(4) K-3 Illustrated by Pippa Curnick. On each spread, animals with seemingly diverse appearances are grouped together under a shared anatomical characteristic, such as tusks, whiskers, stripes, and fins. The animals are portrayed with cartoonlike, anthropomorphized faces and bodies, and although some of the common features are similar in structure and purpose, others are less similar in function. Simple explanations for the role of each characteristic are appended.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(3) K-3 Illustrated by David Huyck. After observing courteous human families from their cage near the zoo playground, three monkey children adopt good manners--to the dismay of their mother, who wants them "to behave like monkeys." When some rude, uncivilized children arrive, the zookeeper decides to release the well-mannered monkeys and cage the unruly children instead. Loose cartoon-style illustrations reflect the absurdity of the amusing tale.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Pierre Pratt. Charged with catching the thief who has been stealing all the farmer's "carrots, berries, beans and cherries," Max the dog suspects a tiny blue bug and overlooks the obvious culprits: a rabbit, a pig, a goat, and some crows. The text is overlong and somewhat belabored, but the story plays out nicely in impressionistic gouache illustrations on saturated double-page spreads.

Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Margaret Spengler. The farm animals assume the "awful smell" in the barn must be coming from a little piglet. Then Cat arrives and digs out the liver, onion, and tuna fish sandwich she hid in the barn a few days before. This flourish will score high on kids' gross-out meters, and that the piglet happily eats the sandwich should completely do them in. The illustrations emphasize the animals' noses to comic effect.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2004

(3) PS Illustrated by Margaret Spengler. A storm is on the way, so all of the animals are herded into the barn. They huddle in fear of this mysterious creature named "Storm" who is presumably coming to get them. Children will giggle over the animals' confusion and enjoy the well-paced buildup of suspense. Inviting pastel illustrations feature round, cartoonlike animals and dramatic use of perspective.

Reviewer: CHristine Sarrazin