(4) 1-3 Hubble Bubble series. Illustrated by Joe Berger. Each title contains three stories about witch-in-training Pandora and her magically mischievous granny, who transforms ordinary goings-on (such as baking, gardening, and entering cat Cobweb in a pet show) into extraordinary adventures. While the books may try too hard for whimsy, the pink-accented illustrations adorning every page; small, easily digestible blocks of text; and brief, magic-packed vignettes should attract newly independent readers. Review covers these Hubble Bubble titles: The Great Granny Cake Contest! and The Wacky Winter Wonderland!

Reviewer: Amy Seto Forrester

(4) 1-3 Hubble Bubble series. Illustrated by Joe Berger. Each title contains three stories about witch-in-training Pandora and her magically mischievous granny, who transforms ordinary goings-on (such as baking, gardening, and entering cat Cobweb in a pet show) into extraordinary adventures. While the books may try too hard for whimsy, the pink-accented illustrations adorning every page; small, easily digestible blocks of text; and brief, magic-packed vignettes should attract newly independent readers. Review covers these Hubble Bubble titles: The Great Granny Cake Contest! and The Wacky Winter Wonderland!

Reviewer: Amy Seto Forrester

(4) PS Illustrated by Joe Berger. A boy sings his dad's praises ("He can pick up our dog, Jumbo, / so he must be Super Strong") in rhymes that usually (but don't always) scan. The cutesy running joke, courtesy of the mishap-spiked art, is that the boy is so awestruck by his father that he doesn't see Dad's clumsiness, messiness, and other acts of not-quite heroism.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Joe Berger. As best friends Girl and Gorilla head to the park, excitable Gorilla is bursting with impossible schemes for getting there quickly--by wishing, for example, or by elephant. Girl is much more down-to-earth, as their amusing conversation reveals. Like the text, the illustrations play up the contrast between the friends, showing small, slender Girl next to big, broad Gorilla.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Joe Berger. In their final adventure, the Tootings meet the Potts, time-traveling car Chitty's original owners, and the families work together to defeat evil villain Tiny Jack, who has stolen landmarks from all over the world. Incessant conflicts, though too neatly resolved, keep the stakes high and propel the madcap plot forward. Berger's black-and-white spot art is nicely matched to Boyce's vivid descriptions.

Reviewer: Lana Barnes

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Joe Berger. In their second adventure, the Tooting family (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again) and their time-traveling car return, stopping this time in dinosaur-rampaged prehistoric lands, Prohibition-era Manhattan, and the lost city of El Dorado. The story is packed with quirky details, but the stake-raising events have quick resolutions that stall the plot. The accompanying black-and-white digital illustrations are expressive and fluid.

Reviewer: Lana Barnes

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Joe Berger. The intergenerational duo from Hubble Bubble, Granny Trouble returns for another romp in which the younger still wishes her witch grandmother would be "a little less peculiar," especially as the girl's birthday rolls around. Granny obliges, helping with party details sans "Helping Kit" (spell book)--until clean-up time. Berger's illustrations add humor and pizzazz to a story told in spunky rhymes.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Joe Berger. Tech-savvy young Dot spends her time tapping (keys), touching (screens), tweeting (via Twitter), etc. After her mom shoos her outside, where some kids are playing, Dot embraces a different kind of tapping (dancing), touching (flowers), tweeting (like a bird), and so on. The "tune in" message is delivered with grace, ebullient art, and--just right for the technological age--efficiency.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Joe Berger. When the inventive Tooting family attempts to refurbish a 1960s-style van, they discover they must replace the engine. Little do they know that the vintage Zborowski engine once belonged to Ian Fleming's automotive icon. Searching for all its parts, the car takes the quirky Tootings around the world in an adventure that never quite takes off but offers amusing family dynamics.

Reviewer: Betty Carter

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Joe Berger. The narrator's granny is "kind of different" with her cats, frogs, bats, and spells to make things disappear. When her granddaughter suggests a makeover to become "normal-ish," Granny agrees--but the next day she's dreadfully sad. Granddaughter quickly realizes that individuality is a good thing. Playful, snazzy illustrations full of clever witchy details elaborate on the jaunty rhymes.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Joe Berger. Seduced by Camp Princess's hard sell, tomboy princess Viola gives civilized behavior her best shot but nevertheless reliably disappoints her teacher--until Viola saves her from a dragon via karate chops and skateboard tricks. Readers will feel for Viola, whose mixed emotions about fitting in are apparent on her face in Berger's animated, jazzy pictures--when she's not moat-diving, that is.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Joe Berger. Pressured by his teacher, the narrator becomes pen pals with an alien. The two exchange ostensibly off-putting gifts that end up cementing an unlikely friendship. The stranger the action the straighter Smallcomb plays it, making the story all the funnier. Berger keeps up with the text, right down to depicting the "disgusting glob of something" on the boy's sister's head.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Joe Berger. When Hattie, who does "exciting bad things" that make her unpopular with her friends' parents, decides to switch gears, she discovers that being good has its own punishment. Her televised response to winning the "Best-Behaved Child" competition is pure kid-humor gold, and the illustrations, in which "good" Hattie's backdrop is prim pink and "bad" Hattie's is brash orange, are a stitch.

Reviewer: Nell Beram