(3) K-3 Illustrated by George Bates. After trick-or-treating, a wide-eyed boy walks home through the spooky woods. The clouds, leaves, and tree branches form menacing shapes, shown in Bates's increasingly creepy digitally colored pen-and-ink illustrations. Then "a whisper rustles in his ear... / Cracklety-clack, bones in a sack. / They could be yours--if you look back." It's a refrain that might well scare some kids at storytime.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(3) PS Illustrated by George Bates. Who knew? Young farm animals are as expert at forestalling bedtime as their human counterparts: lambs and calves don't come indoors when their mamas call, fish in a pond demand drinks of water, etc. The rhymes (including the improvised ones: "girlie" and "early," "mommies" and "pajamies") work because they're as bouncy as the textured acrylic illustrations are inviting.

Reviewer: Nell Beram