(4) K-3 Illustrated by Kathleen Rietz. Twelve desert animals' bathing habits are described, including a roadrunner's dust bath, a scaled quail's ant bath, and a javelina's mud bath. The murky but realistic double-page illustrations show each animal’s technique and setting, from a vulture at dawn to a nocturnal coyote's activities. A fact page and five pages of activities (some good, some lacking) are appended.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Joe Cepeda. In this sequel to The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman, Oliver disappears on another cross-country journey. Uncle Ray makes a second life-size wooden doll and sends her off in pursuit. The premise that one wooden figure is pursuing another makes for a confusing tale, but Cepeda's oil paintings, with their varied, energetic folk, help make this a trip worth taking.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Joe Cepeda. In California, Tameka writes her uncle in North Carolina to come for a visit; Uncle Ray, tied up with carpentry jobs, responds by sending off "my friend Oliver"--a human-sized wooden figure he equips with a note asking for a lift and a progress report. It's Pattison's straight-faced treatment of Oliver's transcontinental journey in one after another letter that creates the drama that Cepeda expertly stages.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2003

(3) 4-6 After making a mistake that costs his little sister her life, eleven-year-old Win doubts his abilities as a member of the Wayfinders' Guild. When Prince Reynard chooses Win to find the Well of Life, the young apprentice must face his fears and draw on all of his strength. Pattison has created a believable world populated with credible characters, including Lady Kala, a dog who communicates by telepathy and joins Win on his journey.

Reviewer: Anne St. John