(2) K-3 Translated by Helen Mixter. Illustrated by Jiu Er. The motif of an orphaned wild creature taken and raised by humans is a classic trope, here embodied in a realistic story about a baby moose adopted by the hunter who had inadvertently killed the calf's mother. The setting is, matter-of-factly rather than exotically, contemporary Inner Mongolia, and the hunter, a kind old man who names the moose Xiao Han, Little Moose. Xiao Han's growing size (and hunger!) provides plenty of gentle slapstick humor as he becomes increasingly too much for the hunter and his reindeer herd; the hunter's encroaching mortality offers an additional emotional layer. Watercolor and charcoal pictures--some sepia-toned, some delicately colorful--are plentiful and detailed, with a good variety of picture sizes, from small homey vignettes, several to a page, to double-page spreads showing the magnificence of the (sometimes comical) beast and the breadth of the forest landscape.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2020

(4) K-3 Translated by Helen Mixter. Illustrated by Aurélia Fronty. Each spread in this picture book begins with the line "I have the right . . ." Serres emphasizes that all children have the same freedoms, including the right to food, clean water, shelter, and a peaceful existence. Vivid colors in Fronty's naïve-style paintings enliven the sometimes ponderous text. A helpful author's note discusses the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Reviewer: Lisa Catherine Findlay

(4) 4-6 Translated by Helen Mixter. The sudden death of young Harvey's father and the disorienting grief that follows is hauntingly portrayed in this story of how loss rips an ordinary life apart. While the bleak palette and flat style of the illustrations match the emotional tone of the book brilliantly, the utterly unresolved ending makes the audience for this cheerless, albeit heartfelt, illustrated novel difficult to determine.

Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac

(3) K-3 Translated by Helen Mixter. Illustrated by Luc Melanson. The narrator of this heartwarming book thinks his "great big mama" is just the right size. When she decides to go on a diet, he does too, "to show her how stupid it is." Digital illustrations show an exaggeratedly large, rounded mother in a red-orange dress. The pictures radiate the love, comfort, and security the boy feels in Mamma's presence.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert