(4) K-3 Illustrated by Carey F. Armstrong-Ellis. In a rhyming text reminiscent of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas," Rose tells the story of a spelling bee that can only be won by knowing how a really big word is spelled and what it means. The pro-reading message is heartfelt, but the delivery feels strained, especially at the end. Armstrong-Ellis tempers the effect with humorous pencil and gouache art.

Reviewer: Hannah Rodgers Barnaby

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Carey Armstrong-Ellis. Selena loves to dance, so her mother enrolls her in ballet class. After a number of falls--and a lot of practice--Selena makes her stage debut. Bouncy rhymed text and colored-pencil and gouache illustrations with lots of humorous details reflect the joys and occasional frustrations of learning to dance.

Reviewer: Amy Kellman

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Carey Armstrong-Ellis. In this riotous celebration of spring set to the tune of the Christmas classic, an increasingly beleaguered teacher offers her unruly students something special for each of the season's first dozen days. The nose-picker from this book's two predecessors (which honor the first twelve days of kindergarten and winter) is still digging for gold in every hilariously topsy-turvy spread.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Carey Armstrong-Ellis. This follow-up to The Twelve Days of Kindergarten has the tireless teacher giving her students various things to commemorate winter's first twelve days. As in Kindergarten, the illustrations of the kids' messes hilariously undermine the perky text, written to the tune of the Christmas classic.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Carey Armstrong-Ellis. On each of the first twelve days of kindergarten, the narrator's teacher gives her something that enhances her classroom experience. The cheerful text, mimicking the Christmas classic, is subverted by the hilarious illustrations: the classroom, featuring a boy who picks his nose on each of the twelve days, is in total disarray--a fact to which the busy narrator is oblivious.

Reviewer: Nell Beram