(4) K-3 All Aboard Reading series. This early-reader biography details how its subjects became the biggest names in skateboarding history and helped draw attention to the sport with their stunts and annual appearance in the Vert Doubles Competition at the X Games. While the text could benefit from more and better-quality photos of the skateboarders in action, it does a creditable job of explaining skateboarding moves and lingo. Glos.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann

(3) K-3 All Aboard Reading series. Illustrated by Mark Rowe & Mark Rowe. Thanks to the motion picture, many people are now familiar with the story of the famous race horse of the Depression. This easy reader tells his story with short sentences that encourage readers without making the text too choppy. The plot focuses on his races and his relationship with trainer Tom Smith. Rowe's simple color art on every page is joined by several photos of the horse himself.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(3) K-3 All Aboard Reading series. Illustrated by Larry Day & Larry Day. Beginning readers are introduced to the first all-iron warship built--why it was needed, its brief stint at sea and eventual sinking, and how it was found and brought back to the surface. Illustrations rich with black line illustrate the text and provide diagrams of the Monitor and the Virginia, its Confederate rival.

Reviewer: Jeannine M. Chapman

(3) K-3 All Aboard Reading series. Illustrated by Cindy Revell. Narrator Reese asks his robot for help finding a friend's kitten. When the robot finally learns what a kitten is, he realizes that it has been curled up inside his own body the whole time. This easy reader, which features an accessible format, light humor, and usually just one sentence per page, will succeed with its intended audience. Revell's angular, stylized illustrations contain helpful visual clues.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(3) K-3 All Aboard Reading series. Illustrated by Cindy Revell & Cindy Revell. Reese is excited to bring Robot to show-and-tell, but Ben and his parrot Polly make it a competition to see who has the better companion. The issue is resolved by the teacher's suggestion that perhaps Reese and Ben can be friends because Robot and Polly are. Quirky illustrations, simple sentences, and a clear plot will engage the intended audience.

Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden

(4) K-3 All Aboard Reading series. Illustrated by Esther Szegedy. When young Ed attends his family reunion with Big Ed, Little Ed, Red Ed, Well-Fed Ed, and Bed-Head Ed, he wishes he, too, could have a nickname. He tries every activity in his search for a moniker, ending up "Ed the Potato Sack Champ." Simple and repetitive enough for beginning readers but with a flat ending, this book is illustrated with cartoony art.

Reviewer: Susan Halperin

(3) K-3 All Aboard Reading series. Illustrated by Turi MacCombie. This brief book provides basic information--e.g., care of young, eating habits, migration patterns--about different kinds of whales, including blue whales, sperm whales, and orcas. Realistic, detailed illustrations enhance this text for beginning readers.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo

(4) K-3 All Aboard Reading series. This easy reader records the experiences of Woods from the first time he swung a golf club as a toddler through his victory in all four of the sport's "grand slam" events. In its efforts to stay simple, the text occasionally becomes choppy. Illustrated with color photos of varying quality, the book focuses on Woods's successes, never mentioning his (few) losses, resulting in a one-sided portrait.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(4) K-3 All Aboard Reading series. Illustrated by Stacy Peterson. Annie is dreading second grade: not only are her two best friends in another class, but the new second-grade teacher's name is Ms. Toady, and rumor has it that she's as unpleasant as her name. The premise is slight and the happy ending predictable, but the prose is swift and clean, and the flat illustrations of a hip, enviably well-dressed cast will lure emerging readers.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 All Aboard Reading series. Illustrated by Amy Wummer. A little girl loves shoes except for the ones with laces until she works and works and learns how to tie. This is a very easy book with often just three or four words on the page. The book also includes picture directions for tying laces. Both illustrations and the loosely rhyming text are serviceable, if uninspired, and will be useful in large library collections.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(4) K-3 All Aboard Reading series. Illustrated by Dan Andreasen. Using both illustrations and archival photographs, this book is an easy-to-read account of Lindbergh's historic nonstop flight from New York to Paris in 1927. Despite the simple language, the narrative manages to capture some of the courage and perseverance it took to make the flight. The pastel illustrations don't add much information or drama, but the occasional maps are helpful.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee

(4) K-3 All Aboard Reading series. Illustrated by True Kelley. An unrepentant cat spills milk, eats plants, and performs other acts of feline destruction to a constant but ineffective chorus of "bad, bad cat!" His family worries when he strays from home one day; when he eventually returns, they welcome back their "good, bad cat." The story describes realistic cat behavior but lacks charm. The cartoonlike illustrations provide clues to help new readers decipher the text.

Reviewer: Kathleen Smith

(4) 1-3 All Aboard Reading series. Illustrated by DyAnne DiSalvo. Nine-year-old Kate proves to her doubting mom that she's old enough to play carefully with the heirloom doll that her grandmother has given her. This upper-level easy reader contains a lot of text, but the accessible format will attract newly independent readers. Plentiful illustrations in pastels accompany this pleasant but didactic story that may appeal to doll fans.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander

(3) K-3 All Aboard Reading: Barkers series. When Morgie's favorite dinosaur toy disappears, he assumes that his friend Billy has borrowed it without asking, and he angrily demands its return--to no avail. Then Morgie gets home from school and learns that his brother has actually borrowed it. DePaola's signature pastel-colored illustrations perfectly capture the plausible emotions of his all-animal cast, especially during Morgie's apology.

Reviewer: Jeannine M. Chapman

(3) K-3 All Aboard Reading series. Illustrated by Amy Wummer. Distracted and embarrassed by his mom's cheering at his soccer game, Ryan mistakenly scores a goal for the other team. Eventually, he finds a way to keep the goals straight and begins to appreciate Mom's enthusiasm. He even learns something about communication: when he asks her not to kiss him in public, she complies. Energetic illustrations complete this story for newly independent readers.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(3) K-3 All Aboard Reading series. Illustrated by Allan Eitzen. Frantz's history includes brief information about the Haida people and native life in the Northwest and one legend to illustrate how totem poles may tell a story. The book ends in the present day with a carver carrying out the traditional art. Text and format are both acceptable for a young reader, and Eitzen uses a style reminiscent of Northwest Indian art to match the subject.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(4) K-3 All Aboard Reading series. Illustrated by Jerry Smath. Princess Buttercup, one of six flower fairies, gets lost after following a butterfly into the woods. But the butterfly gives her a ride back to her friends, just in time for the party they have planned. The simple text is aimed at the youngest beginning readers, who will find lots of visual clues in the bright, cheerful illustrations. A few words seem difficult, but fans of flower fairies will persevere.

Reviewer: Anne St. John

(3) K-3 All Aboard Reading series. Illustrated by Shelly Hehenberger. Although reduced to barely an outline, the well-known events in Sacagawea's life are described in simple language and sentences. Illustrations in warm tones on each page help early readers visualize the Northwest frontier setting.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(3) K-3 All Aboard Reading series. Illustrated by Rick Brown. Gail is a snail who wants to move fast. She is ostracized until her speed helps her rescue a baby snail who has fallen into a pond. Soon everyone is imitating Gail by windsurfing on leafy twigs--but they still prefer to go slowly. Cartoony watercolors are filled with funny-looking snails in cars, on skateboards, and in puddles of slime. This early level reader has large print, lots of white space, and short lines of type.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) K-3 All Aboard Reading series. Illustrated by Neecy Twinem. Two bear cubs are born during the cold winter and grow to maturity alongside their mother. They learn to fish, to fight, and to play together. Comparisons between bears and humans are made clear in text and artwork, and although it becomes hard to distinguish the cubs from their mother by the final illustrations, the facts should interest the intended audience.

Reviewer: Susan Halperin