(4) 1-3 Hound Town Chronicles series. Illustrated by Tom Connell. Three-Legged, Trapped!, and Newfie tell stories of fully trained working dogs that save characters from serious danger. Indy follows a puppy through his first year, learning basic commands before his specialized guide-dog training. Each purposeful story focuses on the dog's remarkable skills and interactions with humans. Static but cheery illustrations accompany the texts and discussion questions are appended. There are four other spring 2017 books in this series. Glos. Review covers these Hound Town Chronicles titles: Three-Legged Hero: A Military Dog Story, Newfie to the Rescue!: A Lifeguard Dog Story, Trapped!: A Search-and-Rescue Dog Story, and My Indy: A Guide Dog Story.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(4) 4-6 Cold Whispers II series. Illustrated by Tom Connell. These not-too-scary hi-lo horror stories rely on setting to create a chilling atmosphere with a mystery twist. The stories are mildly entertaining, and all are resolved with happy endings. The illustrators' styles vary in quality, but all tend toward a generic comic-book look. "What Do You Think?" questions are appended. Glos. Review covers these Cold Whispers II titles: Doomed on Death Row, Fright at the Freemont Library, Terror in the Underground Tunnel, and The Vampire's Lair.

Reviewer: Lauren Chambers