(2) K-3 In this imaginative and self-referential book, cartoonist Varon (Hold Hands, rev. 7/19) is working on a new picture-book project, but getting started is hard. Her dog Sweet Pea reminds her to seek encouragement from her talking pencil. Affirmations and prompts abound as the pencil supports Varon through self-doubt and decisions relating to setting, character, and plot. "It doesn't need to be perfect." Varon begins to illustrate (in lively, thick-lined art with speech-bubble dialogue and cartoonish forms) a baseball game between her imaginary friends and real friends. When the pencil reminds Varon that every story needs a conflict, Sweet Pea becomes upset: "This isn't a book with conflicts! This is a book where everybody gets along!" After a scuffle, the pencil snaps in half. The protagonist's imaginary friends save the day by taking over the storytelling and showing that creators have the power to "make anything happen." Varon, Sweet Pea, and the pencil finish the book, send it to an editor, and watch it appear in the real-life window of Brooklyn's Stories Bookshop + Storytelling Lab; a dramatic page-turn reveals these final steps through photography, with a superimposed doodle of the imaginary friends admiring the book on display. Endpapers contain images of various writing instruments, and the cover resembles a page ripped from a spiral-bound notebook.

Reviewer: Elisa Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2020

(4) K-3 A narrating pink eraser is no fan of messes. When a yellow pencil creates visual havoc--its charcoal-gray lines and shadings are the book's only other color--the eraser hides in a pencil-sketched forest. The eraser feels trapped ("I'll never be able to fix all of this!") until it realizes a creative workaround. The book's lessons (accept imperfection, work collaboratively) are unsubtle but worthwhile.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 How Is It Made? series. Close-up color photos illustrate each step in the creation of the titular items, from raw material to final product. Two or three simple sentences add very basic but level-appropriate explanation to each spread's picture; curious young readers may seek out more substantive information. A few additional facts are appended. Glos., ind. Review covers these How Is It Made? titles: How Is a Firework Made? and How Is a Pencil Made?.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Germán Blanco. "Pencil liked to work alone." So imagine its chagrin when little pink Eraser comes on the scene, undermining Pencil's work. Eraser's effacing marks on Pencil's charcoal-colored drawings will win over the reader as they ultimately win over Pencil: Eraser calms Pencil's choppy ocean waves, etches star shapes into Pencil's night sky ("Look! Now we can stargaze"), and more.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Christopher Weyant. Pencil and her friends give Eraser no respect: they taunt her for not being "creative." Tired of playing "Pencil's pooper-scooper," Eraser splits the scene and unexpectedly encounters some discarded papers that remind her of her importance: she gives second chances. Set inside a school bereft of humans, the story delivers ticklish wordplay against ink and watercolor art starring comically anthropomorphized desk mainstays.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(2) PS In this wordless book, the protagonist finds (on the book's cover) a line drawn by a magic pencil. At first she simply follows it, but then she begins to interact with it: swinging it, sliding down it, etc. The sketch-like illustrations' smudged and textured white background mimics the look and feel of a tablet of thick drawing paper.

Reviewer: Kathleen T. Horning | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2014

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Melissa Sweet. In Pencilvania School, Ms. 2 (looking very much like a Ticonderoga yellow pencil) sets out to teach her sharp students--pencils all, including Little Red--a thing or 2 about writing. Using every available inch of the book, including cover, endpapers, and title page, this energetic volume is full of fun and information. Teachers and aspiring young writers will embrace this lively story.

Reviewer: Robin L. Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2014

(3) K-3 Silly Millies series. Illustrated by Carol Nicklaus & Carol Nicklaus. "I did not start off looking this good. Before I was a pencil, I was just a skinny stick of graphite....Sure, I could write. But I could break, too." A cartoony, anthropomorphized pencil tells the story of how it was created: from graphite mining to manufacturing to ending up in a classroom. The ubiquitous subject, friendly text, and lighthearted illustrations will have lots of appeal for beginning readers.

Reviewer: Barbara Barstow