(3) K-3 Illustrated by Elissambura. In this joyously colorful, culturally specific cumulative book featuring Ugandan Jews, Auntie Sanyu prepares for Sukkot: "It was time to build the sukkah. It took her three long days. / She hung plantains and paper chains and asked her friends to stay." Lion, Parrot, Camel, and others celebrate appropriately, but Warthog hogs the etrog--until Auntie's niece, Sara, arrives. A paragraph about Jews in Uganda is appended. Glos.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(2) K-3 Step into Reading series. Illustrated by Elizabeth Sayles. Nature, as represented by a chestnut tree outside the Secret Annex, serves as a continuing image for this easy reader. The tree's presence throughout Anne's life in hiding not only gives her a sense of peace but also provides readers a respite from her ordeal. Illustrations are somber except those depicting Anne's pre-war life or Annex visits from helpers bringing food and books. Reading list. Website.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2014

(3) PS Illustrated by Jane Porter. A flock of cheery duck friends gather their favorite socks--be they striped, spotted, or "ruffled, lacy, jeweled deluxe"--for their weekly Duck Sock Hop. The jaunty read-aloud rhymes bounce through the pages as the dance turns into a rambunctious mess; the attractive black-outlined ducks are filled in with multicolored feather-like patterns that make them pop off the pages.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(3) K-3 Step into Reading series. Illustrated by Viviana Garofoli. Three energetic young ducks vroom and zoom their way through the story, leaving chaos in their wake while visiting Auntie Goose. The spare rhyming text includes lots of kid-friendly noises--slurp, burp, munch, crunch--upping the read-along factor. Yellow-bright, round-edged illustrations boisterously convey the ducks' busy day.

Reviewer: Susan Halperin

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger. Antisocial Estie, overwhelmed by people, would rather imitate animals. As a result, everyone tells her to "be a mensch" ("that means be a person, Es"). During a trip to the zoo, Estie makes a friend by acting like a mensch (in this sense, a kind and selfless person). Colorful round-edged illustrations showing the feisty green-eyed redhead reflect Estie's personal growth.

Reviewer: Amy Kellman