(4) PS Illustrated by Dan Andreasen. With her mother's help, a sleepy little girl gets ready for bed. Saccharine rhymes ("Sleepy hands and sleepy feet / Sleepy neck that smells so sweet") convey bath time, teeth-brushing, kisses good night, and getting tucked into bed nestled snug with stuffed animals. This lulling bedtime story's pastel-colored graphite, ink, and digital illustrations are stiff but appropriately soothing.

Reviewer: Sheila M. Geraty

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Dan Andreasen. This is an unusual alphabet book in that it lists numerous examples for each letter. For example, B lists twelve items, from Babe to bunt. A brief definition is included for each term, giving the reader a broad overview of the vocabulary and an understanding of baseball. Muted illustrations enhance the book, and an addendum extends the concise test.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Dan Andreasen. Told by a jovial red lobster, this retelling takes place in the deep ocean where Santa is a walrus in a conch shell sleigh pulled by eight tiny seahorses. Andreasen's oil-paint and digital art is cheery but cutesy. The undersea setting is a tad gratuitous, though some children may find the aquatic re-imagining entertaining.

Reviewer: Betsy Thomas

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Dan Andreasen. A spoiled little girl abandons her new doll, which then bounces from person to person before finally feeling wanted and loved. The simple language lends a touch of traditional storytelling to the narrative. Oil paintings in warm hues give the book a classic, old-fashioned feel. The story is just this side of nostalgic and manages to avoid schmaltz.

Reviewer: Brittany Schlorff

(4) PS Illustrated by Dan Andreasen. A boy travels alone by train to visit his grandmother in the city: "Ticket ready. Tight grip. / To Grandma's house. Train trip!" Spare rhyming text includes sensory details of a train experience. Die-hard locomotive fans will likely notice when the illustrations, starring a smiling pink-cheeked train engine and doll-like human figures, don't match the more concrete words.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(3) PS Illustrated by Dan Andreasen. The creators of Pilot Pups reunite for another pairing: police puppies and motorcycles. Two canine motorcycle cops zoom around busting rule-breaking animal drivers: "Red-light runner / on the loose. / Captain Dog says, / 'CATCH THAT GOOSE!'" Andreasen's friendly oils are well suited to depict the book's (stuffed) animal cast.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) PS Illustrated by Dan Andreasen. "When signs of spring are in the air, / we look for babies everywhere!" This book features unremarkable but innocuous rhymes and placid, pleasant oil and digital illustrations starring round-headed baby animals. Despite the title, it's not particularly Easter-oriented until eleven children search for Easter eggs and the church bells peal.

Reviewer: Susan Halperin

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Dan Andreasen. Well meaning but dull, this rhyming paean to parents playing with their children is narrated by a father. Dad thinks of adventures like going to the lake to "play as army rangers," but any place comes to life when Dad's involved. Colorful and soft mottled illustrations of a father and his children depict an idyllic family day.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Dan Andreasen. Due to Otis's mistake with the party invitations (which oddly goes unmentioned until book's end), best friends Otis and Sydney wind up celebrating Sydney's birthday all by themselves; however, because they thoroughly enjoy each other's company, Sydney declares it's still "the best birthday ever." Skillful shading gives the illustrations a distinctive three-dimensional look, though the two bear friends are confusingly identical.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(4) PS Illustrated by Dan Andreasen. In this hug-a-thon, readers are enjoined to "Hug the dentist. / Hug a clown. / Hug the mayor of your town." While parents today may not want to encourage their kids to get physical with people they barely know, this doesn't negate the book's worthy sentiment. Andreasen's art features adorable, if vaguely Joan Walsh Anglund-esque, kids.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Dan Andreasen. "There are a few things...to know about my dad, and one...is that he would make a great president." Despite gratingly repetitive text (we're told five times about how the senator doesn't give up), Meghan McCain's adulatory biography succeeds in communicating to readers why her father's life experiences are unique and interesting. Andreasen's realistic-looking digitally colored graphite illustrations lend appropriate gravitas.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(4) PS Illustrated by Dan Andreasen. Three animate canine toys have aerial adventures, zipping around the kitchen in a plane and a helicopter. Muted oil illustrations depict the intrepid trio as they dodge the towering dishes, navigate the foggy steam from the teakettle, and rescue a toy train conductor. Though the rhyming text is singsongy, young fliers will enjoy the air-traffic references ("Double-check the / radar screen").

Reviewer: Sheila M. Geraty

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Dan Andreasen. Mike makes a pact to do everything with his dog Corky, calling it their "Forever Plan." After Corky dies unexpectedly, Mike's mother encourages him to rethink what "forever" means. This is a useful (though unsubtle and a bit wordy) story to help children deal with loss. The warm-toned illustrations on creamy paper are friendly and comforting.

Reviewer: Miriam Steinberg-Egeth

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Dan Andreasen. Fairy-shoemaking leprechauns invade Finn's town. Their hammering keeps the townsfolk awake, until Finn tricks the leprechauns into moving their shoemaking elsewhere. Muted oil paintings show the leprechauns angry at Finn's trickery, then pleased when he reveals their gold hidden at the end of the rainbow. The story is text-heavy but entertaining.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(4) PS Illustrated by Dan Andreasen. Mama Cat is calling Little Spotted Cat for his nap, but he wants to play instead. By the time she catches up with him, the muddy kitten has created a big mess out in the yard. The ending is somewhat abrupt; however, the oil paintings do give the toddlerlike kitten, with his wide smile, a good measure of personality.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Dan Andreasen. Alexander says to his mother, "Pretend I'm a mouse.... What would you do?" She puts down her newspaper, and together they imagine what it would be like if he were a mouse, a lion, a train, etc. Alexander's testing and his mother's tirelessness are favorably reminiscent of the loving mother-son dynamic in The Runaway Bunny, and the illustrations ably interpret Alexander's limitless imagination.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(4) PS Illustrated by Dan Andreasen. Two of young children's abiding obsessions--animals and firefighting--are fed in this look at a team of bears who spend their days protecting the neighborhood. There's no cumulative payoff--the story amounts to a series of disasters narrowly averted--but the rhymes snap and the illustrations offer the right blend of menace (smoking buildings) and reassurance (toylike bears).

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) 4-6 Little House: The Caroline Years series. Illustrated by Dan Andreasen. Seventeen-year-old Caroline wants to stay in her hometown of Concord, Wisconsin, to pursue a teaching career. So when she begins a courtship with her old neighbor, Charles Ingalls, who longs to move west, she faces a serious life-altering decision. The gentle, old-fashioned story provides a believable look at pioneer life and a satisfying conclusion to the series.

Reviewer: Anne St. John

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Dan Andreasen. When Gracie was little, her mentally retarded aunt, Roo, was her best friend. When Roo embarrasses the now older Gracie in front of a school friend, Gracie must make a tough choice. Andreasen's pastel-colored illustrations capturing a 1950s farm setting are a perfect match for the detail-driven text, which never spells out the moving and ambitious themes of the story.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Dan Andreasen. It's nearly Christmas, and the tree ornaments are worried: Grandma Lily still hasn't retrieved them from her attic. Finally her grown son and grandchildren, who have moved in, come for them. Lily's death is handled a bit awkwardly in the overly sentimental text, but the story has a pleasing sense of continuity and the oil paintings feature an engaging cast of characters.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn