(3) K-3 Illustrated by Alexandra Day. A rural family and their pet menagerie take on mail service to their valley, humans and animals working together. When they notice some residents don't get mail, they contribute letters of their own. The text is minimal, the tale being told largely through Day's narrative illustrations (full-page and spot), which offer many opportunities to notice details in the clever animals' delivery service.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Alexandra Day. The Bell family is at wit's end when their English bull terrier puppy chews everything in sight. Then, after the cliff their house is built on erodes and collapses, Darby chews through the wreckage to save the family. The text--dialogue and the occasional "That night..."--makes abrupt transitions, and the story stretches credulity at the end, but Day's realistic watercolors are highly expressive.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley