(1) K-3 Illustrated by Sydney Smith. A boy describes an ordinary day in a seaside coal mining town in the 1950s. The focus shifts among three locations: home, the ocean, and the mine where the boy's father works. The narrative is infused with a quality of slightly anxious waiting that illustrator Smith captures beautifully. It's a moving story, and a fine example of text and pictures in perfect harmony.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2017

(4) 1-3 Illustrated by Isabelle Malenfant. Pinny is having a perfect summer day: she finds a striped wishing stone, watches clouds, picks blueberries with two friends, and bakes a cake; her serenity is never upended, despite a brief rainstorm and a cake-snatching seagull. Though the four chapters are brief, they're not readily decodable for newly independent readers. Lavender-hued pastel and pencil illustrations mirror the text's sweet tone.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) K-3 Photographs by Matt Beam. The team behind City Alphabet takes another look around town, this time at numbers zero through twenty, including degrees therein (e.g., neon tubing behind a loan-office window brings us "2.5%"). Beam's color photos are evidence of a keen eye and a mind sufficiently open to spot beauty in the least likely places; this book encourages readers to do the same.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Laura Beingessner. Anna Maria enjoys working on Saturdays at her Nonna Rosa and Nonno Domenico's small corner grocery store. She helps display and price the produce, stocks the shelves, then shares treats from the shop with friends. Delicate, detailed illustrations show the store's layout and the grandparents' homey upstairs apartment.

Reviewer: Sheila M. Geraty

(4) K-3 Photographs by Matt Beam. In this unconventional urban alphabet book, color photographs of random words found in various places around the city of Toronto represent the letters. The words themselves are not linked by any particular theme: Art, Brute, Cameras, Drop, Evoke, etc. It's a creative and well-executed idea, but some words will be obscure to children.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo