(2) K-3 I Like to Read Comics series. The Super Duper Seven includes Electro-Elephant ("I can charge your phones"), Hypno-Hippo ("I put bad guys to sleep"), and Hungry Kitty, who keeps eating the smaller team members. This creates an ongoing branding ­problem, as the Seven become Six and then Five, and the team has to keep buying new shirts. When the heroes run out of money and begin to have (understandable) difficulty recruiting new members, they must consider forming an alliance with a superhero they'd previously rejected. This mid-level beginning-reader comic is silly fun. The cycle of introducing and reintroducing the team allows for repetition that adds to the humor, especially useful with some of the more challenging phonetic feats (words like polka, quarter, and elephant). Hamilton draws with a thin, loose line, and his characters feature tiny eyes in giant heads, visually setting a playful tone. The panels are rich with detail, but the illustrations also clearly support the plot for less confident readers. With their somewhat-less-than-super power--e.g., the hero of the story, Polka Don, can make things with string--this group has its origin in many a children's grassroots club. Long may the Super Duper...Four reign!

Reviewer: Adrienne L. Pettinelli | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2022

(3) K-3 Searching for a playmate, Cat mistakes an umbrella handle for another cat's tail. Holding the umbrella is Elf, who stands beneath a rain shower that's actually the tears of a bear, saddened by the loss of his boot. And so on. Sketchy pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations are as odd as the collection of characters that amass in this silly cumulative guessing romp.

Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden

(4) K-3 When ornery Aunt Sue breaks her leg, Eddie and his dog need to help out. That includes hosting Captain Rugbeard's birthday party, but Eddie can't think of a gift. He settles on a pair of socks but learns the pirate has a wooden leg. But Rugbeard needs a hat... The narrative gimmick is tiresome; the sketchy illustrations lend themselves to the silly premise.

Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden

(3) K-3 I Like to Read series. A boy fibs about the mess he made while playing with his elderly neighbor's discarded boxes, and she poignantly enters his fantasy world to understand. This book combines readability and repetition; a multifaceted plot about imaginative play and intergenerational friendship; and a moral about honesty. New readers will enjoy seeing the contrast between reality and imagination in the bold, slightly wacky illustrations.

Reviewer: Miriam Steinberg-Egeth