(2) PS Illustrated by Bruce Whatley. Sedentary Wombat embarks on an eventful Christmas Eve journey, transforming from homebody to world traveler. Wombat repeatedly stumbles across its favorite snack (carrots), stares down some reindeer, and curls up for naps on the back of Santa's sleigh. Succinct sentences and episodic pacing allow the adventures to speak for themselves. With their spare backgrounds, the illustrations play up Wombat's personality.

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2012

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Chris Beatrice & Bruce Whatley. Paper engineering Kees Moerbeek. In this complex pop-up book, a crow hovers a foot above the page and a goose lays a life-sized golden egg. The illustrations, in great contrast to the spare stories themselves, are lush (verging on garish). Children will certainly be attracted to the elaborate paper engineering.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(2) PS Illustrated by Bruce Whatley. Little otter Martha doesn't like to share. But when her parents and baby brother walk away, Martha finds that playing alone isn't as much fun. Berger keeps the story very simple and treats Martha's change of heart with respect. Whatley's watercolor and colored-pencil illustrations stay clean and focused, too, against white backgrounds; the large, clear pictures make this a good choice for groups.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2010

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Bruce Whatley. In this Diary of a Wombat sequel, the baby wombat meets an equally adorable human baby, and an interspecies friendship blossoms. Economy of voice ("Monday. Early morning: Slept") is reflected in the understated illustrations. Set against expansive white backdrops, spreads invite readers to slow down and examine the characters; readers will howl, for example, when the baby wombat scratches his backside on a tree.

Reviewer: Robin L. Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2010

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Bruce Whatley. A pet parrot asks its owner, a rich Persian merchant traveling to India, to tell the parrots there about its wonderful golden cage. Upon receiving the message the parrots fall over, apparently dead--craftily sending an escape-method message to their caged mate. Despite some stereotyping in text and illustrations, this amiable tale is effective in its own obvious way.

Reviewer: Barbara Bader

(3) PS Illustrated by Bruce Whatley. Martha is unrepentant when she makes mischief--until she discovers the price she must pay for being obnoxious to her family. What ratchets this simple story up a notch are the hilarious illustrations of nose-in-the-air Martha, who stays prissy in pink even as she plays her drum kit next to her sleeping baby brother.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Bruce Whatley. With humor and the voice of a naturalist, French shares her knowledge of and first-hand experiences with wombats. A nonfiction companion to her successful picture book, Diary of a Wombat, this title introduces the life cycle, behavior, habitat, and anatomy of Australia's lesser-known marsupial; black-and-white drawings complement the journal-like text. An index and reading list would have enhanced the presentation.

Reviewer: Tamara DePasquale

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Bruce Whatley. "Kangaroos don't dance," protests Josephine's little brother, but that doesn't stop our heroine. When the ballet comes to town and the lead ballerinas are injured, Josephine comes to the rescue, realizing her dream of dancing in a tutu and pointe shoes. Set on pink backgrounds, the lively illustrations convey movement and reflect the humorous Australian-flavored text.

Reviewer: Amy Kellman

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Bruce Whatley. Sal, daughter of Pecos Bill and Slue Foot Sue, wants a pet. She acquires two hamsters, which quickly multiply to thousands. To solve the problem, Sal, Bill, and his crew round up the hamsters to drive them to Abilene, then Chicago ("City kids love hamsters"). Muted tan-heavy watercolors on clean, expansive white backgrounds play it straight, reining in the tall-tale elements.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Bruce Whatley. Edith Rosenbaum brings a pig-shaped music box aboard the Titanic. On the night of the boat's sinking, she refuses to get in a lifeboat until a sailor mistakes her bundle (the pig) for a baby and throws it into a boat full of children. Rosenbaum jumps in and distracts them with the pig's music. Affecting illustrations help tell a fresh story from Titanic lore.

Reviewer: Connie ANn Kirk

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Bruce Whatley. In this reworking of the Christmas carol, children bring animals, not apples, for their teacher, who sings of "Three fat rats, / Two buzzing bees / And a python that didn't squeeze me." It's pleasant enough to watch the menagerie grow in Whatley's colorful, occasionally stilted illustrations, but one might wonder how the rats survive for all those days with a python slithering about.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Bruce Whatley. A cow named Pamela loves pears and will go to any length to get them. A girl named Amy loves pears, too, and outfoxes her ravenous cow by preparing a banquet of the fruit, saturating even the bovine's voracious appetite. The good-natured, briskly told story is matched by expressive, humorous paintings that effectively employ ample white space.

Reviewer: Amy Lois Cohn

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Bruce Whatley. "Morning: slept. Afternoon: slept. Evening: Ate grass." A wombat's diary gets more interesting after she acquires human neighbors, who "provide" her with treats (carrots plundered from their garden), a worthy enemy (their welcome mat), and the perfect scratching post (their patio furniture). The play between the dry text and droll illustrations is effective, and it's further enhanced by the clean page design.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Bruce Whatley. Elizabeth's parents overrule her pet suggestions with excuses from allergies to loud barking. Not quite satisfied with the cactus plant her parents have given her, she finally comes up with a pet that doesn't bark or shed: Doug the bug. Short sentences make this bouncy story good for new readers. Whatley works lots of funny pet-related details into his realistic paintings, and the clean white backgrounds make the colors pop.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke

(4) PS Illustrated by Bruce Whatley. The illustrations that accompany the lyrics to this familiar Christmas song tell the sentimental story of a puppy that sneaks into Santa's sleigh at the North Pole and then follows him down the chimney at a young boy's house. The large, full-page paintings provide details of Santa's flight and of the boy and his family's Christmas Eve preparations. A musical score is included on the endpapers.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Bruce Whatley. Illustrations of a girl and her dog enjoying nature's wonders while relaxing and doing light chores on a farm accompany couplets from the well-known hymn. Although the pictures focus the reader's attention more on the girl than on her natural surroundings, the book still offers a quiet reflection on God's presence in the world. Music is included at the book's end.

Reviewer: Anne St. John

(3) PS Harper Growing Tree series. Ten well-known nursery rhymes, including "Hey Diddle Diddle," "Humpty Dumpty," and "Wee Willy Winkie," make up this Mother Goose collection. Each rhyme is accompanied by simple, uncluttered illustrations, making it a cheerful choice for young listeners.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley