(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Quentin Blake. The book that launched Yeoman and Blake's careers as children's book creators is here reissued. Blake's scribbly, energetic, personality-rich pen-and-ink drawings (overlaid with pink and gold) grace seven original animal fables written by Yeoman. The collection is probably of more interest to collectors than to contemporary child readers. A new foreword by Blake is included.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Quentin Blake. After eating a candy pig with a philosophical nature, a mouse suddenly falls in love with a grandfather clock. When an owl eats the mouse, the lovesickness is transferred, and so on. Each sufferer's personality helps ground this existential love story so that what might have been bizarre is matter-of-fact and affecting. Blake's watercolors are understated yet highly expressive.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2016

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Quentin Blake. In a book first published in the UK in 1980, a boy and his new dragon friend, Ace Dragon Ltd., have an adventure that proves the dragon is not limited at all. This quirky story reflects the way a child might hope to play should he be lucky enough to meet a dragon. Blake's cartoons contribute much to the whimsical tone of the fantasy.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Quentin Blake. Rosie collects ice-pop sticks, and her newest is a dreamer: "I could be something." And it can, transforming into horse Stickerino who transports the girl to magical lands where she finds pirate treasure to pay her impoverished family's bills. Master storyteller Hoban's latest is a strange--charmingly so--fantasy, and Blake's reliably note-perfect pen-and-watercolor art is just as whimsical.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Quentin Blake. Blake's loose illustrations and Rosen's often free-verse poetry are well matched in this compilation of four themed collections. The poems and stories highlight ordinary moments at breakfast, the seaside, the doctor's office, and bedtime, and occasionally venture into flights of fancy. Readers comfortable without traditional structure may enjoy these slices of life.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Quentin Blake. Monster moves to the city where he finds a house and makes friends. Some of the stories are essentially descriptions of adult activities--house-hunting, wooing a "lady monster"--while others are more kid-aimed. The simple, childlike text sounds like an elementary schooler's writing assignment. Blake's illustrations of a tall, benign purple creature navigating the big city are endearing.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Quentin Blake. 'Tis the season of Christmas and British parliamentary elections when twelve-year-old Chloe Crumb meets homeless Mr. Stink. Their friendship yields life lessons for Chloe and her family, especially politico wannabe Mrs. Crumb, or "Croooome" as she, the queen of keeping up appearances, pronounces it. Walliams's comedy of manners is full of laugh-out-loud moments, many brought to life in Blake's lively, loose-handed sketches.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(2) YA Illustrated by Quentin Blake. Eight new vignettes and some additional apparatus constitute the "more" in this expanded edition of Dahl's memoir. In autobiography the author reveals the identical sensibility celebrated in his fiction; readers for whom this resonates will be delighted to have a bit more Dahl (although new sidenotes can be heavy-handed). Blake keeps the silliness quotient high with his energetic drawings.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2009

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Quentin Blake. Dennis's life morphs from dreary to exhilarating after donning a sequined dress at new friend Lisa's urging. As "Denise" he relishes "the giggles, the glitter, the glamorous make-up" that girls experience. But his cross-dressing--depicted with gentle humor in Blake's loose-handed art--leads to expulsion from school and the soccer team. Readers will cheer for Walliams's sympathetic hero and won't mind the too-perfect ending.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Quentin Blake. Told in the manner of a folktale, the story relates how seven washerwomen, disgruntled with their jobs, go berserk. They splash passersby with muddy water, raise havoc in the marketplace, etc.--until meeting their matches in seven woodcutters. The expressive illustrations--caricature line drawings washed with color--continuously echo and expand the preposterous, joyful text's often understated humor.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc. | Horn Book Magazine Issue: February, 1980

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Quentin Blake. In his second newly reissued adventure, wealthy elephant Uncle must protect his Homeward community from Badfort encroachers, including Uncle's enemy Beaver Hateman. It's a tangled tale, and the humor's very British ("a funny thing...is that though he wears a well-cut morning coat he wears no shirt with it"), which may put off some readers. Blake's illustrations are up to the challenge.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Quentin Blake. Uncle is a benevolent, wealthy elephant whose adventures with neighboring dwarfs, animals, and eccentric humans make up the chapters of this British reprint. The book has been widely read in England, but the nonsense may be a hard sell for many American readers. Blake's illustrations are as sprightly as ever.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(1) 1-3 Illustrated by Quentin Blake. Morpurgo's exhilarating Nativity story features traditional elements but also takes startling departures. A colloquial tone doesn't feel irreverent; the familiarity of the characters' interactions makes the boy's adoration of the baby Jesus even more powerful. The small trim size emphasizes the intimate nature of Morpurgo's story; still, Blake's watercolors can rise to glorious heights, especially when depicting the heavenly host.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2007

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Quentin Blake. The narrator/author shares his profound depression following his eighteen-year-old son's death. Spreads alternate dark times, in thunderhead-bleak watercolors and empathic, masterfully scribbled line, with more colorful scenes of good memories. People of all ages frequent the illustrations, while the text, simply phrased yet never simplistic, is appropriate for all those who are, or know someone, who's seriously depressed or grieving.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2005

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Quentin Blake. This fortieth anniversary edition is a larger-format version of the 2001 edition illustrated by Quentin Blake. The trim size--closer to a picture book than a novel--and the addition of color to the illustrations make this volume more suitable as a lap-sharing read-aloud.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander

(4) 1-3 Illustrated by Quentin Blake. When his parents won't stop talking about Santa Claus, Julian decides to pretend to believe in him for one more year. He asks for an expensive video game but discovers that he really prefers playing with a wooden train. An ode to the joy of play, the story may appeal more to adults than children. Blake's winsome black-lined illustrations complement the lengthy narrative perfectly.

Reviewer: Jim St. Claire

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Quentin Blake. Dahl's humorous story tells about George, the mischievous medicine maker, and the bewitching effects that his potent potion has on his grumpy grandma and the farmyard animals. This reissue retains Quentin Blake's illustrations and includes an appended interview with the author.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Quentin Blake. Quentin Blake's angular, active artwork illustrates this edition, which includes an interview with Dahl. The satisfying, if unsubtle, story is a classic triumph of the underdog, er, underground animals, led by Mr. Fox to dig a deep burrow so well-supplied by the stores of their enemies, Farmers Bean, Boggis, and Bunce, that they'll never have to go aboveground again.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Quentin Blake. The author's most notorious couple and the revenge-seeking Muggle Wump and his family carry out their carnivalesque antics in this reissue.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Quentin Blake. This edition of the classic story contains an interview with the author and sketches by Quentin Blake that are lively and humorous--but not quite as magical as Nancy Ekholm Burkert's original illustrations of James's adventures.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander