(4) K-3 A little girl ponders what makes "the perfect dog": "The perfect dog should be big... / bigger... / biggest!" But "maybe not this big," she says, from beneath a Great Dane. This slight pattern of superlatives continues (interspersed with some traits the perfect dog should not have), but, ultimately, a just-right pooch finds her. The understated text contrasts humorously with cartoony, personality-filled illustrations.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(4) K-3 O'Malley (Backpack Stories) provides six brief tales that ensure readers will never look at their school desks the same way again. In "It Came from Within," a test-taker is flustered by something in her desk. "Desktec" introduces the desk of the future. The stories, presented as comics, contain silliness and fright (sometimes both) but can be difficult to follow.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 In this "Tortoise and the Hare" retelling, nothing gets on Nate Tortoise's nerves more than the gloating of celebrity racer Lever Lapin. Nate, fed up, inadvertently challenges Lever to a race; the rest is history. Contemporary details including personal assistants, paparazzi, and overzealous fans add some humor (for adults more than kids). Watercolor and ink illustrations display Nate's frustration and Lever's braggadocio.

Reviewer: Andrea Curtis

(2) K-3 Following her dream to be a "comedi-hen," Hen meets Dog, Cat, and Cow along the way. In this cornpone parody of "The Bremen Town Musicians," the quartet scares thieves away from an old farmhouse and opens a comedy club. Pun follows pun, and jokes appear within the story, in conversational balloons, and on the endpapers. Visual humor complements the verbal slapstick.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2010

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Kevin O'Malley. Miss Malarkey has been acting weirdly, and rumors fly that she wants to quit teaching. The students soon discover that she's merely getting married, and they're all invited to the ceremony. The lucky groom? Mr. Fulla. Yes, the story's contrived, and the authors can't resist a "Fulla-Malarkey" joke, but the groan-inducing humor and cartoony caricatures will please fans of the series.

Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden

(4) K-3 Told in comic book format, this collection of tales about student backpacks includes a faux TV history presentation, use of a backpack as a science experiment, a superhero adventure, and a hungry backpack with an endless appetite. There is humor to be found, but the stories might have benefited from a more cohesive presentation.

Reviewer: David Elzey

(2) K-3 Chicken dreams of a barn with all the corn any chicken could want. His friend George thinks Chicken is yolking, but decides to go along to look. This corny story will tickle many a funny bone, eggsactly its intention. Elegantly bucolic and ironically decorous pen and watercolor illustrations add to the lunacy; conversation balloons show the characters cracking jokes at will.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2008

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Patrick O'Brien. The dino-citizens of planet Jurassica are under attack by dino-pirates, and only Captain Raptor's crew can save them. The comic-panel illustrations show lots of action, as Raptor races through space, dog-fighting starships and battling a dino-robot, though some of the pictures look stiff. The occasionally redundant dialogue calls to mind an old radio serial.

Reviewer: David Elzey

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Kevin O'Malley. This well-intentioned but didactic story features optimistic bibliophile Miss Malarkey, who is convinced she can find a book for every student, even the most reluctant one, to enjoy during the school readathon. The story focuses on the variety of genres available to readers, and cartoonlike illustrations with speech bubbles lend some extra liveliness. A reading guide is included.

Reviewer: Susan Halperin

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Patrick O'Brien. When a mysterious UFO lands on Jurassica's moon, Captain Raptor and his dinosaur crew investigate. Their spaceship crash-lands in the moon's ocean, is attacked by Octocolossus, then they meet earthling spacemen--one of whom Captain Raptor rescues from a giant Pteraspikadon. The vivid, dramatic comic book-style illustrations are more successful than the simple story, which lacks personality and suspense.

Reviewer: Mark Adam

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Kevin O'Malley. In her fifth book, Miss Malarkey takes her class on a science center field trip. They don't exactly have the scientific experience she'd hoped--instead they learn that there are "cool hair dryers in the bathroom" and "gift shops aren't cheap." Though a lot of the humor--especially in O'Malley's illustrations--is directed toward adults, children will enjoy the familiar characters and story line.

Reviewer: Susan Halperin

(3) K-3 Forced to "get outside and play" when he's about to master his video game, a boy tenaciously waits for the last leaf to fall from a tree, having heard that it is lucky to catch it. Appealing cartoons in rich autumnal colors witness the boy's triumphant appropriation of something from the great outdoors.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann

(3) K-3 After a fight with Big Buggy, ladybug Little Buggy runs away with the help of two ants. When night falls, Little Buggy changes his mind, and a lightning bug lights his way home. The story is told through the dialogue balloons of other characters, and although Little Buggy never says a word, his emotions are shown in the cartoon illustrations.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(3) K-3 Pushing on alone through a raging blizzard, barely able to stand, a boy struggles to reach the pole--the signpost for the school bus stop. There, his friends greet him with the joyful news that school has been canceled. This delightful tale's hyperbole is heightened by lively watercolor and pen illustrations of swirling snow and indistinct shapes.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(4) K-3 As the gods play the mortals in a game of basketball, two sportscasters discuss the event--and thereby narrate the book. The text and cartoony illustrations, complete with dialogue bubbles, are humorous (Hera turns the ref into a cow; Odysseus scores a basket using the "old Trojan-horse play"), but it's a one-joke premise that presumes that readers already have some knowledge of Greek mythology. Bib.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Kevin O'Malley. As in Testing Miss Malarkey, Finchler addresses a timely topic in schools--this time, pushy parents at athletic events. Teacher (and now coach) Miss Malarkey is as likable as ever, reminding the children that "winning isn't everything," despite the less-than-admirable behavior of all other adults involved. The message feels a bit heavy-handed paired with such lighthearted illustrations.

Reviewer: Amanda Sullivan

(3) K-3 When ladybug Little Buggy tries to fly, even his dad's advice, which is the book's main text ("Open your wings--watch out for that leaf!"), can't save him from falling, but he is undeterred and finally succeeds. The narration is further distinguished by two slugs' running commentary ("You gotta admit, Fred, the kid's pretty fast"). The pop-eyed cast is set against inviting backdrops of lush greenery and blooms.

Reviewer: CHristine Sarrazin

(4) K-3 Mr. Hatchery, guest reader in a grade school class, tells a bloodcurdling nursery rhyme about a disgruntled Humpty Dumpty ravaging the town. Old King Cole calls out the noble duke of York's reserves, and Mother Goose eventually saves the day. The pace is too fast and the nursery rhyme references sometimes feel shoehorned in, but O'Malley's signature expressive illustrating style shines.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(3) K-3 Bud's passion for dirt and gardening worries his loving but orderly parents, especially when fanatically tidy Grandfather Sweet-William comes to visit. But after a storm wreaks havoc in Bud's garden, Grandfather, thinking of the roses his wife used to grow, forgets about cleanliness and helps repair the damage. O'Malley's amusing illustrations endow this rhinoceros family with plenty of character.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(4) K-3 Tired of being treated like vermin at the toy factory where he secretly tests toys at night, a cockroach temporarily goes to work for the company's less reputable competitor. Although the story becomes tedious, the goofy and rather menacing illustrations are laden with Mad Magazine-style details (e.g., the competitor makes a toy called "Chok Full of Chokeables"), which may appeal to children old enough to get the jokes.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann