(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Tuesday Mourning. Dress-loving engineer Ellie navigates prescriptive gender roles and interpersonal misunderstandings in this middle-grade STEAM-championing series. Ellie prepares a doghouse for best friend Kit's birthday in the opener; in Next, Ellie and friends help an elderly neighbor woman, who gives boy Toby all the credit for Ellie's projects. Sufficient action and tension, enjoyable inventions, and appealing characters balance the stories' messaging. Illustrations include engineering sketches. Review covers these titles: Ellie, Engineer and Ellie, Engineer: The Next Level.

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Tuesday Mourning. Dress-loving engineer Ellie navigates prescriptive gender roles and interpersonal misunderstandings in this middle-grade STEAM-championing series. Ellie prepares a doghouse for best friend Kit's birthday in the opener; in Next, Ellie and friends help an elderly neighbor woman, who gives boy Toby all the credit for Ellie's projects. Sufficient action and tension, enjoyable inventions, and appealing characters balance the stories' messaging. Illustrations include engineering sketches. Review covers these titles: Ellie, Engineer and Ellie, Engineer: The Next Level.

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Tuesday Mourning. An easygoing, enjoyable sequel to The Two and Only Kelly Twins, this short chapter book features more everyday episodes of suburban twins Arlene and Ilene, including losing a tooth, having a separate sleepover, and a lice outbreak. The girls ultimately realize they'll always be twins, even if they don't do everything exactly the same. Mourning's attractive watercolor illustrations zero in on key moments.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee

(3) PS Illustrated by Tuesday Mourning. Lighthearted couplets (an appropriate form) describe various activities a single-parent, one-child family can share throughout the seasons. In summer, for example, "Two is enough / for a double-scoop treat, / For sand castle contests, / for splashing our feet." The warm illustrations for this pleasant and useful book feature four diverse little families (grandmother-grandson, father-daughter, etc.) enjoying their own company.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Tuesday Mourning. Hurwitz is spot on with the interplay between second-grade twin girls in this beginning chapter book. Arlene and Ilene do absolutely everything together, until Arlene gets sick and must go to the hospital. The pair's give-and-take rings true, natural language flows nicely, and Mourning's watercolor spot and full-page illustrations highlight points in the story well.

Reviewer: Betty Carter

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Tuesday Mourning. In this sequel to Princess Peepers, the Royal Academy for Perfect Princesses is putting on a pet show--but the book's protagonist doesn't own a pet. Even if the misunderstanding-based plot isn't all that compelling, Peepers is irreverent enough to please tomboys but princess-y enough for the princess-obsessed. The art is full of impeccable lines, rich colors, and couture-ish finery.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Tuesday Mourning. When her mom enrolls her in a summer cooking class, Evie is determined to impress her celebrity chef father and his new wife with a delicious home-cooked meal. Issues of divorce and stepfamilies, along with budding unexpected friendships, are sensitively explored. Occasional spot illustrations decorate the pages, and each chapter concludes with one of Evie's favorite recipes.

Reviewer: Sophie Williamson

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Tuesday Mourning. Here's a clever concept book to pore over, laugh at, and try to imitate. In brief vignettes, three or four rhyming words tell a story. Collage illustrations help connect the words and encourage readers to guess what's coming next. Distinctive background colors--bright pinks, yellows, blues, and fuchsias--hold the individual tales together and signal readers when a new story has started.

Reviewer: Robin L. Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2009

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Tuesday Mourning. Princess Peepers adores her glasses, but after her peers razz her about them, she tries (futilely) to function specs-free; Mourning's visuals, heavy with purples and pinks, deliver the slapstick. Peepers reconsiders her specs for a less than practical reason (the prince wears them, too), but the story feels fresh throughout--no easy feat for a princess book.

Reviewer: Nell Beram