(3) K-3 Illustrated by Gus Gordon. "The Catawampus Cat arrived early on a Tuesday morning...slightly askew." The sight of this diagonally oriented cat causes the townspeople to literally, then mentally, shift their perspectives. (True to feline form, once the whole bustling town is askew, the kitty straightens out and saunters away.) This funny celebration of the value of thinking differently is accompanied by lively mixed-media illustrations reminiscent of Oliver Jeffers's.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Gus Gordon. Cow Nadine claims fearlessness yet is secretly afraid of the dark woods. When challenged, she enters the woods anyway, discovering its delights, and her own bravery...until night falls. Playful mixed-media and collage illustrations outshine the rhyming narrative with a somewhat muddled message about fear: "She was scared of the woods. / But so what? She could smile / because nobody knew it."

Reviewer: Pam Yosca