(2) K-3 Illustrated by Eugene Yelchin. Kitty Won Ton (Won Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku) is not happy about the new puppy. Yelchin's graphite and gouache illustrations depict with sensitivity and humor the sleek gray cat's initial fear and horror alongside the roly-poly brown puppy. Each haiku is complete in itself; together the poems create a whole tale of displacement and eventual mutual understanding.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2015

(3) PS Illustrated by Huy Voun Lee. "Shoulder seat / Thumping beat / July 4th drums down the street." This celebratory ode to Independence Day uses rhyming couplets and tercets to illustrate the traditional ways the holiday is commemorated. Cut-paper collages reflecting the many ethnicities and backgrounds of the American population depict parades, beach parties, picnics, and fireworks displays. A cheerfully festive introduction to the Fourth of July.

Reviewer: Rita Soltan

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Eugene Yelchin. In a series of haiku (technically "senryu"), a cat narrates the story of his adoption from a shelter and his new life. The animal's fear, pride, and gradual trust come across clearly in Wardlaw's poems. Yelchin's graphite and gouache pictures match the poems' sensitivity and humor, with the cat's wariness giving way over time to an enjoyment of his new environment.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2011

(4) 4-6 In this third 101 Ways to Bug... book, Steve "Sneeze" Wyatt and his friends face the eighth-grade struggles of first love. While Steve falls for Hayley, she falls for the new kid (and golfer) Cullen. A modern-day Cyrano de Bergerac twist only complicates matters. There's not much new here, but Wardlaw's take on those awkward first-love moments will appeal to the previous books' fans.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(4) 4-6 In this breezy sequel to 101 Ways to Bug Your Parents, seventh-grader (and genius inventor) Steve tries to solve several problems at once: how to cure his best friend's hiccups, how to avoid going to high school early, and how to cope with a teacher nicknamed "Fierce." Although the humor is sometimes strained, readers will still find much to laugh at.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee

(4) PS Illustrated by Melissa Sweet. This benign bedtime book tracks a little boy's before-bed ritual, from dinner to bath to story to slumber. The gimmick is that on every double-page spread, there's at least one flap that reveals an image corresponding with the spare, fragment-heavy rhymes: "Bubbly bath, / A frog to float. / Peek-a-duck, / Peek-a-boat." The serviceable text is incidental to the toddler-pleasing, flap-filled, candy-colored images.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Barry Root. When Mama and Daddy go dancing on Saturday nights, a young girl doesn't mind a bit, because she has three terrific, imaginative baby sitters. The best Saturday nights, however, are the ones when Mama and Daddy stay home, and the three of them create their own jamboree. The energetic story, told in rhyme, is accompanied by bright watercolor and gouache paintings.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(3) K-3 Step into Reading series. Illustrated by Joan Holub. When common cures for the hiccups don't help their younger brother, Maria and Carlos try storytelling. As Hector listens to a tale starring his stuffed bear, the toddler's hiccups vanish, and in the end, Hector starts sneezing instead. Easy sentences, mild humor, and child-driven problem solving make the story a good choice for beginning readers. Watercolor illustrations effectively support the text.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(3) K-3 When her grandfather's dog, Rambler, turns one hundred in dog years, Maris gives him a party. After her guests have played and eaten, she realizes Rambler is missing, and everyone joins in the search. Maris finally finds him, sleeping in his favorite spot. The story has suspense and humor, and the pastel illustrations have plenty of energy.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.