(4) K-3 I Wonder Why series. These books present information about the traits of a variety of pets including fish, cats, dogs, hamsters, and farm animals, all shown in realistic pastel-hued illustrations. Lift-the-flap half pages reveal pet questions and answers, many of which are vague and/or random. Each volume provides a very general overview for animal lovers. Ind. Review covers these I Wonder Why titles: Farm Animals and Pets.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(4) YA A series of tragedies help Ellen Spangle discover whether she truly prefers a future as a governess or one as a dazzling bareback rider in the family circus. The nineteenth-century London setting sometimes feels sketched rather than fully painted. The slowly developing romance between Ellen and a member of a rival circus undergirds the otherwise fast-paced and dramatic plot.

Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Mike Bostock. A lone dinosaur lays her eggs, protects them and herself against predators, and searches for her next meal. The narration is unflinchingly realistic, and the illustrations are an excellent match for the realism in the text. The appealing warm-toned images invite readers into the Ankylosaurus's world but never stray into sentimentality.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2005

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Mike Bostock. "As the triceratops turns to run, tyrannosaurus races toward him. His teeth bite and slice. His jaws shut like a trap." The tyrannosaurus prowls, attacks, sleeps, fends off another tyrannosaurus, and attacks an edmontosaurus. Despite a few confusing pronouns, the straightforward text conveys a day in the life of this prehistoric carnivore. The detailed illustrations manage to be both realistic and nonsensationalistic.

Reviewer:

(2) YA Wendy Darling, nine, lives in material comfort in Kensington, but her father is a drunk and philanderer, her mother a sad shell, her nanny a sadist. There's both drama and melodrama in the novel, but Wallace's intent focus on her heroine keeps the story from overheating. Readers who have felt the sadness beneath the magic in Barrie's original book may be those most ready for Wallace's.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2004

(2) YA Nancy and Andrew are best friends, siblings who count on each other for companionship and support in their agreeably idiosyncratic family. In contrast, Sandra Wilkins's prissy mother is obsessed with perfection, and Amy and Clare enjoy a creatively untidy life with their single mother. Set near Ottawa in the 1950s, Wallace's novel is a thought-provoking look at family dynamics in any era, as well as a fast, funny, and enjoyable read.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2002

(4) K-3 Dorling Kindersley Readers series. As a young dolphin grows, he leaves his mother and goes off with older dolphins to feed. Sometimes his life is quiet and fish are plentiful, but at other times the fish seem to be hiding and killer whales lurk in the waters. The story, which conveys little sense of drama, is accompanied by photographs. The text's short, choppy sentences are easy to read and provide simple facts about dolphins. A picture glossary is appended.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(3) K-3 Dorling Kindersley Readers series. "The space shuttle uses rocket engines to blast off. When the rocket engines fall away, the shuttle plane flies into space." This beginning reader features a brief text and glossy color photographs of space vehicles, equipment, and planet surfaces. No great substance here, but there's just enough information to send a child searching for more.

Reviewer: Barbara Barstow

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Lydia Monks. Dolores, a pig, has an important job and a penthouse apartment, but life feels empty. Upon driving to the country, she encounters other pigs for the first time. She quits her job (via cell phone) and never returns to the city. The perhaps-unintentional message--individuals should stick with their own--is unfortunate, but the busy illustrations, which enlist fabric scraps and printed text, are entertaining.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Jon Berkeley. Born in a too-small house to plant-loving parents, Scarlette Beane grows some hugely magical vegetables and, finally, an enormous vegetable castle for her cramped family. The optimistic text matches the glowing paintings of vegetables and rich earth, and the rough acrylic illustrations on textured paper give enough small details of the Beane family homestead to reward close observation.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(4) K-3 Eyewitness Readers series. A crane knocks down the wall of a factory, a bulldozer "pushes the rubble into a pile," and a digger empties the rubble into a dump truck. Next, an excavator, a concrete mixer, and a forklift are among the trucks that help with the building of a new park. In all, twelve big machines are featured in this easy-to-read text (with a picture word-list reinforcing certain words, e.g., rubble, blade). The crisp photos throughout make the color drawing of the completed park a letdown.

Reviewer: Amanda Sullivan

(4) K-3 Eyewitness Readers series. This book introduces basic facts about some mammal babies, including monkeys, zebras, elephants, sloths, and wolves. The large, easy-to-read text is accompanied by crisp color photos set against lots of white space. A picture word-list reinforces the names of eight animal body parts (e.g., hooves, lips, tail) but would have been more effective if it focused on unfamiliar words in the text.

Reviewer: Amanda Sullivan

(4) K-3 Dorling Kindersley Readers series. Searching for a place to hibernate, a dormouse encounters a variety of animals preparing for winter, including a squirrel, a wasp, a bat colony, and a deer. After an owl and a snake threaten her, she increases her efforts to find a safe home. The integration of nonfiction and narrative formats, despite the staged color photos, makes the book informative and mildly suspenseful. A picture word list at the end will help readers with new vocabulary.

Reviewer: Jim St. Claire

(4) K-3 Dorling Kindersley Readers series. Wallace explains the life cycle of the butterfly by focusing first on a female laying eggs. One egg hatches, and the caterpillar matures and eventually becomes a butterfly with eggs of her own to lay. The cropped, close-up color photographs are sometimes unclear, but repetition and picture word boxes will help beginning readers through some of the longer words and sentences.

Reviewer: Emma Loy-Santelli

(4) K-3 Eyewitness Readers series. Standing by a window, William observes the weather change with the seasons--in turn becoming snowy, sunny, cloudy, and rainy. In the end William goes outside to splash around in new boots. The story is far from compelling, and the artwork, which combines photos of William looking out the window at an illustrated yard, is inventive but doesn't offer much variety. Simple sentences and repetition build beginning readers' confidence.

Reviewer: Emma Loy-Santelli

(4) K-3 Eyewitness Readers series. Telling the story of Busy Bee's daily activities, Wallace imparts basic facts about the life cycle, diet, and behavior of honeybees. Though the tone is cutesy, the information is solid. Simple sentences and judicious use of repetition will help beginning readers gain confidence. Close-up, cropped color photographs illustrate points from the text, and a picture word list reinforces key terms.

Reviewer: Emma Loy-Santelli

(4) PS Eyewitness Readers series. Wallace's simple, engaging text introduces a mother duck who builds a nest, lays her eggs, hatches six ducklings, and takes them out for a swim. The book's color photos against white backgrounds are crisp and appealing, though the phony, set-like "river" in which the ducks take their first plunge is off-putting.

Reviewer: Jackie C. Horne

(4) K-3 Eyewitness Readers series. This well-paced narrative covers the life cycle of frogs from egg to adult. The text also introduces beginning readers to other residents of the pond habitat such as the stickleback fish and dragonfly. Though the color photographs provide excellent details, the photo editing and choice of layout impart an artificial feeling.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Mike Bostock. In text as well as art, this sea creature comes alive: a lyric narrative traces the mother's hunt for a safe haven to lay her eggs, as predators such as the Wolf eel impede her journey. As in their award-winning Think of an Eel, Wallace and Bostock create ocean magic in their presentation of tantalizing information with simple elegance and beauty.

Reviewer: Susan P. Bloom | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 1998