(2) PS Illustrated by Jing Jing Tsong. Two adults and two kids pack up their things and set out on a camping ­adventure. The children are fascinated by the sights Mother Nature has to offer, stopping to explore in wonder everything that they see and using all their senses to do so. Their enjoyment of nature, big ­spiders included, is palpable. ­Zimmerman's text is a set of conditional statements ("If I were a tree...") that imagines what a tree feels, tastes, smells, hears, and sees--even what a tree might be, know, and love. The text's consistent rhymes ("I'd feel nests on my bark, bats hiding till dark") flow smoothly and capture the many details that the children observe--from worms to "minerals in mud" to "the sneeze of a mole." The book's final rhymes incorporate lyrical metaphors that could apply easily to the socio-emotional side of human lives: "I'd know branches can bend, and cold spells will end, / That spring will renew, and life carries through." Tsong's ­illustrations center a happy ­multiracial family. The pictures, created via ­printmaking techniques and digitally assembled, are highly textured, some even appearing to incorporate oversized fingerprints. Lush, lively greens pop off the page. An appended spread provides tips about using "your five senses" to "get to know" trees.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2021

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Jing Jing Tsong. Rhyming text describes animals' coverings--rendered in large, bright illustrations--concluding with the only animal that wears clothes: "you!" Suggesting animals "wear" their coverings anthropomorphizes them, and some of the coloring seems confusing. Nevertheless, the catchy rhymes and bold close-ups will appeal to young readers. Includes five pages of additional information about the animals.

Reviewer: Janet Dawson

(4) PS Illustrated by Jing Jing Tsong. A lullaby-like poem, full of gentle repetition, recounts a mother's relationship with her baby before and after birth. The pattern-rich digital collages have a lovely dreamlike quality, but the deep hues almost swallow the delicate font in some places. The same mother is depicted throughout, lending a personal touch to an otherwise generic, sentimental text with appeal for pregnant women and new mothers.

Reviewer: Miriam Steinberg-Egeth

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Jing Jing Tsong. No longer safe in Berlin during WWII, Marcus and his Jewish family settle in Shanghai. For the holiday of Sukkot, Marcus and his new Chinese friend build a sukkah that also brings in traditions from the Chinese Moon Festival. Though the moral is sentimental and the illustrations occasionally stiff, the story's unusual backdrop--discussed further in the appended historical note--adds interest.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Jing Jing Tsong. In this retelling of an Indian myth, a village is desperate for rain. Monkey must bring a bucket of water up a mountain so that Peacock can perform a rain dance. But will there be any water left when he reaches the top? The lush, rainbow-hued block-print and digitally rendered illustrations--with several especially striking full-spread scenes--are the real draw here.

Reviewer: Chelsey Philpot