(2) K-3 Illustrated by Stephanie Graegin. A girl describes the progression of her grandmother's dementia. Unflinchingly direct text captures Julia's love for her grandmother and her devastation when her grandmother doesn't recognize her. Warmly shaded illustrations contain a forget-me-not motif, tying in Julia's hopes for bringing joy into her grandmother's life despite her losses. A powerful, clear-eyed meditation on one girl's loving but painful relationship with a beloved aging relative.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2014

(4) K-3 Illustrated by George Booth. "I was scritcha-scratchin' / while a batch-a bugs / was hatchin'..." A girl describes home remedies to rid her of head lice, as suggested by various family members. Finally, she's (unrealistically) cured with a single delousing-shampoo treatment. Frenetic digitally colored ballpoint illustrations show the girl's panic and discomfort. The running top-of-page visual status report on the bugs is amusing.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Amy Rusch & Amy Rusch. Moose's second book relies on small variations on small situations, a useful structure in a transitional reader. As his animal friends scurry through their preparations for winter, Moose doesn't really have anything to do but wait. His placid acceptance of his situation makes his antlers a perfect place for resting birds; come spring, they're perfect for nesting birds. The engagingly varied illustrations give each turn of the page a fresh start.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2003

(4) PS Illustrated by Bernadette Pons. In this sequel to Tickle Tum, a patient mother rabbit uses inventive language ("Scrubba dub dubba / squigga giggle squish") to talk her active young bunny through a bath. A few of the rhymes cloy ("Washy nosie / washy tosies / washy anything / that growsies"), but most are fresh and snappy. Pons's buoyant images capture the affection underneath all of the bubbles.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) PS Illustrated by Bernadette Pons. "Up up high / touch the sky. / Way down there / munch-time chair. / Whirl aroundsy / sit sit downsy." A mother rabbit feeds her baby supper and puts him down for a nap. An author's note states that this bouncy (sometimes tongue-tripping) rhyme is intended to help make mealtime fun for both caregivers and toddlers. The cozy, cheerful illustrations convey the warm and loving relationship between mother and child.

Reviewer: Jim St. Claire

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Victoria Chess. This trio of tales is attuned to the silly sense of humor that allows kids to delight in the "something's gonna get you" sequence that begins with an approaching imaginary monster and ends with a tickle or a great big "boo!" Victoria Chess's squat figures, all teeth and beady eyes and unkempt hair, complement the zany, but a teeny-tiny bit scary, nature of these tales.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2001

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Sheila White Samton. Each time a boy thinks he's found the perfect tree for climbing, he finds it already occupied--first by one owl then by two possums and so on up to five spiders. The simple rhyming text is fun to read aloud, and although it's highly repetitive, its spirited rhythm keeps it from becoming boring. Bright collages show the variety of woodland creatures in the trees.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(3) PS Illustrated by Susan Gaber. "Where oh where do the leaves all go / when winter comes and the cold winds blow?" A rhythmic text is accompanied by atmospheric paintings of a family's walk during the first snowfall of the season. The lyrical rhymes, representing a young child's questions about what happens to the plants and animals in the cold, are both memorable and informative.

Reviewer: Susan Halperin

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Amy Rusch. In three episodic stories, Moose invites pals Beaver, Squirrel, Rabbit, and Mouse to join him for a walk but gets tired out in the process; accidentally knocks a wobbly tree onto Beaver's tail, then comes up with a way to unstick him; and builds a snow creature with his friends. Van Laan's sweet tales are easygoing and repetitive--helpful for not-yet-confident readers--and Rusch's illustrations are a bit clunky with naïve charm.

Reviewer: Mark Adam

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Yumi Heo. This Brazilian Indian pourquoi tale explains why tiny "blackmouth" monkeys spend their nights in thorny trees: they intend to build shelter but end up playing instead. The swinging rhyme leads the reader from phrase to phrase with a noisy monkey jabber refrain, which lends itself well to reading aloud. The pencil, oil, and torn paper illustrations recall simple folk art.

Reviewer: Suzy Schmidt

(2) 4-6 Van Laan's selections range from traditional tales (such as the Uncle Remus stories) to superstitions, rhymes, and riddles. The retellings are organized according to geographic region, and each section begins with an introduction to the history and culture of each region's storytelling tradition. Cook's caricature-like illustrations draw out the fun-loving humor with an affectionate wink-and-a-nod style. Source notes included.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.

(3) PS As Little Fish searches for his mother in the African pond where they live, he sees okapis and hippos, crawfish and jocanas, but not his mother. At last he finds her swimming at the very bottom of the pond. The story is told with a jaunty, chantlike rhythm, and the bright collages show his mother looking for him on each page.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.

(3) K-3 With the help of the Carob Tree, little Topec figures out how to scare away the Great Bird of the Underworld, who has brought drought to the Pampas. Vidal's folk-art-style paintings reflect the story's moods, crescendoing in a double-page spread in which armadillos, foxes, people, llamas, and rheas dance for joy in the rain. A list of sources is provided. Glos.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.