(2) PS In her latest picture book, Frazee says she "hoped to capture and honor what we all have in common, no matter who we are or where we live." Each line of text begins with "In every..." and appears on its own spread with Frazee's signature pencil and gouache vignettes of people, young and old, epitomizing the sentiment expressed (à la her layouts for the similarly inspirational Everywhere Babies, rev. 5/01, and All the World, rev. 9/09). While the text is earnest, Frazee finds ways to insert light humor into her illustrations, such as a child using the potty for "In every hope, blessed is the doing." Wordless full-bleed spreads are interspersed between the vignette pages, showing wide landscape views with people finding peace and joy in nature; these offer viewers a chance to pause and reflect on that line's meaning. She also chooses a predominant color for each line's font and its accompanying art to aid young listeners in linking them together (e.g., yellow is the color associated with the line "In every smile, blessed is the light"). The affectionate domestic scenes feature a diverse mix of people and are a visual testament to Frazee's inclusive goal of showcasing the commonalities "in every life." According to her author's note, she's revised a baby-naming blessing that she attributes to the Jewish faith (the original source of which is unknown, "but it has been adapted and used widely in welcoming ceremonies of all kinds") by simplifying the poem and adding her own lines, including passages about smiles and sadness.

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2023

(2) PS Frazee's wordless trilogy that began with The Farmer and the Clown (rev. 11/14) comes to a satisfying end. The story opens at the circus, where the young clown refuses a red clown suit, preferring instead to wear the farmer's broad hat and carry a rake. When the monkey appears, carrying the farmer's picnic basket, the monkey and young clown "play farm" as they pretend to milk an elephant, dance in the sunrise, and picnic together. The only person missing from the scene is the beloved farmer. But not for long. Across the wide horizon he comes (holding the circus ticket left by the monkey in The Farmer and the Monkey, rev. 11/20). As the story unfolds to its warmhearted conclusion, an adult clown (the young clown's mother, perhaps?) and the farmer are shown settling in at the farm, arms around each other, as they watch the monkey and the little clown pick apples for a picnic. Everything is resolved: loving adults to care for the child and the monkey and an end to loneliness for all. Frazee layers pencil and gouache to create her wide-open sky and an expansive prairie. She adeptly uses series of spot illustrations, surrounded by clean white space, and rich double-page spreads to pace the story. Readers will find little real tension but a great deal of warmth and skilled storytelling as the sun rises on a new, untraditional family.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2021

(2) PS The sequel to Frazee's The Farmer and the Clown (rev. 11/14; winner of the 2015 Boston Globe–Horn Book Picture Book Award) begins where the first book left off, with a circus monkey sneaking home behind the farmer, who is despondent that his little clown friend has just left. The monkey stays out of sight, peeking around corners and peering through the farmer's window. It watches as the farmer sits slumped across from a chair empty but for the clown's pointed red hat. When the farmer notices the monkey, and invites it in, the vivacious creature tears around the farmhouse, carelessly crushing the treasured hat. The farmer, horrified, banishes the little monkey outside for the night. And now the mood, and the viewer's loyalties, shift. We are sad for the farmer, whose memento has been mangled, but now equally sad for the irrepressible monkey, who becomes buried in an overnight snowstorm. With impeccable pacing, and completely wordlessly, Frazee conducts her drama. It takes several pages, and many small moments, for the farmer and the monkey to appreciate each other, but at book's end when, inevitably, the monkey rejoins the circus train, the creature carries with it a drum, handmade by the farmer, and leaves behind a circus ticket. Frazee conveys the complexities of relationships through use of posture and facial expression. The layers of pencil and gouache have a depth and texture that makes the empty space around the lonely farmer's cabin feel full of possibility. Happily, the farmer, with the monkey's help, has found some (quieter) company on his farm, and the final page shows him comfortably leaning against his cow, playing banjo to a cozy group of hens, circus ticket tucked carefully into his hatband.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2020

(3) K-3 Outside at doggy daycare, everyone has fun--except for very cranky Little Brown. He steals the other dogs' toys and hoards them, putting an end to their play. Questions arising from his behavior are left unresolved (it starts to rain, and the dogs all head inside). Illustrated in soft pencil and gouache, this open-ended study of social dynamics should spark young readers' own questions.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(1) PS The Boss Baby feels sidelined when a new CEO, with pearls adding just the right touch to her sleek black onesie, takes over. Frazee's brisk, snappy variation on the dethronement blues resists sentimentality, and everything is round and witty in the pencil and gouache illustrations. If The Boss Baby was mainly for new parents, this companion volume will engage new big siblings as well.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2016

(1) K-3 Appearances can be deceiving in this superb wordless book. A grim-faced farmer comes to the rescue when a circus train hits a bump and ejects a jolly-looking toddler clown. At bedtime, off comes the clown makeup, revealing a scared child; the farmer makes a clown of himself to get a real smile from his guest. A riveting narrative with an impressive range of emotion.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2014

(3) PS A new CEO is in town, full of demands. This boss from hell is a baby, and he has Mom and Dad "on a round-the-clock schedule, with no time off." The execution is witty and efficient, with an agreeably concise (and straight-faced) text allowing plenty of room for the pictures--retro-pastel, coolly shadowed with Frazee's calming black-crayon lines--to deliver the punch lines. This board book edition has Baby Shower Gift written all over it.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2010

(2) PS Dogs Boot and Shoe share a lot of things, but Boot prefers the back porch and Shoe, the front. A squirrel gets both dogs riled up enough to give chase; each ends up on the wrong porch--and decides to wait for the other. The sprightly lines of Frazee's black-pencil and gouache illustrations add to the humor of this nimble tale of misplaced assumptions.

Reviewer: Kathleen T. Horning | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2012

(2) PS A new CEO is in town, full of demands. This boss from hell is a baby, and he has Mom and Dad "on a round-the-clock schedule, with no time off." The execution is witty and efficient, with an agreeably concise (and straight-faced) text allowing plenty of room for the pictures--retro-pastel, coolly shadowed with Frazee's calming black-crayon lines--to deliver the punch lines.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2010

(2) K-3 Friends James and Eamon stay with Eamon's grandparents while attending a nature day-camp. Though the boys tolerate camp, the real action happens during their unstructured time at home. Frazee's text plays straight man to her pictures; while the earnest narrative offers one version of events, the energetic illustrations and speech balloons provide a boys'-eye view of "the best week ever."

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2008

(4) PS Granted, it's a lullaby, and as such intended for babies, but the detailed pictures seem designed for older, more observant children. Frazee's pioneer characters are wonderfully expressive, from the squalling baby to the increasingly exhausted parents and exasperated older sister. In the original, larger picture book, the illustrations are easier to enjoy than in this board book edition.

Reviewer: Terri Schmitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 1999

(2) PS Frazee depicts a diverse cross section of people with refreshing naturalness in this tantalizing run-through of a roller coaster ride, from waiting in line to lurching off at the end. If you have a weak stomach, this wild ride might make you queasy, but it is more likely you'll side with the focal character in the cast, a young girl, and decide you want to experience the whole process again, "right now!"

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2003