(3) K-3 Illustrated by Lauren Castillo. Realized through pithy prose, this ode to the power of stories follows two children and their dad during a day at the library, and highlights the vistas that open up through the “world of reading.” Schu pinpoints the capacity of reading to cultivate the (young) human person as a field of possibility. Underscoring the text’s message that stories can endlessly grow our minds, hearts, and connections with other people, Castillo’s ink, watercolor, and pastel illustrations provide ever-expanding views of the inside of a library filled with diverse children, presided over by a dedicated librarian (who resembles the author himself).

Reviewer: Summer Edward

(1) PS Illustrated by Lauren Castillo. "Down the mountain, across the creek, past the last curve in the road, five children lived together in a ramble shamble house." From this first welcoming sentence we know we're in classic picture book territory--words and rhythms that taste just right and the ever-appealing theme of children in charge, with no adults on the scene. The family is self-sufficient. Merra, Finn, Locky, and Roozle garden and tend chickens. Baby Jory "looked after the mud." Trouble looms when the children discover a photo of a stately home and decide to "proper up" their own dilapidated house and garden: installing a chandelier, replacing the chicken coop with a Victorian dollhouse and the carrot crop with roses. It turns out that a propered-up environment doesn't work for chickens or for babies. (Jory is particularly adversely affected, as he loses his beloved mud puddle.) After a brief dark night of the soul, the family sees the error of its ways and sensibly re-establishes its comfortable, chaotic, creative world. The joyful energy of this simple story is amplified by glowing pictures showing a multiethnic group of sturdy children against impressionistic, light-infused backgrounds of mountain, meadow, and mud.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2021

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Lauren Castillo. Castillo illustrates in ink and foam monoprints this sensitive, moving picture book inspired by former U.S. Poet Laureate Herrera's own life. Readers follow the child's experiences: he and his family leave their California farmworkers' village for a town and then a big city. The lyrical text's evocative language and imagery asks readers to imagine what it was like being him but also, more importantly, to "imagine what you could do."

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2018

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Lauren Castillo. White is introduced in spare text and warm images, with a focus on his love of nature and animals plus the creation of his first two children's books. Herkert effectively evokes White's own prose, filled with sensory detail and phrases that roll off the tongue. Castillo's illustrations mirror the text with natural colors and lively drawings of the young boy growing into the adult writer. Bib.

Reviewer: Monica Edinger | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2017

(2) PS Illustrated by Lauren Castillo. A parent vs. preschooler bedtime duel told from a gender and ethnicity–neutral child narrator's perspective. The watercolor and ink pictures include warm yellow backgrounds and firm dark outlines, reinforcing the feeling of security. Throughout this cumulative tale, the child repeats, "It is not time for sleeping," but textual cues and the gradually darkening palette will persuade listening children that bedtime is getting closer.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2016

(1) PS Illustrated by Lauren Castillo. After a day at the beach, Mom falls asleep reading Lucy a story. "Suddenly Lucy was wide awake." She needs her stuffed animals, and the process of fetching them and tucking them into bed settles Lucy. Smiley evinces a deep understanding of a child's sensibilities; Castillo's color-saturated illustrations capture the family's love and warmth. The titular twenty yawns are incorporated perfectly into the story.

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

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Lauren Castillo. In this heartfelt story, Callie and her parents must move from their house into an apartment. Callie is bereft at their yard sale but ends up embracing the idea that the important things in life aren't things and that as long as they have one another, they'll be okay. Castillo's ink and watercolor illustrations employ soft line, warm colors, and close-ups of tender moments.

Reviewer: Megan Dowd Lambert | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2015

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Lauren Castillo. A small smoky-gray cat follows a family on its trip through Europe. She hitches rides, cadges food, and invites herself behind the scenes. Banks's text is confident and rhythmic, dotted with rhymes and half-rhymes that bounce off the tongue. Castillo's drawings capture both the grandeur of great cities and their human dynamism. An appended spread identifies the cities and the sights.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2014

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Lauren Castillo. City-kid Sierra wants her auntie, who works on Saturdays, to attend one of her soccer games. A rain cancellation spoils her aunt's first chance to watch a match, so Sierra comes up with a plan. Boelts's lyrical text (a suburban soccer field is a "spread-out sea of grass with no weeds") teams up nicely with Castillo's quietly expressive illustrations.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Lauren Castillo. Accompanied by his dog, a boy struggles up a snowy hillside pulling a sled. At the top, they play and share a snack, but the high point of the satisfying expedition occurs when the boy reads "the very best book"--called Two Good Friends--aloud to his dog. Expressive watercolors set the wintry scene and convey the affectionate companionship between the two friends in this sentimental tale.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(2) 1-3 Illustrated by Lauren Castillo. Newly independent readers see Julian and Huey (The Stories Julian Tells; The Stories Huey Tells) from the point of view of Huey's dog in this beginning chapter book. Short, near-episodic chapters give voice to Spunky's life with humans; magical realism and mythology take young readers beyond the everyday occurrences usually covered in books for them. There's much to contemplate and enjoy here.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2011

(2) PS Illustrated by Lauren Castillo. When his mother wants to give away his favorite shoes just because they're a little small, Alfie decides he's had enough. The headstrong emotions of a young runaway are humorously portrayed in the dialogue and in the art. The subdued colors in Castillo's old-fashioned yet unsentimental illustrations highlight the red shoes and match the reassuring, low-key tone of Cadow's text.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2010

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Lauren Castillo. Over three wordless spreads, a child walks with his family to see a live Nativity scene. The boy looks thoughtfully into the manger at a sleeping Christ child, and readers are transported to the first Christmas. The seemingly incongruous pairing--formal Bible verses and Castillo's child-friendly illustrations--works beautifully, with subdued colors and unfussy compositions making the archaic text more accessible.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2010

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Lauren Castillo. A little girl and her father prepare for a day of fishing. Papa picks up earthworms with his fingers--"That's his way"--while the girl uses her shovel--"That's my way." The soothing text and serene illustrations in a palette of blues, greens, and browns reflect the peaceful quietude of a day on the lake, then home by sunset.

Reviewer: Lisa Catherine Findlay

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Lauren Castillo. After his cat Pepper dies, the narrator continues to grieve until he comes to understand that Pepper will be "'always in my heart.' / Now I know for sure we'll never be apart." Textured mixed-media illustrations feature the boy, his mother, and their cat in some moving scenes. While the rhymes are awkward in places, the story offers a comforting message.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Lauren Castillo. After herds of buffalo are hunted to the brink of extinction during the late 1800s, Molly begins to raise orphaned buffalo on her own. This quiet fictional story is based on fact and the soft illustrations in muted colors will transport readers back in time to the open fields of Texas. An author's note offers more information about the real Molly. Reading list.

Reviewer: Marika Jeffrey

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Lauren Castillo. While "brandishing her parasol" at a roving pig, Miss Prudence is inadvertently swept off her feet and carried away on the animal's back. Sensory details, colorful exclamations, and lively language patterns add zest to the text. Dynamic illustrations in rich browns, grays, pinks, and reds take readers on an engaging and informative ride through the streets of a turn-of-the-twentieth century city.

Reviewer: Rebecca Hachmyer

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Lauren Castillo. A little girl who lives in Brooklyn meticulously recounts the events of this--and every--Wednesday, describing routines related to breakfast, school, recreation, and bedtime though her precociousness is unconvincing at times). Textured illustrations, which radiate both the beauty and grit of the urban environment, share with the young narrator a cheerful attention to detail.

Reviewer: Amy Lois Cohn