(2) 4-6 Gina Filomena, eleven, has been told that she has an overactive imagination. Few teachers or classmates have seen this as a gift until the new language arts teacher, Miss Lightstone, asks her students to think about the question "Who are you?" and later adds, "Who could you be?" With these two simple yet enormous questions, Gina begins to study and understand herself. Creech's (Love That Dog, rev. 11/01; Saving Winslow, rev. 11/18) newest novel is an invitation to the reader, as much as it is to Gina, to see the world through fresh eyes. What is her friend Antonio talking about when he says he saw a porcupine eating red licorice? How is it that a new kid with an openhearted smile can transform an entire classroom? This is a story about the small events of a child's life--presents arrive from Gina's grandmother in Italy, neighbors move in and out, relatives visit--but through it all Gina discovers, thanks to Miss Lightstone, that she is a writer. "At night I dreamed that I was writing my life. I would be writing rapidly--long, detailed passages about places and people...When I woke, the feeling of that mystery, of that ability to create my life, lingered." Creech's prose is inviting, and the introspective reader will easily relate to Gina's observations of her world; but the book also holds appeal for a wider audience of readers who long for adults to challenge and stretch them as Miss Lightstone challenges her students.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2020

(1) 4-6 Determined, optimistic eleven-year-old Louie and prickly newcomer-to-town Nora bond over Winslow, the frail, orphaned baby donkey that Louie adopts. The main strand of the story involves the ups-and-downs of Winslow's health and then the challenges of keeping a braying donkey in a residential neighborhood. Woven into this narrative is a convincing portrayal of human growth and blossoming and a celebration of the unexpected strength of the vulnerable.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2018

(2) 4-6 Twelve-year-old Reena's family has just moved to coastal Maine. Reena's parents insist that she and her younger brother help an elderly neighbor, and the city kids are soon mucking out the barn for an ornery woman's equally ornery cow. Reena's narrative uses a comfortable combination of prose, poems, and prose poems. The story zips along yet somehow conveys the slow growth of friendship.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2016

(2) 4-6 Marta and John live a quiet life on their farm until one day a sleeping boy appears on the porch. Jacob doesn't speak, but he appears to understand Marta and John, and is able to communicate well with animals. Creech's bittersweet novella is very much the adults' story, but with some child appeal; short chapters are well suited for reading aloud.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2013

(2) 4-6 A strange boy falls out of a tree in Blackbird Tree, USA. Meanwhile, in Ireland, an old woman and her companion talk of murder and revenge. Connections and coincidences pile up; Creech keeps control of her material through her enormously sympathetic narrator, Naomi, painfully honest as she experiences the all-consuming-ness of first love. Though the lessons are overt, they're well worth learning.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2012

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Laura Cornell. A girl describes a year's worth of firsts, both the good (first pony show, first successful rope-skipping) and the bad (first bee sting, first flu). Curtis's rhythm and diction can be faulty ("My sweet Auntie Cookie showed me choices to use"), but Cornell continues to do what she does best: put on paper the uncontainable jubilation of a proud child.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) 4-6 From a tower high above the Swiss countryside, an angel watches over her village and the arrival of Zola, an American girl who turns the place upside down. Readers will delight in Creech's wordplay (fabbagrating, miffled, mishmasheroni) as the angel struggles to make sense of why "peoples" do what they do. A modern fairy tale with an allegorical undercurrent.

Reviewer: Hannah Rodgers Barnaby

(3) K-3 Archie, a worthy successor to Curious George, is a marooned monkey who builds himself a shelter on a tropical island. Soon he's fast friends with an ibis named Clarice and Beatrice the tiger. All's well until "rough and smelly" pirates capture Beatrice, but Archie's wits save the day. Steeped in greens, oranges, and yellows, the pictures in this cheeky story have an old-fashioned, cartoony appeal.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(2) YA This three-part collection includes forty-five autobiographical poems. Part one details Block's teenage years; part two follows her as an adult; part three contains "Love Poems for Girls." Readers will welcome advice from someone who not only understands their pain but also comes out a survivor. Block's poetry embraces the dark and the light: her heartfelt advice acknowledges both roses and thorns.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2008

(3) YA In her trademark sensuous language, Block presents nine short-story snapshots of girls on the cusp of love, sex, self-awareness, and womanhood. A master of juxtaposition, Block sets vividly fluid language and imagery against stark realities for powerful effect ("They would have stayed here all night in spite of the dangers--snakes, coyotes, rapists, goblins"). Edgy dreamers will happily go with Block's flow.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(2) 4-6 Narrator Jack (Love That Dog) continues to address Miss Stretchberry in free verse, exploring what makes a real poem. A kitten he gets for Christmas provides the book's dramatic tension when it disappears; Jack also reveals gradually that his mother is deaf. This volume extends Creech's attempt to make poetry something children can appreciate as part of daily life.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2008

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Laura Cornell. A rhyming text introduces readers to more than a dozen polysyllabic words (cooperate, different, disgusting). Curtis isn't at her best here: readers will already know most of the featured words, and several rhymes are grammatically mystifying ("Responsible people try not to forget / to water Mom's bonsai or the table to set"). Fortunately, Cornell's exuberant kid-celebrating art is up to snuff.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Harry Bliss. Barnyard hen Louise longs for adventure. Leaving home, she's captured by pirates, chased by a lion, and kidnapped at a bazaar. Louise ultimately returns to tell her tales, and the book ends with a contented henhouse. DiCamillo masterfully conveys the fulfillment of sharing stories. Louise's adventures are exciting (and often funny), each dramatically shown in Bliss's sweeping watercolors.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2008

(2) PS Illustrated by Jim McMullan. "Are you BAD? I'm REALLY bad," this T. Rex boasts about his fearsome attributes. The orange, green, and purple swirling sky evokes a volcanic atmosphere against which the commanding cartoon beast appears to live up to his reputation--until he repeatedly fails to catch his prey. Though played for laughs, the story conveys real information about dinosaurs and the Cretaceous Era.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2008

(3) 4-6 After her mother's death, Dessa Dean is housebound and lonely, living with her father in the Colorado mountains in the 1930s. One day a stray dog appears on their porch. Dessa's life begins to change for the better, and she is able to confront her grief and finally begin to heal. This heartwarming story will appeal especially to animal lovers.

Reviewer: Aimee Chevrette Bear

(2) 4-6 Will Tuppence is obsessed with proton decay, chess tournaments, and Saturday night Monopoly. Life throws out unplanned moments, though, and when a whopper comes his way, Will gets a Frank Capraesque opportunity to reassess his situation. Spinelli develops Will as sympathetic before revealing the self-absorbed perfectionist inside. There's sentimentality here, but also a multifaceted character with undeniable charisma.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2008

(4) 4-6 When Charles Stavros joins his tour group, Kevin, a twelve-year-old aspiring writer, becomes suspicious that the red bag Stavros carries contains something dangerous. Kevin decides to make it his mission to see what Stavros is really up to. The story raises interesting questions about post-9/11 stereotypes, but with an anticlimactic ending, it fails to leave a lasting impression.

Reviewer: Aimee Chevrette Bear

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by David Diaz. The story begins with a mysterious rider dropping a pouch adorned with the royal seal; peasant children Pia and Enzio must decide what to do with it. With precise language and recurring motifs echoed by Diaz's chapter-opening illustrations, Creech weaves her characters into a delicate tapestry. The book's prettiness and Creech's always-evocative writing make it a pleasant foray into a fairy-tale world.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2007

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Harry Bliss. Like Diary of a Worm and Diary of a Spider, this book relays real-life information through Cronin's impeccable comedic timing in a way that makes the facts memorable. Bliss's illustrations, including additional pictures on the endpapers, incorporate many witty details. The short sentences and visual jokes make this a great selection for listeners and new readers alike.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2008

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Amanda Shepherd. When "half a moon shines through her window," Fiona wakes up, leaves her room, and goes out to explore the nocturnal world. She stargazes, sings to a mockingbird, and visits her night garden of angels' trumpets and moonflowers. Gentle, rhythmic text skims across the pages like cool night air, accompanied by deep-hued impressionistic paintings.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz