(3) K-3 Illustrated by Joan Rankin. From the "Strawberry Queen" of spring through the "Cocoa Cabana" of winter, this poetry collection provides a fresh perspective on the tastes of each season. Envision a healthy "Gingerbread House Makeover" with a "grove of broccoli trees, / the teeny-weeny doorknobs made / of bright green peas." Whimsical watercolor washes extend the silliness--ant families boating in "Watermelon Lake," for instance--of the capable rhymes.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(2) PS Illustrated by Robin Luebs. First a loud cooooo wakes pig Lulu up, then she's disturbed by a whooooo; the last straw is a 3 a.m. mooooo. Lulu storms outside and tells trouble-making Owl and Pigeon to shoo. Ruddell's repetitive, mostly rhyming text lulls listeners until the next outburst; softly colored illustrations exude calm and show that although emotions are high, no one's really out of control.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2010

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Joan Rankin. This collection blends the natural world's beauty with imaginative silliness; for every lovely whistling robin, there's an insulted turkey. Ruddell makes the musings of daydreaming opossums and self-admiring raccoons pleasant to the ear with capable rhyme and meter. Rankin's light-filled, forest-hued watercolor illustrations evoke the experience of a carefree stroll through the woods.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Joan Rankin. This book presents twenty-two rhymes about birds, some apt portraits and some apt nonsense. Ruddell's rhymes are neat, her scansion impeccable. Rankin's airy, light-filled watercolors pull it all together; with equal aplomb, she depicts an ordinary kingfisher, an anthropomorphic puffin, and a surreal clothesline laden with objects as red as a cardinal--"a ruby, a wagon, / a flame from a dragon."

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2007