(2) PS Illustrated by Ponder Goembel. It all begins with a simple question posed by a hungry toddler's mother: "What will you say when the doorbell rings and we open the door?" asks Mom. "Hi, Pizza Man!" replies the child. Then Mom poses a series of questions. "What if it's not a pizza man? What if it's a pizza woman?...a pizza kitty?...a pizza duck? Then what will you say?" And the game rolls on in this funny, imaginative book, ideal for reading aloud.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc. | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 1995

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Ponder Goembel. Hopkins's collection of lighthearted poetry includes verse by W. H. Auden, Langston Hughes, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, and Prince Redcloud. In some of the poems, flying is a metaphor, but most are more concrete, imagining what it might be like to have wings. The fanciful pen-and-ink and acrylic illustrations work well for the subject matter.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Ponder Goembel. Old Man Gator starts tapping out a swamp beat. One by one other creatures join in: Ibis flippity-flaps, Bullfrog crickity-croaks, Red Fox yippity-yips; soon the whole swamp is singing. The otherwise realistic-looking animals are clad in hats, vests, etc. The rhymed text ("Dragonfly's wings / add to the beat. / He's chasin' mosquitoes / and lookin' to eat") will work well for read-alouds.

Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Ponder Goembel. Morrow's text buzzes along in bouncy rhyme as tuxedo-clad Mr. Mosquito arrives at the insect ball, joins in the dancing, then helps save the day after a bear threatens the festivities. The story's wit is amplified by Goembel's ink and acrylic wash pictures starring festively costumed insects that are fairly anatomically accurate without being repugnant to the bug-phobic.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2009

(4) PS Illustrated by Ponder Goembel. All the mamas on the farm have to leave their babies on occasion; in this story, they always return. The text's reassuring message, reinforced in a gentle refrain, is brought home by a farmer mama reunited with baby at the end of the day. Though the humans are a little stiff, readers will be drawn to the realistic-looking animals.

Reviewer: Lisa Catherine Findlay

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Ponder Goembel. How did the ancient supercontinent break up to become separate continents? Every night in that long-ago time, the rumbling snores of dinosaurs caused the earth to shake, rock, and finally split apart. Though the rhyme is occasionally awkward, this tongue-in-cheek history is accompanied by humorous illustrations of sleeping, snoring dinosaurs, complete with their blankies and stuffed animals.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Ponder Goembel. Old Cricket evades his wife's and his neighbors' requests to help prepare for winter by claiming various ailments such as a creak in the knee and a crick in the neck. But when hungry Old Crow comes caw-cawing to eat him for lunch, Old Cricket hightails it toward home with a real crack, crick, and creak and helps his wife without complaint. Expressive illustrations energize the critters in this rollicking alliterative tale.

Reviewer: Pamela McCuen

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Ponder Goembel. When Moo, a not-so-contented cow, goes to sea, she is blown overboard in a storm. A pirate cattle barge rescues her, and she and the pirate chief, Red Angus, fall in love. Seeing Moo as his "dairy queen," Angus decides to reform, and, after a wedding at sea, they retire to the Jersey shore. This book-length, pun-filled poem is amusing, and the acrylic paintings give Moo and Angus real personality.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Ponder Goembel. When Iguana's dewlap droops and her skin peels, she decides it's time to leave her comfortable life with her human friend and "almost sister," Alison Frogley. Iguana heads to Key West, where she enjoys the high life until her luck and allowance run out. Text and illustrations contain a slyly humorous balance of fantasy and realism, making the surreal seem plausible. Iguana is a well-developed character on an intriguing odyssey.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 1999

(3) PS Compact, rhyming phrases printed in large, bold type compare daytime and nighttime animals: "Brook trout cruises / Catfish snoozes." The animals are realistically drawn, and each of the watercolor and colored pencil illustrations overlaps its surrounding pages, giving the feeling that you are taking a walk on a country farm.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.