(4) K-3 Illustrated by Richard Egielski. On safari in Africa, Peter's adventures--he swings Tarzan-on-a-vine style from a snake, he gets a piggyback ride from a gorilla, etc.--aren't noticed by oblivious Uncle Nigel, whose maxim is "All it takes is a bit of gumption." It's a good yarn with, unfortunately, an anticlimactic ending. Droll illustrations feature tree-branch-like frames that become overgrown with plant life as pages turn.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Richard Egielski. Winter's jaunty text follows a time when Sullivan became tired of setting Gilbert's repetitious plots to music--a conflict resolved by composition of The Mikado. Egielski's vibrantly colored illustrations, with crisp black outlines and a deep Victorian palette, display a wealth of detail--especially effective when using cutaways to show the theater (onstage, backstage, audience, and even the street outside).

Reviewer: Lolly Robinson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2009

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Richard Egielski. While Tony snoozes, his school supplies tackle his writing assignment. The problem, as Yorinks shows through funny, spirited dialogue, is the preponderance of desk-top know-it-alls ("That is the worst beginning I've ever heard," crabs the ballpoint pen). Depicted in Egielski's ink and watercolor cartoons with expressive spindly limbs and wide oval eyes, each argumentative artiste displays a personality befitting its function.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2009

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Richard Egielski. LaRochelle and Egielski tell their story from the end to the beginning, starting with "And they all lived happily ever after." Egielski's pictures, complete with icons of the fairy-tale world, nearly burst off the pages, and the text gallops through the story's riotous events. Youngsters will read this book over and over, from front to back and back again.

Reviewer: Robin L. Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2007

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Richard Egielski. Told in prosaic rhyme, this patriotic paean to America has Lady Liberty heading west to see the country she symbolizes. Although the story seems contemporary, it is the kindler, gentler America of country fairs and cattle drives that greets the errant statue. Some amusing details show up in the paintings. An author's note includes the text of the poem, "The New Colossus."

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Richard Egielski & Richard Egielski. A pumpkin dreams of being as frightening as a scarecrow or the hot sun and gets his wish when children carve him into a jack-o'-lantern. The seasonal story has rhythmic language--"Ho, ho, ho! / He, he, he! / Mice will run / when they see me!"--and just enough scariness to appeal to preschoolers. Egielski's illustrations get darker as the story proceeds and end with mice running away from the jack-o'-lantern with the "zigzag grin."

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Richard Egielski & Richard Egielski. When Binky has to spend the summer with his stuffy aunt and uncle, he finds solace and company when characters from household and kitchen products come to life. (The bears on the Yellow Bear Syrup jar, for instance, eat his unwanted breakfast for him.) The story, accompanied by Egielski's trademark art, is quaint and old-fashioned, but the familiar theme--a child gets magical help when he needs it most--may resonate with readers.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Richard Egielski. Vacillating between doggerel and verse, most of these twenty-six humorous rhymes describe either an insect's trait ("Roaches roam / among the dishes, / inconspicuous / (be suspicious!)") or physical characteristic ("Pallid pill bugs / curl their shells, / when outside's out / then inside's well"). The subject, strong alliteration, and patterned rhyme will appeal to kids, but many of the illustrations overwhelm the slight text.

Reviewer: Betty Carter

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Richard Egielski. Jack Webb of "Dragnet" is clearly the inspiration for Ducktective Web, the lead detective in this witty satire. The straightforward plot delivers an uncomplicated mystery concerning a case of vanishing vegetables. The lampoonery includes familiar preschool territory, with multiple allusions to fairy tales and Mother Goose. The illustrations lend energy to the caper, showing the deadpan ducks hot on the trail.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2001

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Richard Egielski. When Grampa takes Molly to the city to fabulous Flekman's, choosing just one toy proves too hard for her. She completely melts down but comes up smiling when she turns a comforting wet washcloth into a surprisingly versatile toy. The text has some first-class dialogue and memorable funny moments, as do the illustrations, but the tempo and tone are frantic.

Reviewer: Amy Lois Cohn

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Richard Egielski. Christmas Eve finds the Tub People, a group of bath toys, keeping a sleepy vigil for reasons about which they are unclear. Soon they're watching in wonder as a man arrives via the chimney and decorates a tree. As the final touch, St. Nick hangs the Tub People themselves on the tree as ornaments. Large, attractive watercolors adeptly capture the stiff but appealingly rounded toys, but the wordy story strains for a sense of wonder it doesn't achieve.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute