(3) K-3 Illustrated by Mark Graham. "I am a dancer each morning / as I shimmy out of bed..." This paean to movement uses spare, sophisticated, lyrical text to describe a child's vision: "Sometimes I am a dancer / to a silent throb / that makes me / spin and sway / and try to fly." Painterly illustrations in muted hues display the various expressions of movement.

Reviewer: Amy Kellman

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Mark Graham. After Mrs. Smith banishes naughty Chérie to a corner, the kitten squeezes through a crack and discovers a place where some baby animals are even naughtier. The book seems willfully anachronistic, with its old-fashioned prose ("'Oh, Little Chérie! What have you done?' Mrs. Smith cried") and pushy lesson-learning, but the story is somewhat engaging and the painterly illustrations usually get it right.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Mark Graham. Emerson's familiar poem and prayer of thanksgiving for the natural world finds its modern complement in Graham's impressionistic paintings, which depict a family's overnight hike in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah. Both Emerson's evocative words and Graham's lush illustrations, in which the landscape is the dominant character, convey a reverence for nature. A short biography of Emerson is appended.

Reviewer: Erica L. Stahler

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Mark Graham. In lyrical prose, a little girl's father tells of the preparations that led up to her Christmas birth. The lighting of the candles in the family's Advent wreath connects the story of the girl's birth to the joy surrounding the Nativity. The formal, poetic text seems oddly distanced from the father and child pictured in the sentimental paintings, which feature the rosy-cheeked family members awaiting the girl's birth.

Reviewer: Anne St. John

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Mark Graham. When a blackout disrupts her sleepover, Sarah, who has been blind since birth, shows her cousins how to have fun in the dark. Although it's gratifying to see Sarah participate with her cousins and then take charge, the story is otherwise pedestrian and has stilted dialogue. The impressionistic paintings depict scenes in both light and darkness.

Reviewer: Emma Loy-Santelli

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Mark Graham. Annie watches Miss Opal's possessions being auctioned off before the elderly woman moves to an apartment, and she remembers the happy times they've spent together. Attractive oil paintings show the intergenerational companions baking, gardening, and making ice cream, as well as observing the sale of well-loved items. The gentle story celebrates a loving relationship and the bittersweet beginning of a new stage of Miss Opal's life.

Reviewer: Anne St. John

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Mark Graham. Fifth grade is a big year for Adam in this sequel to A Llama in the Family. He includes his pet llamas in the celebration at the library; he becomes friends with Alana, a new girl in his class; and when his mother goes into labor unexpectedly, he and Alana assist with the delivery. A brief episode in which Adam mistakenly thinks Alana has been killed in an accident seems out of place, but otherwise, the fast-paced story is told with humor.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley