(3) PS Illustrated by David Walker. In this bouncy, fast-moving rhyme, a rabbit parent and child take a car trip to visit Gram and Grampa. "All aboard. / Get ready, set. / Buckle up. / Are we there yet?" Once arrived, they enjoy cooking, reading, and playing together until--much too soon for the rabbit child--it's time for the trip home. The cheerful, candy-colored illustrations match the energy of the text.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(3) PS Illustrated by David Walker. From morning until night, throughout the year, a little bunny gets messy, sandy, and muddy: "What time is it? / TIME FOR A BATH! / Splash and squirt. / Rub-a-dub-dub. / Good-bye dirt." Simple rhymes reinforce the playful rhythm of the rabbit's busy days. Soft, pastel-colored illustrations show parent and child engaged in homey or seasonal activities, from making pancakes to tracking ants.

Reviewer: Sheila M. Geraty

(3) PS Illustrated by David Walker. Hour by hour, this bouncy rhyme follows a rabbit parent and child through their day. Every so often, they pause in their many activities--indoors and out--to share a hug. "A hug feels good. / Let's hug again. / We'll hug at nine. / We'll hug at ten." The energetic illustrations, rendered in delicate pastel colors, often include a clock to show the time.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(2) PS Illustrated by Giselle Potter. In this riff on "Baa Baa Black Sheep," a boy asks five animals what items they can offer to help him sleep. The tale's familiar pattern leads quietly to dreamland. Gershator tells an engaging bedtime story enriched by Potter's parallel visual narrative. Uncluttered illustrations carry the minimalist thread while also adding humor to the rhymed text.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2011

(4) PS Illustrated by Emilie Chollat. Spring-toned illustrations portray various animals (ducks, cats, etc.) in their natural habitats, with all but one young critter (duckling, kitten, etc.) fast asleep. Each spread also shows a little boy wearing a sheep's costume. The joke, which may require a few readings to get, is that he's another sleep shirker: at book's end, his mother spots him hiding behind a tree.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Katherine Potter. A girl and her family move to an old house in the country with no running water and mice in the walls. The singsongy rhymed text and lively chalk pastel illustrations depict her idyllic days. The end of the summer finds the family on the move again; after a long journey, they arrive at a new house and the promise of friends.

Reviewer: Sheila M. Geraty

(3) PS Illustrated by Santiago Cohen. Two kids take a trip to the zoo with their Spanish-speaking abuelita, who helps them count the animals. The main text is mostly in English with the numbers in both English and Spanish, making this a good choice for children learning to count. Digitally colored ink-line illustrations are in muted hues with strong, dark outlines.

Reviewer: Tim Wadham

(4) PS Illustrated by Alison Jay. Rhyming text describes the sounds of each season. Readers are invited to listen to the whistle of the finch in springtime and the plop of acorns dropping in the fall. The text is bland ("Listen, listen...autumn's gone. Snowflakes whisper, 'Winter's fun'"), but Jay's characteristic crackled paintings are striking, giving readers much to pore over.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Holly Meade. Takeboki is the monks' "Flower Keeper." Relatives urge him to find a better job, but he's content. The story celebrates the rewards of meaningful work and the artistry of Japanese gardens. Meade's mixed-media illustrations depict Takeboki's dedication. The pages are a bit busy to evoke the garden's spare formality, but they do suggest how rich a seemingly unadorned life can be.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2007

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Diane Greenseid. Vivid acrylic paintings drenched in primary colors accompany a Caribbean version of "Stone Soup." Granny has no food until she uses a seashell to help her convince the people in the marketplace to contribute to a magical soup. Soon meat, fish, vegetables, and spices are filling the pot and the kallaloo (Caribbean gumbo) is boiling away. Two recipes are appended.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(2) PS Illustrated by Mélisande Potter. Gershator smoothly integrates lullabies from Africa, Spain, and the Caribbean into original verse in this tribute to babysitters. Both text and pictures follow baby and caregiver through a day of games and songs; a soothing refrain traces the babysitter's efforts to calm and entertain. Potter depicts the Caribbean setting with stylized pictures in island pastels.

Reviewer: Lauren Adams | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2004

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Megan Halsey. Moon Rooster crows all night trying to call up the moon. His efforts finally produce results, but when he hears that chicken soup may soon be on the menu, he has second thoughts. The story line is clever; however, the ending is simplistic and abrupt. Halsey's dramatic collage illustrations add interest and humor. Lyrics with musical score are included.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg

(2) K-3 Illustrated by David Soman. A clever man manages to find a wife for a stingy king willing to pay only one cowry shell as the bride-price; the woman herself also proves to be clever, tricking the king into sending loads of generous gifts. Soman's handsome collage art is as strong and distinctive as Gershator's text, deftly capturing the humor of the story in postures and facial expressions. A source note is included.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2000

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Lynne Cravath. On a West Indian island, men feel weak around Miss Tiny because of her height, brawn, and booming voice. When short, scrawny, hearing-impaired Mr. Bigman arrives, the townsmen assume he'll run from Tiny, but after she builds him a house, he's smitten. The writing has panache and the illustrations verve, creating a funny feminist tale that may leave one question for some readers: Can only "weak" men love "strong" women?

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Theresa Smith. In this pourquoi tale, first Ear, then Arm, then Leg reject Mosquito's proposals of marriage. She gets her revenge: "At night zzzng-zzzng / I'll bite zzzng-zzzng." Even after she finds a mate (another mosquito) she keeps on buzzing and biting and so do her children. Energetic pastel and crayon illustrations of persistent Mosquito extend the humorous rhythmic text.

Reviewer: Pamela McCuen

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Martin Matje. Gershator's rhyming text asks, "What if it starts to snow? What do you do? Where do you go?" and a menagerie of animals responds in turn. The repetition may please some ears, and Matje's gouache and colored pencil artwork is rich in texture with pleasing compositions and bold, playful characters.

Reviewer: Mark Adam

(4) PS Attractive as Saint James's bright, basic paintings of these Caribbean children are, they don't fit all that well with the singsong text's salutations to different objects. For instance, the authors refer to body parts ("Greetings, toes" and "Greetings, nose") that, due to lack of interior line, aren't clearly delineated on the featureless figures.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.