(3) PS Illustrated by John Butler. "Where is baby?" So begins an introduction to young animals' camouflage and protective characteristics: a baby deer with dappled markings, baby leopards' climbing abilities, baby elephants "fade behind a forest of legs," etc. Realistic acrylic and colored-pencil illustrations picture varied species from the natural world--including the human baby, depicted on a concluding gatefold. "More About Babies" supplements the simple informational text.

Reviewer: Sheila M. Geraty

(4) K-3 Illustrated by John Butler. This fictional account of fifty-year-old elephant Anju's transfer from zoo to animal sanctuary tacitly criticizes the confinement and use of wild animals for entertainment. The sentimental text, which incorporates information about real-life elephant behavior, is supported by soft-focus illustrations that play up emotions. "Elephant Facts" and "Ways You Can Help Elephants" are appended.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian

(4) K-3 Flip the Flaps series. Illustrated by John Butler. Information is presented in large print with simple pictures illustrating very broad concepts (e.g., "Sometimes the weather is stormy," "Earth is where we live"). Between each double-page spread is a half-page flap with three questions; readers lift the flaps to discover answers beneath. The lifted flap also completes the left-side picture, showing, for example, Earth's inner layers. The approach is visually appealing. Ind. Review covers these Flip the Flaps titles: Planet Earth and Weather.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo

(3) PS Illustrated by John Butler. One spring day, a little bunny plays with a chipmunk, annoys a porcupine, rolls in clover, and returns home to tell Mama about his day. Full of kid-friendly language such as "giggle, giggle giggle!" and "wiggle, wiggle wiggle!," the bubbly text has toddler appeal. Butler's close-up views of the animals, with their realistic, meticulously rendered fur, are hard to resist.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(3) PS Illustrated by John Butler. A shy lamb hides behind his mama when approached by some more-outgoing animals. He finally opens up after meeting a little mouse who, like him, enjoys the comfort of having her mother close by. Like the story, the illustrations are soothing: lush green meadow with blue and purple-pink sky serves as a backdrop to the wide-eyed animal portraits.

Reviewer: Sethany Rancier Alongi

(3) PS Illustrated by John Butler. Being the smallest of the flock does not prevent a newborn chick from climbing high, running fast, peeping loudly, and finding the biggest seed. Mama Hen explains to the other animals that her little chick is "just big enough!" Double-page spreads in soft yellow and tan acrylics and colored pencils create an idyllic farmyard that reflects the text's lyrical cadences.

Reviewer: Rita Soltan

(4) PS Illustrated by John Butler. One evening, Mama leniently grants all her cub's bedtime requests because, unbeknownst to him, the bears are about to begin their winter hibernation. The revelation at the end is satisfying, but readers might expect a few more visual clues that it's autumn. The animals in the illustrations are fuzzy to the touch--a gimmick that's hard to resist, though it sometimes looks awkward.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(3) K-3 Illustrated by John Butler. A tsunami sweeps young hippo Owen out to sea, separating him from his mother. Washed ashore, he meets elderly tortoise Mzee, who becomes his mother substitute and friend. With this fictionalized account, readers are introduced to the true story of Owen and Mzee. The soft-hued acrylic and colored-pencil illustrations featuring smiling animals lean toward the cutesy (but not distractingly so).

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) PS Illustrated by John Butler. After waking from a peaceful rest, a fluffy little bear (still sleepy) and his animal friends creep though the forest in search of the snug den where they will celebrate the birth of a newborn fawn. Soft-hued, textured illustrations convey a cozy early morning feeling, while the lively rhythmic text gives a joyful sense of new life.

Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden

(3) K-3 Illustrated by John Butler. Little Thunderfoot spends his days playing and learning the ways of the herd from their matriarch, Wise Old One, until she's shot and the herd must survive without her. Grindley believably conveys the social nature of these gentle giants, supporting the story's details with an appended section of elephant facts. Butler's softly realistic paintings capture the subtleties of emotion without anthropomorphizing.

Reviewer: Emma Loy-Santelli

(4) K-3 Illustrated by John Butler. Grindley tells the story of a young orangutan gradually learning to separate himself from his mother. While the text is based in fact and the illustrations are realistic, the text incongruously attributes human emotions and motivations to animal actions (Little Sibu's mother "wanted to be kind, but sometimes she had to be cruel"). Still, this approach may help young readers identify with Sibu's situation.

Reviewer: Emma Loy-Santelli

(4) K-3 Illustrated by John Butler. Maya and her brother are left alone in the den while their mother searches for water. When Maya's curiosity brings her face to face with a hungry hyena, the maturing cub manages to fend it off. Despite the imposing of human emotions on the tigers, the story is brought to life by softly realistic paintings that, in places, are rendered with such meticulous detail that some animals seem almost tangible.

Reviewer: Emma Loy-Santelli

(3) K-3 Illustrated by John Butler. This is an appealing mix of natural history and fictive invention about a polar bear mother who gives birth to two cubs in an ice cave. She nourishes the babies in this tiny space and then takes her young family on a perilous journey in search of food. The illustrations are striking and evoke the frozen world of the far north.

Reviewer: Amy Lois Cohn

(2) PS A newborn elephant becomes stuck in the mud at a watering hole, and three fierce lionesses watch for their chance at the vulnerable prey. As Bashi's mother helps free him, the elephant herd closes in, protecting him from harm, and "Bashi had survived his first day." Realistic paintings heighten the drama in this simple, effective tale that conveys a sense of the family relationships and the solidarity of an elephant herd.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.