(4) K-3 Illustrated by Julia Patton. A cat narrates this story about gassy dog Stinker, who's "lived most of his life locked up in the pound." Recounting a number of failed matches with potential owners, the upbeat cat repeatedly promises a happy ending ("I don't do depressing!"), which eventually come to pass (along with lots of gas). As farting dog stories go, this is mildly amusing; the mixed-media illustrations are more engaging.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Julia Patton. Each of a dozen spreads begins with a note to Ms. Mary Math from a different (fictional) child with a nonstandard math-related question (e.g., "Can the raindrops squish [mosquitoes]?"). Alongside Ms. Math's spirited answers are illustrations that finesse the humor in the kids' questions (e.g., an anthropomorphized raindrop terrorizes a mosquito). Back matter expands on Ms. Math's replies. Reading list, websites. Glos.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Julia Patton. At an apple orchard, a red-haired girl and mom pick apples and help turn them into cider. The bouncy rhyming text celebrates the process and all things fall: scarecrows, mums, and the festival of pies and apple cider donuts at book's end. Cartoonish illustrations bursting with greens, oranges, and russets are a touch askew, with popped perspectives and mysterious hands operating the cider press.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Julia Patton. Peanut butter, jelly, and bread equal a great sandwich, but where do the components originate? The text takes readers back from markets to delivery trucks to bakeries and factories to farms to seeds, always returning to the same banal description of a grocery trip. Ample white space lets the retro illustrations shine; a final page shows the story's five kids ebulliently chowing down.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges