(4) K-3 Illustrated by Sébastien Braun. Excited Little Pip, thinking it's his birthday, wakes up Daddy Grizzle three consecutive mornings, only to be reminded each time of how many more sleeps he must wait. Illustrations show that while the small bear plays and sleeps, his father prepares a party and birthday surprises. The detail-filled illustrations outshine the predictable plot (which ends with a nod to How Many Sleeps 'til Christmas?).

Reviewer: Kari Allen

(3) PS Illustrated by Layn Marlow. Out to sea in a boat, a mother vows to keep her boy safe, the captain vows to keep them both safe, and a star vows to guide them. Back home, the boy pledges to catch the star if it falls. The childlike question-and-response text paired with night-hued illustrations of a storm-tossed sea and a cozy coastal town make this cycle of care a comforting lullaby.

Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden

(4) PS Illustrated by Mandy Sutcliffe. A girl sings a lullaby for her pet bunny, Boo. A typical verse: "All the big ships have dropped anchor--sploosh! / Little sailors are resting their heads. / Pirates are snoozing in hammocks. / Captain Boo, now it's time for bed!" The treacly rhymes hit some snags, but fans of old-fashioned nursery-rhyme art will appreciate Sutcliffe's cozy, dimly lit scenes.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) PS Illustrated by Alison Brown. A mouse parent and child go through their day discussing how their love will last "from sunrise to sunset" and "a much longer time." Simple, sometimes uneven rhymes extol the pair's affection, which is reflected in the warm illustrations. The inviting nature scenes, filled with animal friends, conclude with the moon rising as the little family settles down to sleep.

Reviewer: Miriam Steinberg-Egeth

(4) PS Illustrated by Britta Teckentrup. A big mouse and a little mouse journey through the world, "with your hand in my hand." Together they delight in their shared experiences, explore the natural world in different seasons, and meet other animals. The simple rhyming text is sweetly lulling, if repetitive. Full-bleed illustrations reflect the text's wonder in a muted palette with an expansive vibe.

Reviewer: Miriam Steinberg-Egeth

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Sébastien Braun. "WAKE UP! I think it's Christmas Day!" a bear cub tells his dad each of several mornings before Christmas. This non-preachy lesson in delayed gratification has father and son filling time by choosing their Christmas tree one day, making Christmas cards the next, and so on. Like the text, the illustrations are aggressively targeting "cute" and "cozy"--and hit their mark.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Sarah Warburton. Max the Magnificent delays bedtime by turning each piece of his nighttime routine into a magic trick or circus-like spectacle. The exaggerated, amped-up language; busy, brightly colored illustrations; and the many sizes and styles of font give the book a frenetic pace. There's plenty of cleverness that will appeal to kids and adults, but it's hard to read as a linear story.

Reviewer: Miriam Steinberg-Egeth

(3) PS Illustrated by Alys Paterson. Featuring everything from zoo animals to cars and trucks, this exploration of familiar shapes is well suited to very young children learning to recognize everyday objects. Sperring's simple rhyming text will appeal to parents as a quick read-aloud, though the words are almost incidental to the world created by Paterson's intensely colored mixed-media graphics, where kids will want to spend more time.

Reviewer: Hannah Rodgers Barnaby

(4) PS Illustrated by Sam Lloyd. A dinosaur mom reminds her older child about her pledge to be a helpmate to her new sibling. The blah rhymes ("Don't snatch things away. / And always try to share. / Because when we play together... / it's much more fun and fair") undercut the premise's potential. The art features invitingly pudgy dino family members cavorting at home.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Miriam Latimer. A "knight" (a kid with a colander on his head) wants to fight dragons using a sword; his mom won't let him. Her sunflower alternative is met with skepticism until the boy's imagination takes over. Sperring may have a pacifist agenda, but the preachiness is refreshingly minimal. Latimer gives the child's fantasy life a cartoonishly loose medieval treatment.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) PS Illustrated by Liz Pope & Kate Pope. As Meriam reluctantly does her bedtime chores, she tells her mother about her day, describing how she "lay in the sand" and dived in the ocean: "Deep as deep as deep." Showing only the upper half of her body, the cheery, detailed art depicts Meriam frolicking in the sea, until--amusingly--the last illustrations reveal that she's a mermaid.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Kate Pope & Liz Pope. Witch Wanda is sure she's been accidentally assigned to the wrong school--all of her classmates are winged fairies--but her teacher is blind to surface differences, so Wanda spends the day happily doing things her own unique way. The be-yourself message gets not only a peppy new treatment but also fresh packaging in the form of zippy pastel-colored spreads.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Alexandra Steele-Morgan. When Marty's mom tells him there are no more dinosaurs, he decides they are just good at hiding. But though he looks and looks, he can find only dodos, unicorns, aliens, even a dragon (shown in a gate-fold double-page spread). Still, Marty is sure he'll find a dinosaur one day, and the lush and whimsical illustrations, on heavily textured backgrounds, hint that he may be right.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano