(4) PS Illustrated by Chih-Yuan Chen. Preschoolers may recognize their own struggles as Mimi (who looks like a mole) tries to do everything the grown-ups do--all by herself-- with mixed results. Written by an educational psychologist, the texts have a didactic undercurrent. The accompanying illustrations, with softly shaded hues and humorous details, are eye-pleasing. Review covers these titles: Mimi Loves to Mimic and Mimi Says No.

Reviewer: Hannah Rodgers Barnaby

(4) PS Illustrated by Chih-Yuan Chen. Preschoolers may recognize their own struggles as Mimi (who looks like a mole) tries to do everything the grown-ups do--all by herself-- with mixed results. Written by an educational psychologist, the texts have a didactic undercurrent. The accompanying illustrations, with softly shaded hues and humorous details, are eye-pleasing. Review covers these titles: Mimi Loves to Mimic and Mimi Says No.

Reviewer: Hannah Rodgers Barnaby

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Jacky Gleich. Bruno, standing by his grandfather's casket, doesn't believe the man has left them: "He's lying right here!" By not answering Bruno's questions capably, his family reinforces his confusion in a way that's alternately funny, poignant, and tiresome. The striking scratchy-surfaced, somber-hued illustrations depict a child who is tiny compared with his family and surroundings--a reflection of his emotional isolation.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Jörg Müller. A bear wakes from hibernation to find a factory built over his den. Nobody believes he's a bear and, unhappily, he becomes a factory worker, but he's so sleepy in the fall that he gets fired. The suitably cold, gloomy, and joyless illustrations are amusing in their depiction of corporate life. The book is a strange but successful mixture of fantasy and satire.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc. | Horn Book Magazine Issue: August, 1977

(3) K-3 Illustrated by H. Y. Huang & A. Yang. "Lightly Spring climbs over your neighbor's wall, / Lightly Spring enters your home." In this Chinese poem, a boy sends his kite to look for spring. Joyful signs of the season are everywhere--at sea, in the fields, in town. With their airy kite's-eye views, the expansive double-page spreads present the beauty of patterns one can see from the sky.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(3) K-3 A featherless chicken longs to fit in with four well plumed brethren. When he inadvertently creates a striking new look, they're suddenly all over him. After a silly accident causes them all to lose their feathers, they realize that having fun trumps vanity. The simple story is enriched by Chen's lively, amusing art full of wonderfully self-important birds.

Reviewer: Nell Beram