(2) K-3 Piglet Alice lives happily in Paris with her beloved grandmother. Even so, Alice thinks it would be nice to have "someone her own size to talk to" when grandmother naps or scary storms roll in. Hoping to find a friend, she tosses a message in a bottle into the Seine ("Hello! I am Alice"). When the bottle washes up on a faraway shore and into the hands of François (a dog), the young son of a lighthouse keeper, he returns the bottle, thus beginning a series of such profound (and entirely childlike) exchanges as "Hello Alice. I am François. Where are you?" "I am over here. What are you doing over there?" The astonishingly reliable bottle carries their messages back and forth across the sea--until Alice's grandmother dies and Alice stops ­writing. Fortunately, her new guardian, the tender antelope-seamstress Miss Clément, arranges a visit to François's lighthouse, where shared stories, lemon muffins, and laughter transform a correspondence into a ­friendship that weathers any storm. Clippings from "old found papers" speckle Gordon's warm watercolor and pencil illustrations with French words and phrases (as does frequent hand-lettered dialogue), adding both visual and narrative texture; the text's tone strikes just the right balance between earnest and playful. A tender and inviting reflection on the hope and renewal found in friendships.

Reviewer: Grace McKinney | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2020

(2) K-3 George Laurent, a duck and a consummate baker, has a deep, dark secret: he can't fly. His ursine friend Pascal unearths the truth, but flying lessons don't help until the two discover hot-air balloons exist. The inspired illustrations--composed of watercolor, crayon, pencil, and paper collage--pace the text, give George and Pascal personality, and set the cozy scenes of home and the spectacular vistas of "somewhere else."

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2018

(4) K-3 In New York City, neighbors Herman (a crocodile) and Rosie (a deer) work boring day jobs but express their true talents at night as a musician and singer. Their disenchantment and the series of romantic comedy–style near-misses that stall their meeting will charm adults more than kids. Mixed-media illustrations combine city maps and postcards with quirky drawings of the menagerie of city dwellers.

Reviewer: Russell Perry