(4) PS Illustrated by Todd McKie. This book introduces a menagerie of creatures. Some are identified, while others are described in occasionally uneven rhyme for readers to name. Per the title, some of the descriptions are indeed funny ("If I were looking for a pillow, / I would not choose an armadillo"), while others just rhyme. Abstract paintings suggest the animals with few colors and loose shapes.

Reviewer: Rita Soltan

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Todd McKie. Jessica and her grandfather create a painting together, with the older generation guiding the younger, first through the mixing of colors and then giving her helpful hints about making the paint "sing." Spread by spread, the pair add images to the painting: first the "slithery snake," then a green bug, a rock, and so on, until the entire painting is ready, a true masterpiece of the kindergarten oeuvre.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Todd McKie. Lines from a traditional African-American spiritual inspired this creation story. The brief, rhyming verse has a singsongy quality that diminishes the grandeur of the story's accomplishment: "He made all the creatures, / Made them one by one, / Put them in the sun to dry / As soon as they were done." Rendered in a naïve style, the crayon-bright acrylic paintings strengthen the verse with humor and charm.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute