(2) PS Illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. Alice and Jack are playing in the backyard when they hear an eerie chant from the forest. Jack worries it might be the Wicked Wolf; Alice wants to investigate. While there's suspenseful visual progression from light to gloom in the pencil and watercolor illustrations, this don't-be-afraid bedtime story never gets too scary; the eventual appearance of the wolf--and her pups!--is sweet indeed.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2017

(4) PS Illustrated by Ben Mantle. Little Train reluctantly goes out by himself (except for a hidden mouse companion) and chugs past diverse landscapes and fauna before feeling lonely and returning home. The popular subject matter and onomatopoeia add appeal, but the familiar home-away-home arc falters; confusing matters, Little Train travels left to right throughout the pictures until he arrives at home facing the opposite direction. The digitally manipulated pastel illustrations evoke Thomas the Tank Engine.

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(4) PS Illustrated by Rebecca Harry. Ignoring his friends' warnings to build a den, Fox plays throughout the fall. As he wishes regretfully on a star, a mysterious present falls from the sky (where Santa's sleigh is just visible); Fox shares the package's contents with friends, who kindly help him make a winter home. Despite the too-convenient resolution, Fox has an appealing joie de vivre in the foil-accented acrylic illustrations.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(3) PS Illustrated by Simona Ciraolo. In this clever cumulative story reminiscent of "The Gingerbread Man," swift mouse Jake outruns the clutches of Old Tom Cat, plus a fox, wolf, and bear. "'Can't catch me!' sings Jake. 'I'm the fastest mouse in the world!'" That is, until the boastful rodent is finally outwitted (and gobbled up) by Old Tom Cat. Energetic pencil and watercolor illustrations capture the animals' spry movements.

Reviewer: Sheila M. Geraty

(4) PS Illustrated by Joe Berger. A boy sings his dad's praises ("He can pick up our dog, Jumbo, / so he must be Super Strong") in rhymes that usually (but don't always) scan. The cutesy running joke, courtesy of the mishap-spiked art, is that the boy is so awestruck by his father that he doesn't see Dad's clumsiness, messiness, and other acts of not-quite heroism.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Laura Hughes. Emma's wallpaper is decorated with jungle animals. One night they make so much noise she can't sleep; she climbs in and tries baths and cocoa before finally subduing them with a bedtime story. The illustrations are bright and cheery, but the plot is nothing special, and the border of reality and fantasy remains hazy since she wakes with the tiger in her bed.

Reviewer: Miriam Lang Budin

(3) PS Illustrated by Nikki Dyson. Every time patient Mommy announces dinner, bath, even playtime, (human toddler) Mo counters defiantly that dinosaurs don't have to follow rules. Illustrations alternate humorously between Mo and Mommy's playful and messy home world and an unruly, explosive dinosaur world, while a text full of both parent-and-child banter and dinosaur onomatopoeia makes for a rousing read-aloud.

Reviewer: Miriam Steinberg-Egeth

(4) 4-6 Tales from Shakespeare series. Illustrated by Yaniv Shimony. Abridged prose retellings make the plots clear, but little remains of Shakespeare's original language. Complex characterizations and emotions are reduced to simple terms and the ambiguity that makes Shakespeare endlessly interpretable is eliminated. Brief quotations from the original works appear in sidebars. Two-tone line drawings help give young readers a sense of the action and are especially successful conveying the comedy of Twelfth Night. Review covers these Tales from Shakespeare titles: Julius Caesar and Twelfth Night.

Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac

(4) 4-6 Tales from Shakespeare series. Illustrated by Yaniv Shimony. Abridged prose retellings make the plots clear, but little remains of Shakespeare's original language. Complex characterizations and emotions are reduced to simple terms and the ambiguity that makes Shakespeare endlessly interpretable is eliminated. Brief quotations from the original works appear in sidebars. Two-tone line drawings help give young readers a sense of the action and are especially successful conveying the comedy of Twelfth Night. Review covers these Tales from Shakespeare titles: Julius Caesar and Twelfth Night.

Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac

(4) 4-6 Tales from Shakespeare series. Illustrated by Yaniv Shimony. These deeply abridged prose retellings provide very basic understanding of each play's plot and introduce the major characters. Brief quotations from the original works appear in sidebars, and Shimony's lively line drawings give a sense of the appropriate historical settings that might otherwise be lost. The simplicity of these versions necessarily abandons most of the intrigue and richness of Shakespeare. Review covers the following Tales from Skakespeare titles: Hamlet and Henry V.

Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac

(4) 4-6 Tales from Shakespeare series. Illustrated by Yaniv Shimony. These deeply abridged prose retellings provide very basic understanding of each play's plot and introduce the major characters. Brief quotations from the original works appear in sidebars, and Shimony's lively line drawings give a sense of the appropriate historical settings that might otherwise be lost. The simplicity of these versions necessarily abandons most of the intrigue and richness of Shakespeare. Review covers the following Tales from Skakespeare titles: Hamlet and Henry V.

Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Loretta Schauer. Bored and uninspired by his parents' suggestions to read a book, build a rocket, or look for dragons, Ben builds a cushion fort and a monster promptly moves in. The two have fun reading books, building rockets, and looking for dragons. Brightly colored illustrations with varied textures offer gratifying evidence that a friend--even an imaginary one--is the best boredom-buster.

Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden

(3) PS Illustrated by Patrick Benson. Lovely watercolors in a muted palette of greens, browns, and grays illustrate this quiet story. An elephant and her small son go for a walk and see other animals before climbing to the top of a mountain. After each encounter the baby asks, "'When can we go home again?'...'Soon,' said his mother." Once home, Raju wants to do it again.

Reviewer: Grace Worcester Greene

(3) PS Illustrated by Jamie Littler. A playful puppy racks his brain for a word that can sum up his intense feelings of comfort, delight, excitement, love, etc. If you didn't already guess from the title, it's mom. Colorful, energetic vignettes of the lovable, tail-wagging pup hold the rhyming think-aloud together. (Note: the punny title and happy resolution both lose their punch if you don't pronounce "mom" like a Brit.)

Reviewer: Sethany Rancier Alongi

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Adam Stower. Mungo discovers the last page is missing from his secondhand picture book; how will he learn what happens to Captain Galacticus and Gizmo? Mungo himself provides the ending when, suddenly, he is pulled into the book and saves the universe. The brightly colored comic-book format, busy with rocket ships, space creatures, and humorous details, weaves Mungo's story into this metafictional adventure.

Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Gwen Millward. This version of a child-finds-a-stray story is narrated by a dragon who comes across a boy ("It's called a Benjamin"). After taking him to his lair, the dragon realizes Benjamin is homesick and helps this strange creature get back to his parents. Watercolor and pencil illustrations are packed with details silly (a volcano named Smoky) and poignant (Benjamin's tiny single tear).

Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden