. Illustrated by Ann Schweninger. Oliver Pig is back with a Mighty Pig cape, saving the world from fire, bees, and aliens. Oliver's exploits will ring true to children and parents, as will the minor complications that arise when Oliver's imagination bumps into real life. The warmth conveyed in both story and art is as reassuring as ever.

Reviewer: Becky Levine

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Ann Schweninger. Amanda Pig is back, facing a new challenge, this a somewhat darker one than usual: overcoming her nighttime fear of monsters. But, as usual, this author-artist team demonstrates a solid understanding of childhood feelings and family dynamics. Amanda ends up using words to conquer her fears--just right for such an "almost grown up" pig and her newly independent readers.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2003

(4) PS Illustrated by Ann Schweninger. Two trick-or-treaters look for a ghost in this version of the old bear-hunt story. The illustrations reveal their imagined encounters, with a swamp, a haunted house, and so on; the trip back home shows the actuality--a muddy yard, a dark house, etc. Youngsters will spot that the ghost is Mom in costume in this not-too-scary book, with cheerfully spooky art and a lively, if somewhat overlong, text.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander

(2) K-3 Dial Easy-to-Read series. Illustrated by Ann Schweninger. Albert, the new boy in Oliver's class, is as tall as a third grader and knows all the answers to the teacher's questions but is terrible at kickball. Oliver coaches him in sports, Albert introduces Oliver to the fascinating world of bugs, and before long (four chapters, in fact), they are fast friends. Exuberant illustrations extend the text in this gentle and enjoyable entry in the Oliver and Amanda Pig series.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2000

(2) K-3 Dial Easy-to-Read Books series. Amanda Pig continues her move out into the wider world, as her friendship with shy classmate Lollipop (introduced in 'Amanda Pig, Schoolgirl') leads to reciprocal play dates and then to Amanda's first attempted sleepover. Situations are funny, or touching, but always true-to-life, and a reassuringly warm tone (broken up nicely by some characteristic rambunctiousness on Oliver's part) prevails.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.