(3) K-3 Like dreams--or, perhaps, like life--this book's series of offbeat vignettes, presented as bedtime stories told by a sister to her younger brother, don't always make sense. Kalman's signature illustrations, colorful doodles floating gaily about the page, match the vibrancy and whimsy in her text.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.

(4) K-3 In her freewheeling and idiosyncratic style, Kalman tells the saga of Max, a poet dog who longs for fame and Paris. The conventional message, that one's dreams can come true, has been illustrated and related in a very unconventional format and style. Although the audience for the book is limited, those who enjoyed the other Kalman creations will laugh along with this one.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.

(2) K-3 Kalman's colloquial, occasionally arch, and whimsical narrative is heavy with historical import and dotted with trivia about Jefferson's life at Monticello. A series of spreads, with Kalman's familiar primitivist rendering and chromatic brilliance, details Jefferson's work as collector, architect, horticulturalist, and musician. The vibrant imagery, frank content, and disarming language combine in a nuanced portrait that respects its subject and its audience.

Reviewer: Thom Barthelmess | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2014

(2) K-3 A girl passes a Lincoln look-alike and wonders about our sixteenth president. Through a natural structure that follows the narrator's thought processes, the narrative lists some basic facts; childlike musings, printed in a more casual font, personalize the account. A gloomy funeral scene is depicted in grays and blacks, a sobering note among the profusion of bright, colorful gouache illustrations. Bib.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2012

(3) K-3 Pete, the ravenous pooch from What Pete Ate from A-Z, invades his owner's school, and, following in the paws of Susan Meddaugh's Martha, eats something (an encyclopedia) that allows him to talk. Kalman's quirky portraits of the teachers, who lose possessions to Pete's bottomless stomach, highlight this vibrant story, told in Kalman's familiar stream-of-consciousness style.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann

(1) K-3 The retired John J. Harvey fireboat (launched in 1931) might have spent her golden years tooting down the river, "but then on September 11, 2001, something so huge and horrible happened that the whole world shook." And the John J. Harvey found herself of service again. Kalman's use of events is honest and honorable in this inventively illustrated picture book.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2002

(2) K-3 The unruly Kalman borrows the alphabet to structure--loosely--a catalog of outrageous items eaten by unruly dog Pete. Working his way through Cousin Rocky's accordion, narrator Poppy's doll, and even an occasional food item, Pete snacks in alphabetical order. While the letters are not used with enough consistency or visibility to help beginning sounding-outers, Kalman's young fans will happily consume the alliterative mischief.

Reviewer: Lauren Adams | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2002

(2) 1-3 Capturing all the hustle, bustle, and throbbing life of Grand Central Station, Kalman maintains an appropriately frenetic pace, parading the nonstop activity across the pages in a conglomeration of colorful vignettes. Kalman's odd-ball humor is in full evidence here, but the simple silliness of many situations may give the book appeal to a younger-than-usual audience.

Reviewer: Lauren Adams | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 1999