(2) PS Illustrated by Penelope Dullaghan. It's the day before Christmas, and Bunny is searching for the perfect tree, one that is just her size. Along the way she meets various friends who each add a different request, sending Bunny farther and farther from home. Suspense builds as listeners wonder if Bunny will ever find the sought-after tree, while repetition in the text (each friend asks, "What are you looking for?") will support new readers. The narrative is poetic and rhythmic, with occasional ear-pleasing alliteration. Illustrations in a muted, wintry palette nicely complement the story.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2022

(3) PS Illustrated by David Catrow. The question posed by the title is answered in rhyming stanzas: "Pirates plunder lots of ships but don't forget their duty. / They always call out 'thank you' for all their stolen booty." Energetic, appropriately grotesque mixed-media illustrations depict the pirates remembering their manners in various situations despite their rough-and-tumble lifestyle. A humorous and engaging twist on the familiar lesson.

Reviewer: Kari Allen

(4) YA Clare's mother sends her to Cape Cod to spend two weeks with her biological father, Richard, whom she hasn't seen since she was three. While slowly getting to know each other, father and daughter monitor the island's endangered turtles. Though hampered by flat dialogue, this contemplative story features realistic family dynamics and highlights its setting's natural beauty.

Reviewer: Barratt Miller

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Noah Z. Jones. Dog Toby is upset when the neighbor's cat, Pandora, comes to stay with his family: Pandora doesn't pay any attention to Toby's antics, and she never gets in trouble for misbehaving. Regardless, when Pandora gets stuck in a tree, Toby is there to help. The cat-dog dynamic is hilarious and the cartoony illustrations add details to the pets' hijinks.

Reviewer: Julie Bartynski-Fenner

(3) K-3 Illustrated by R. W. Alley. It's almost trick-or-treat time and Lily can't decide what to be for Halloween. After several attempts she comes up with the perfect costume, revealed in a foldout spread at the end of the book. Demas's well-paced text matched with Alley's seasonal watercolor and gouache illustrations showing endearing Lily and (spoiler alert) her humorous kittens make this an enjoyable holiday read.

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter

(4) K-3 Illustrated by John Manders. Rhyming text describes how pirates add up skulls in math class, swear on the playground ("Aargh!"), and attempt mutiny at school before settling down for storytime. Watercolor, gouache, and colored-pencil illustrations show the pirates as eager students who just can't contain their enthusiasm. There's humor to be found in the premise, but it's a little less uproarious than advertised.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(3) YA After Dad loses his job, thirteen-year-old Irene and her parents move to her wise, calm grandfather's farm in upstate New York. Irene unexpectedly finds happiness in country life, especially once she meets a new friend, Meg, and Meg's cute brother, Jim. Demas sensitively describes the joys and anxieties of Irene's summer surrounded by friends and family.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Noah Z. Jones. "Emma's dog, Toby, was always in trouble. On Monday he got into the garbage. On Tuesday he ran into the road..." After a couple of stints in obedience school, Toby appears to be reformed, but a walk in the park proves otherwise. There are some leaps in logic, but Toby's antics, shown in the many varied illustrations, will make readers laugh.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(3) PS Illustrated by R. W. Alley. For a whole week, Lily tries to cut out a paper Valentine heart for Mommy. On Monday the heart is "too pointy," on Tuesday it's "too round," and so on. Mommy, however, assures her that even though the paper hearts aren't perfect, "the heart inside you is." Uncluttered illustrations lend personality to the industrious red-haired Lily and her two playful cats.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Ard Hoyt. As Lulu the dog grows older and weaker, her owner, a young girl, tenderly cares for her. After Lulu dies, it takes a while before the girl comes to terms with her grief. Although the story deals adequately with the grieving process, it lacks emotional depth. The people in the watercolor, colored-pencil, and pen-and-ink illustrations are less attractive than the dog.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(3) K-3 Road to Reading series. Illustrated by Alexi Natchev. Based on a traditional Jewish tale and presented in easy-reader format, this story of compassion is fully realized. Ella, Bella, and Stella, three kind sisters, work together to use their magic possessions to save a dying prince. The illustrations have a generalized European feeling, but the story isn't set in a specific place or country. An author's note provides information on one version of the tale.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Lenice U. Strohmeier. A young narrator tells about weathering Hurricane Bob, a powerful storm that occurred in August of 1991. The story focuses on the activities of the narrator's family before, during, and after the exciting and sometimes frightening storm. The watercolor illustrations include some nice close-ups and seascapes, but the human figures are often awkward. A short author's note offers facts about hurricanes.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Ted Lewin. For Carrie's birthday, her grandmother takes her to a "disappearing island" off Cape Cod. Now visible only at low tide, the island once had homes and a lighthouse, but over the years the sea has slowly swallowed it up. Lewin's exquisite watercolors bring the quiet tale to life: Carrie's daydreams of the long-gone island community are strikingly rendered in orange tones, suggesting sun-bleached sepia prints.

Reviewer: Emma Loy-Santelli

(3) 4-6 In this well-developed novel, Celia and her mother accompany her ship-captain father on a two-and-a-half-year whaling voyage, which Celia describes in letters to her cousin at home in New Bedford, Massachusetts. During the voyage Celia matures into a brave sailor and navigator and changes from her mother's adversary to a confidante and friend. Whaling information is unobtrusively integrated into the narrative.

Reviewer: Marlene Gawron

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Deborah Lanino. Nina and her daddy head off to a fiddle competition where he'll play "Nina's Waltz," the tune he wrote especially for her. But when a wasp sting keeps him from playing, Nina, a fiddler herself, overcomes her stage fright and steps in to take third prize. While the people often appear stiff in the softly focused acrylic paintings, musical notes swirl across the pages, suggesting the transformative powers of music.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Kathryn Brown. Six Russian nesting dolls sail to America to be sold at a toyshop. After the littlest, Nina, is lost, her "sisters" are purchased by a young girl. Nina's long journey from a dump truck to the paws of the young girl's cat is thrilling; the improbability of the dolls' reunion is half the fun. The text is as deft and reassuring as the gauzy, pastel-hued illustrations.

Reviewer: Nell Beram