(3) K-3 Illustrated by Jimmy Liao. Naturally good-natured and kind, young Filbert doesn't fall in line with Mommy and Daddy Fiend's "fiendish" exploits. When Filbert meets Florinda, a troublemaking angel, the pair concocts a plan to show the adults that they are both fine just the way they are. Friendly watercolor and gouache illustrations with electric colors and silly details are befitting a story about individuality and acceptance.

Reviewer: Sheila M. Geraty

(3) PS Illustrated by Jimmy Liao. After her father tells her it's bedtime, Stella has trouble getting three of her stuffed animals to sleep: they're competing to be "the world champion of staying awake." The story's role-reversal element is a bit of parental wish-fulfillment--Stella herself drifts right off--but it's nevertheless entertaining. Versatile illustrator Liao's watercolors succeed at depicting both tight vignettes and expansive fantastical scenes.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) PS Illustrated by Jimmy Liao. A young boy can be anything: a "snowball smoother," a "baby-sis soother," a "cross-legged sitter," or a "make-believe critter" in this amusing rhyming book. Watercolor and acrylic illustrations celebrate the ordinary while imagining the unusual roles that a kid can play with a little bit of creativity, energy, and a sense of the ridiculous.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) PS Illustrated by Jimmy Liao. Jo-Jo's fear of what's under the bed is well founded. A hungry monster who lives there sucks the dark out of everything until there's no darkness left, creating confusion (owls oversleep, bats hang right-side up, etc.). The imaginative art keeps up with an inventive story that just gets more and more surreal as it goes along.

Reviewer: Nell Beram