(3) K-3 Illustrated by Barbara Lavallee. A grandmother tells her granddaughter the story of "a new girl-baby" named Beautiful born in Hawaii, which also becomes the story of love shared between grandmother and grandchild. Watercolor illustrations in tropical hues depict the idyllic island setting. Information about Hawaiian language and customs is appended. Glos.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Barbara Lavallee. A Maasai father answers his son's persistent questions about the depth of the father's love for his son. The companion to Mama, Do You Love Me? is as sweet and reassuring as the earlier book. Joosse weaves information about Maasai culture throughout and Lavallee's handsome illustrations in rich reds, browns, and golds match the warmth of the text.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Jennifer Plecas. When Harris's dog Zippy misbehaves one time too many, his family decides obedience school is the answer. Zippy learns all the commands but loses his zip. Now it is up to Harris to create a "Bad Dog School," to retrain him to be obedient and fun. The cheerful watercolor illustrations give Zippy and the family lots of personality.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Giselle Potter. Illustrated with Potter's childlike watercolors, this evocative book juxtaposes a little girl's acceptance of her beloved grandmother's death with the annual migration of monarch butterflies. When the butterflies return to Mexico during the Days of the Dead, the girl discovers how to keep a loved one's memory alive. Information about monarch butterflies and the Days of the Dead is appended.

Reviewer: Erica L. Stahler

(3) PS Illustrated by Barbara Lavallee. An Inuit girl asks her mother a series of questions, and the mother repeatedly answers that she will always love her daughter. The tenth anniversary edition of this comforting, attractively illustrated picture book is suitable for gift giving with a new cloth binding, a brief note about the Inuit masks portrayed in the art, and a print from the book.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 1991

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Sue Truesdell. When the local bully starts combing his hair, wearing cologne, and following them around, the Scarface Detectives (a.k.a. Willie, Lucy, and Kyle) fear the worst: aliens must have taken over his brain. The sleuths' efforts to prove their case make for lots of laugh-out-loud sequences, well matched by the breezy cartoon-style illustrations. Plenty of clues help point readers to the real reason for Chuckie's about-face.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(2) K-3 In Willie's third encounter with the mysterious, he has more to contend with than the ghost in his friend Kyle's new house: when Kyle moved away, Lucy became Willie's new best friend, but now Kyle is back in the neighborhood. This neatly managed conundrum is a half step up from the easy reader genre and eminently accessible--at once funny and scary with expressive cartoon-style illustrations that zoom with energy.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.