(2) K-3 Illustrated by Rob Dunlavey. When a whale dies, its body sinks to the ocean floor, and the end of its life marks the beginning of an entire new ecosystem composed of bottom-dwelling species. Stewart's restrained text steps through each phase in decomposition, noting how the whale's tissue serves as food for waves of scavengers and, over the course of several decades, allows a thriving ecosystem to develop. The featured species have quite elaborate names: hagfish and sleeper sharks arrive first, followed by roughscale rattails, snubnose eelpouts, and grooved tanner crabs, and then such "mini-munchers" as amphipods, Oregon hair crabs, hooded shrimp, and sea pigs. When only bones remain, zombie worms, and finally bacteria, complete their dissolution. Other equally interestingly named species feast on the scavengers, forming the chains and webs of organism relationships. Dunlavey's striking waterscapes gently portray death and the new life that flourishes in its aftermath, with inset close-ups that highlight the anatomical details of the smallest of the ocean creatures. End notes provide facts and figures about the animals and a list of resources to learn more about ocean environments.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2023

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Rob Dunlavey. Once again Elliott (On the Farm, rev. 3/08; In the Sea, rev. 1/12; and others) captures the essence of a habitat and its creatures in poetry that manages to be both pithy and profound. Here fifteen poems, each on its own double-page spread, are devoted to animals of the forest. As in previous volumes, some poems are clever and funny ("Give the skunk / a lot of / room, unless / you care for / strong perfume"); others are almost elegiac in tone. A few are concrete poems, including "The Hornet," arranged in the shape of a hornet's nest. Dunlavey's art is not as in-your-face spectacular as that by some of the previous illustrators of the series but is perfect for setting and subject. His expansive watercolor and mixed-media illustrations feature aptly muted hues, with occasional bright spots: the red flash of a scarlet tanager; the pink of a wild turkey's neck. The compositions are focused and compelling--the viewer knows exactly where to look on every spread. It's worth lingering to find details of interest, however. A fox on the hunt "stands red /against the April snow," and our eye is caught and held by the intensity of her expression and posture. But look closely to see a squirrel clinging, unmoving, to the far side of a tree, and a vole hiding in an underground burrow. An ideal marriage of poetry and art; another successful entry in a long-running and (seemingly) perennially renewable series.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2020

(1) PS Illustrated by Rob Dunlavey. In this elegantly simple book, a little owl leaves its nest and flies out into the deep blue night of the forest. Most double-page spreads have just four words; some phrases describe the scene, others convey the sensation of flying. The moonlit scenes are luminous and peaceful. This book, with its reverse text as the owl flies back home, has great bedtime appeal.

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

(4) PS Illustrated by Rob Dunlavey. In clever rhyming text, an increasing number of crows clad in red-and-white-striped shirts gobble up a variety of tasty foods, all of which can be counted, providing many basic-math lessons. Pencil illustrations enhanced with digitally rendered reds contain plenty of details to pore over. Unfortunately, the book is marred by some visual flaws (e.g., the text mentions peas, the art shows peapods).

Reviewer: Grace Worcester Greene

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Rob Dunlavey. Set in the wetlands of the Mississippi River Delta, this book relates the actions of bayou wildlife as a hurricane approaches, occurs, and abates; creatures scurry for shelter, endure the onslaught, and survive the storm. Both the text's shifting cadence and Dunlavey's mixed-media illustrations artfully capture the dark, foreboding nature of the approaching storm, its fury, and the calm after. Author's note. Websites.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Rob Dunlavey. A teary dandelion down to its last few seedpods shares with Sparrow its wish to be remembered; Sparrow decides to write the dandelion's "story" in some nearby dirt. A storm washes away the words, but the pods ultimately create new dandelions--the dandelion's "children." The story is not quite maudlin, and its cotton-soft art is just shy of treacle.

Reviewer: Nell Beram