(3) PS On a windy autumn day, best-friend hedgehogs Horace and Hattie befriend a "squeaky thing" (a tiny purple bat) and play hide-and-seek until the last leaf falls from the trees. This story about friendship and enjoying the pleasures of the season is a simple but powerful one. Readers will delight in searching for the characters hidden in the warm, fall-toned collage illustrations.

Reviewer: Lana Barnes

(4) PS Illustrated by Lucy Tapper. Hedgehogs Horace and Hattie (Hedgehugs) observe a caterpillar becoming a butterfly and wonder: "If they ate a lot and slept in a soft, silky bed, would they turn into something colorful and wonderful too?" (They do--sort of.) This slight story includes a nonscientific introduction to metamorphosis (caterpillar, chrysalis, and butterfly are never mentioned); colorful, vibrantly textured digital illustrations are eye-catching if a bit saccharine.

Reviewer: Lana Barnes

(4) PS Illustrated by Lucy Tapper. Best-friend hedgehogs Horace and Hattie do everything together, except hug--they're too spiky! After several unsuccessful ideas (rolling in snow, wearing strawberries) the pair finally finds their answer in an unsuspecting basket of laundry (so that's where missing socks go!). This is a been-done but sweet story of friends working together to solve a problem. Colorful illustrations have a dynamic fabric-collage look.

Reviewer: Lana Barnes

(4) YA This memoir was written by the daughter of a white officer in charge of an all-black Army regiment in the late 1800s. The eyewitness account of the settling of the American West starts out unbearably dull, though as Hooker grows up her writing becomes more interesting. The book will not appeal to a wide audience but would be a good primary source for advanced history students. Addresses, photo insert, reading list, timeline. Ind.

Reviewer: Deborah L. Thompson