(4) K-3 Illustrated by Valorie Fisher. Venturing into the new five-and-dime store, Benny discovers some highly unusual merchandise: a flying toaster, sword-wielding clock, etc. To help attract customers, he suggests some sparkly star decorations. Though the story--told with a blend of rebuses and text--isn't particularly meaty, young readers will enjoy decoding the puzzles. A couple of the mixed-media illustrations have too-blurry backgrounds, but the wacky wares grab attention.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Valorie Fisher. Tomorrow is the first day of school. Nine-year-old Moxy still hasn't started her summer assignment--to read Stuart Little--and she's running out of excuses. This original story features a chatty omniscient narrator, faux-amateur black-and-white photos (ostensibly taken by Moxy's twin brother), and a spunky, creative protagonist whose name is well matched to her spirited personality.

Reviewer: Nell Beram | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2007

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Valorie Fisher. "There was an old man of Dumbree, / Who taught little owls to drink tea." Fisher combines objects, etchings, and other media to create tableaux as nonsensical as those described in the fifteen Lear poems collected here. Fisher's blend of reality with fantasy produces surreal scenes that adult readers may find pleasantly reminiscent of Monty Python. The book concludes with a biographical note on Lear.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke