(4) K-3 Illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo. In this French import, Charlie is a curmudgeonly rabbit with exceptional sensitivity to noise; this makes it difficult for him to sleep through a bird pecking, a squirrel munching, and so on outside his window. With zany cartooned depictions of the animals in a muted, grayish palette, Di Giacomo injects humor into a repetitive-patterned text centered on Charlie's bedtime ritual. We've seen picture books like this before.

Reviewer: Miriam Lang Budin

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo. In this third wordplay story (Take Away the A; Where's the Baboon?), each spread poses a question, with the answer cleverly nested within; for instance, the answer to "Who is playing frisbee?" is revealed--through different-colored text and the wry illustration--to be a bee. Throughout the humorous beach scenes, a girl searches for her trumpet, leading readers to a surprisingly sweet conclusion.

Reviewer: Minh Lê

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo. Three curious mice head to school on a "search for hidden words." Answers to their questions--e.g., "Who brought an apple?"--are found by combining letters printed in red: ape from apple. The droll illustrations provide lots of support as well as visual humor. In the end, the animals gather for a birthday party, including--surprise!--baBOOn.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo. This creative twist on the traditional alphabet book takes a word (e.g., beast), removes one letter to make a new word (best), and imagines a scene that incorporates both: "Without the A / the BEAST is the BEST." Di Giacomo's outside-the-box illustrations interpret the word pairings in unexpected ways. Text and art play effortlessly off each other, enhancing humor and meaning.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2014

(2) PS Translated by Kris Di Giacomo. Illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo. A masked superhero (in pajamas and pigtails) lays out her abilities. "The day I discovered I could fly, I knew that I was special." The text plays it straight while the illustrations slyly show what's really happening (she flies...off the slide and into the sandbox). The oversize pages feature dynamic compositions in muted shades on lots of white space.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2014

(3) PS Translated by Grace Maccarone. Illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo. As Rabbit gradually discovers in this clever, imaginative book, the Not-So-Big-Bad Wolf is quite different from the Big Bad Wolf, with shorter ears, smaller teeth, and longer hair. Simple, humorous illustrations help build suspense, finally revealing that the Not-So-Big-Bad Wolf is a child in a wolf costume, who catches and squashes Rabbit in "a big hug."

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(2) K-3 Translated by Kris Di Giacomo. Illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo. Lizard Leon "has to go poo." But: "OH NO! NO PAPER!" Fortunately, Leon finds a pair of old underpants hanging on a tree. After Leon finishes, he's accosted by a voice berating Leon for his poor judgment and demanding that he clean the soiled undies. The book's large pages and expressive illustrations give Leon's morality play lots of space to unfold.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2013

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Matthieu Maudet. A family discovers a mammoth in their fridge; they call the fire department and a chaotic chase ensues. In a satisfying twist, the escaped beast turns out to be (just one) of little Elsa's secret pets ("I'm warning you...you'll get us all in trouble"). The humorous, spare sketches are washed in a refined palette of teal, goldenrod, and pops of red.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(4) PS Illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo. A young duck always wants to blow past its three siblings and be first...until it's the first to come upon a human couple eating duck for lunch. The joke doesn't quite work--duck-eating humans would horrify a duck no matter the duck's place in line--but the illustrations are droll and expressive and the dialogue-balloon text wonderfully economical.

Reviewer: Nell Beram