(2) 4-6 In 1940, thirteen-year-old Evvy Hoffmeister is sent to Loon Lake Sanatorium to recover from tuberculosis. Evvy's natural inquisitiveness gradually overcomes her fear and isolation, creating an evenly paced story in which she learns about people and herself against the backdrop of sanatorium life. Hayles succeeds admirably in showing, rather than telling, Evvy's character and growth.

Reviewer: Ariel Baker-Gibbs | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2012

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Jack E. Davis. Hayles's jaunty rhyming text tells of Bunion Burt, aptly named for his "ailing tootsies." Each spread describes Burt's different cure-alls to soothe his feet--pig mud, sunburn, freezer chill, even a pedicure by his sister--until Pappy Spurt explains that Burt's big feet just need new shoes. Davis's watercolor and acrylic caricatures play up the story's gross factor; foot-squeamish readers beware.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(3) PS Illustrated by Hiroe Nakata. When you're a pajama aficionado, every month offers extra opportunities to don your favorite sleepwear. "If January's snow / Closes school for the day / Or my February cold / Keeps me sofa'd from play / Time for pajamas, my jamas, mine-o." The sprightly illustrations for this exuberant rhyme portray a tousle-headed child with an enviable collection of pajamas.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(3) PS Illustrated by Lynne Cravath. In a simple rhyming text, a young boy's backyard becomes the setting for some imaginative adventures. He saves himself from pirates and wild jungle cats, but when he meets up with a terrible dragon (a.k.a. the lawn chair) he gets a little help from "his lady brave" (a.k.a. his mom). Cartoonlike illustrations neatly transition from one fantasy to the next, with occasional glimpses at the real backyard.

Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Scott Nash. On her family's farm, Tabitha has a pet horse, who has a pet cow, and so on down to the cat, whose pet is Tabitha. The repetitive text gets cumbersome and the ending is flat, but the way the animals bestow their own characteristics on their pet--the pig names his pet rooster Oink and teaches him to roll in mud--is entertaining, as are Nash's whimsical cartoon illustrations.

Reviewer: Erica L. Stahler

(3) K-3 Colorful, sunny illustrations picture a young girl's day at the beach with her family and small dog. The rhyming text--"splashing / dashing / big wave crashing"--conveys the girl's busy day frolicking in the surf, while soft curvilinear shapes in the double-page spreads reinforce the comfortable tone of the brief text.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.