(4) K-3 Illustrated by Tim Raglin. In this "Twelve Days of Christmas" takeoff, a ghoulish-looking man and woman in Restoration-era clothes celebrate Halloween with "eight brooms a-flying, seven spiders creeping," etc. The text comes to an abrupt and disappointing ending, though there is some inventiveness to the way each new set of gifts is added to the humorous illustrations. This new edition has been slightly redesigned.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Tim Raglin. This prose retelling of Shakespeare's romantic comedy of mistaken identities provides young readers with a shorter and simpler version of one of the bard's most popular plays. The text, which retains snippets of the original language, is sprightly enough to keep pace with the many plot twists and turns. Colored pen-and-ink drawings ably interpret the spirited goings-on.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Tim Raglin. With help from an ill-tempered, Rumpelstiltskin-esque crone, a doltish mother and father try to get their baby to eat, a quest which entails finding a wild yak to provide them with "yak juice." Farcical caricatures of the Slavic-seeming couple and the crone who can't believe their uselessness--even the baby seems to have more sense--enhance the text's boisterous humor.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Tim Raglin. Tired of Lamburgers and Sloppy Does for dinner, Little Wolf stalls off another unappetizing meal by pretending he's seen a boy in the woods, thereby sending his parents on a frantic search-and-capture mission. After falling for the same trick twice, they resolve to ignore Little Wolf the next time he cries "Boy." The pen-and-ink illustrations emphasize comic exaggeration in this upside-down version of the familiar fable.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2002

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Tim Raglin. A self-important swindler becomes mayor of Felicity-by-the-Lake, and he and his wife scheme to claim all that is valuable and beautiful for themselves. Their plans are subverted by a clever cat who teams up with the couple's foster daughter to spur the townspeople into action. Plot and characters are drawn with broad comedic strokes, and Bauer's light treatment prevents the moral from overshadowing the story.

Reviewer: Anne St. John | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2000

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Tim Raglin. In a takeoff on the traditional "Twelve Days of Christmas," a spooky-looking man and woman in Restoration-era clothes celebrate Halloween with "eight brooms a-flying, seven spiders creeping, six owls a-screeching," and so on. The derivative poem comes to an abrupt and disappointing ending, though there is some inventiveness to the way each new set of gifts is added to the humorous illustrations.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta