(3) K-3 Illustrated by Adam McCauley. Granny sends Robert off on a wacky, anagram-packed quest to find his aunt. (He ends up retrieving a tuna.) The colorful, bold design of the retro-style cartoons intensifies the story's weird-dream vibe; various typefaces and clever scenery signage keep the wordplay front and center. Kids will love finding and authenticating the numerous anagrams on each page.

Reviewer: Sethany Rancier Alongi

(3) YA After bully Tod Munn gets busted breaking into and vandalizing the school, his guidance counselor forces him to fill pages in a notebook during daily detention. The more he writes, the more he reveals--and figures out--about his friends, his actions, and himself. Tod's witty narration, prompted by the guidance counselor's occasional notes, skillfully develops both his character and the story.

Reviewer: Randy Ribay

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Vincent Nguyen. After their car breaks down, a father and son are towed to the primate-populated Gorilla Garage. In singsongy rhyme, the text describes the humans' surprise at being the only people among a group of apes waiting for their autos. Digitally colored pen-and-ink illustrations work hard to elevate the story above its one-note joke.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Vincent Nguyen. Control-freak Hilary can't understand why no one wants to come to her tea parties. Finally, a giant chameleon and her own Stuffy Bear set Hilary straight. This weird, winking tale includes deft details, but the gloomy olive-and-pink art with skewed perspectives may not speak to readers who are uninterested in sour-faced protagonists in quasi-creepy settings.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Vincent Nguyen. Learning that Stella will be the school play's "star," her parents treat her like a diva--only to discover she is playing the part of an actual celestial body and has just one line. Their contrition for their mania goes right over Stella's head--as it may over the young audience's heads. Still, the message is right-on, and Nguyen's images of sweet, guileless Stella are affecting.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Phillip Fickling. Fillmore and his robot best friend Geary live on a dogless planet, so they build a robotic canine, then travel to several planets in order to socialize him. The text is blandly written, but there is humor in the busy digitally rendered art and in the interplanetary adventures (on one planet the dogs act like cats). A kit for building a cardboard rocket is included.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta