(3) PS Illustrated by Laura J. Bryant. Elephant Little Gray and his mama spend a day together imagining what it would be like if their roles were reversed: Little Gray would take care of Mama, and she would feel very safe. There's a lulling cadence to the conversation, which will sound familiar both to young children and to their parents. Calming, affectionate illustrations create strong personalities for the elephants.

Reviewer: Miriam Steinberg-Egeth

(3) PS Illustrated by Laura J. Bryant. Kitty Cat loves everything about school: singing songs with the other students, reading, counting to ten, art, naptime, and more. The story's use of repetition and simple rhymes will help newer readers strengthen their skills. The watercolor and colored-pencil illustrations emphasize the energy of the kittens, and children will enjoy searching for the tiny mouse hiding in every spread.

Reviewer: Julie Bartynski-Fenner

(4) PS Illustrated by Laura J. Bryant. Jo and her grandfather visit the woods, where they hear and see a variety of creatures. Patterned after the song "Old MacDonald," the parallel to a noisy barnyard doesn't quite work in Quattlebaum's text--could even an astute naturalist hear a turtle? ("everywhere a shuffle-shuffle")--but pleasant art and informative back matter on forest ecology may engage young hikers.

Reviewer: Bridget McCaffrey

(4) PS Illustrated by Laura J. Bryant. This story takes the "Old MacDonald" song to the garden, where Jo and her cousin Mike plant seeds, tend a vegetable and flower patch, and provide a homegrown salad for their grandfather, Old MacDonald. Though the text, like the song, can become tedious, readers' interest may be sustained by the book's challenge to search the lively illustrations for specific animals and plants.

Reviewer: Bridget McCaffrey

(3) PS Illustrated by Laura J. Bryant. A kitten resists her mother's efforts to prepare her for bed. While the kitty offers excuses at every step of the way, as detailed in lilting rhymes, the pictures show that she eventually does do what's expected (e.g., while playing a quick game of peekaboo, she's also changing out of her shirt). Watercolor and colored-pencil illustrations give the characters winsome expressions.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Laura J. Bryant. A girl, picking berries for jam, encounters a bee. Meanwhile, the bee, collecting nectar for honey, is frightened by the girl. But the girl knows to stand still and the bee knows to fly high, and both are fine. This gentle rhyming story is divided into two parts, united by the watercolor illustrations that show the same scenes from different points of view.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(4) PS Illustrated by Laura J. Bryant. Quattlebaum's text, set to "Old MacDonald," acquaints children with the sights and sounds they might encounter around a pond: "And at that pond she saw a dragonfly... / With a whir-whir here / And a whir-whir there..." Bryant's watercolors show a little girl interacting with nature. Pictures and text are entirely bland but somewhat useful; appended notes tell more about "The Pond Community." Reading list, websites.

Reviewer: Miriam Lang Budin

(4) PS Illustrated by Laura J. Bryant. "First little bunny thumps a big drum, / hums and drums with a rum, pum, pum. / Humming, drumming, will he stop? / Cozy, / dozy, / drowsy... / drop." Seven bunny siblings try to avoid bedtime, but one by one, they fall fast asleep. Readers may hope for a twist, but this book--featuring watercolor scenes of bunnies at play--is a standard, albeit soothing, sleepytime tale.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Laura J. Bryant. Little Fox, tired of playing close to home, tells her mother that some day she will "travel to the end of the world." As she describes her imagined voyages, including encounters with bears, tigers, and crocodiles, Mother Fox supports her with the promise of her favorite dinner when she returns. Bryant's new dynamic watercolors ably illustrate Tompert's tale.

Reviewer: Pearl Higgins | Horn Book Magazine Issue: December, 1976

(4) PS Illustrated by Laura J. Bryant. "I love...the beautiful beating of your perfect little heart..." A bear parent explains to its child all the different reasons for familial love. The sentimental text's message of ever-increasing, unconditional affection may resonate with caregivers, if not their charges. Finely detailed illustrations in soft, pastel-y colors depict with great tenderness some close, cozy, and playful moments between parent and child.

Reviewer: Sethany Rancier Alongi

(4) PS Illustrated by Laura J. Bryant. A mother describes God by comparing Him to things her son is familiar with, including a drop of rain and a waterfall. The metaphors are prosaic, but the illustrations add a touch of fantasy to the everyday images. Although unremarkable, this will be appreciated by parents looking for illustrated books that help explain the concept of God to a very young child.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(4) PS Illustrated by Laura J. Bryant. A polar bear father describes Heaven to his cub. Heaven, he explains, will be a place without any of the cares of the world, and it will be "like the best family reunion ever." The simple narrative is illustrated with quiet watercolors showing smiling Arctic animals. Although it's generally bland, this will be a useful selection for some families.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(3) PS Illustrated by Laura J. Bryant. "Kitty Cat, Kitty Cat, are you waking up? / 'Not yet, Mother, I'm a sleepy buttercup.'" In a familiar domestic tableau, a mother cat patiently urges her easily distractible kitten through the morning's before-school routine. Sweet but not cloying, the rhyming patterned text is complemented by playful watercolor and colored-pencil illustrations just right for lap-sharing.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Laura J. Bryant. A father and his little girl spend a sunny day on the tractor, readying their farm's fields for planting as the family dog and neighborhood crows look on. Some awkward rhymes make an initial read-aloud difficult and the ending is abrupt, but the soft, detailed illustrations provide plenty of interest to young tractor fans.

Reviewer: Abby Harper Kingsbury

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Laura J. Bryant. Farmer Blue comments that Buttermilk Hollow needs a fairy godmother to prevent a toothpick factory from moving in and buying up land; the next day, dairy products begin showing up in strange places. Despite greedy Mayor Clabber's best efforts to thwart the dairy fairy, her magic saves the town and wins the mayor over in the end. The whimsical illustrations add humor to the facile story.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg

(4) K-3 Dial Easy-to-Read series. Illustrated by Laura J. Bryant. "When we cut an onion up, / We break apart its cells. / Inside the cell is onion oil, / Which really, really smells!" This newly illustrated collection ponders fourteen familiar questions, including "How do birds fly?" and "What is the sound in a seashell?" The cheery art reflects the tone of the lighthearted, informative verse. Despite a few singsongy passages, the accessible poems will find many classroom uses.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn