(3) K-3 Illustrated by Tedd Arnold. Noodlehead brothers Mac and Mac are forced by their mother to go outside and learn something. They try their hands at fishing when they discover a rod but are bamboozled repeatedly (including by themselves). Over three humorous, comics-style chapters, the goofy yet lovable Noodleheads' ideas are as surprising as they are misguided. Authors' notes link each exploit to an original story source.

Reviewer: Jessica Costello

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Tedd Arnold. Foolish Noodleheads Mac and Mac (Noodlehead Nightmares) hope their mother will bake them a cake. While searching for oven firewood over the course of three easy-reader chapters, they are tricked, bamboozled, and outsmarted. The brothers' silliness, wordplay, and comics format are engaging, but the pacing and the connection between scenarios feel forced. An author's note links each exploit to an original story source.

Reviewer: Patrick Gall

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Tedd Arnold. The valentine young Leon has made runs away shouting "Love is yucky. / Stinky too. / It will turn your brain to goo!" Everyone joins in a chase that ends in the candy shop, where they run into Leon's secret crush (and the valentine she has made for him). Illustration panels, speech bubbles, and the gingerbread-man-like pursuit make this somewhat saccharine love story palatable.

Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Tedd Arnold. Little Boy Blue is trying to keep a handle on crime in Storytown. He tracks down the Dish and the Spoon, nabs Mary's little lamb--but where is Miss Muffet? In this Mother Goose takeoff, one iconic character after another advises and distracts Detective Blue. Comic-strip panels illustrate the investigation, with Arnold's goggle-eyed characters alert to the quest and the humor.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2011

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Tedd Arnold. When the only hat in the shop that fits McCoy is a cowboy hat, he declares, "I must be a cowboy!" and sets off to find a ranch. The decidedly uncowboylike McCoy runs (literally) into Lasso Lou, who teaches him that cowboys don't ride pigs, that stirrups aren't for hands, etc. The goofy situations and wacky illustrations add character and humor to the story.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Tedd Arnold. Twenty-three uncomplicated poems are mostly silly, and some are even gross. "Booger Love," for example, gleefully lists the possible uses for a...well, you know. In other poems, a girl finds herself holding a baby brother with a suddenly stinky diaper, aliens play Spaceball, and tooth fairies are no-shows. A cast of pop-eyed children, adults, and animals careen across the pages, extending the sophomoric humor of the poems.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Tedd Arnold. In a cumulative rhyme based on the "House That Jack Built" formula, various animals wake one another up, then take a bus to the zoo and climb into their cages for the day. The rhyme is entertaining, and the goofy, bug-eyed animals in both the illustrations and the rebus are amusing.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Tedd Arnold. The indomitable Axle Annie is the best bus driver in Burskyville, tough enough to take on dreaded Tiger Hill in the deepest snow. But bus driver Shifty Rhodes, angry that they never get a snow day, plots against Annie by using a snowmaking machine. Vivid characters, rollicking language, and humorous illustrations make this story perfect for reading aloud on a wintry day.

Reviewer: Susan Halperin

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Tedd Arnold. A knock on the door wakes and startles a spider, a ghost, a skeleton, and other inhabitants of a haunted house. The spooked spooks get their final fright when they open the door to a trick-or-treater. Kids will relish the surprise ending, the textured cartoon illustrations, and the rebus pictures incorporated into the cumulative verse.

Reviewer: Emma Loy-Santelli