(2) PS Three animal friends -- "Molly the hare, Olive the owl, and Dexter the fox" -- play a game that Olive calls "Guess What?" Dexter goes first: "Guess what I'm thinking about," he says, gazing at the sky. Molly guesses correctly on the first try; it's the sky, of course. "'How did you know?' asks Dexter, puzzled." Molly's up next, and Olive guesses that she's thinking about grass. How did Olive know? "Easy...your mouth is full of it." For her turn, Olive is "thinking about TWO things at the same time." Dexter and Molly are stumped. Is Olive thinking about two brown leaves? Two clouds? Two flowers? "It's too hard." Olive encourages her friends to keep guessing; the two things she's thinking of are "very nearby" and "even lovelier than flowers." Rayner's soft mixed-media illustrations on cream-colored pages match the text's gentle tone and give young listeners the advantage by making obvious what -- or who -- is on Olive's mind. With its peaceful meadow setting and the friends' warm rapport, this good-natured picture book offers a pleasing storytime diversion.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2024

(2) 4-6 Perigee arrives for a visit at their grandmother's house with their father in the middle of a snowstorm. The visit has a serious purpose. Only-child Perigee feels responsible for their dad (we surmise from his behavior that he is depressed) and hopes that a reconciliation between father and grandmother will solve the problem. From this solemn, realistic opening, the tone of the story and its action quickly morph into a rambunctious fun fair as the house, the "Eklunds' Puzzle House," built by Perigee's grandmother and her late husband as a themed bed and breakfast, takes over as the antagonist. This house, which has consciousness, agency, and its own first-person voice in the text, orchestrates a wide variety of puzzles, games, and mischief, including rhyming riddles, pinball machines, combination locks, anagrams, Morse code, sliding tile puzzles, dominoes, and labyrinths. (In a detail of homage Reese references Ellen Raskin's iconic The Westing Game.) Perigee and their pal Lily use creativity, gumption, logic, and smarts to outwit the house, soften their grandmother's heart, and broker peace between the generations. This romp suggests a warm welcome to readers who like their mysteries cerebral but who also appreciate a collapsing staircase or two.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2024

(1) PS In this exuberant celebration of a summer day, readers engage with compelling page-turns to solve simple nature riddles. "Morning lays me on your pillow," the book opens, "square and warm. Come out and play!" Turn the page to see the source of that invitation, and thus the answer to the riddle, on the verso: a waking girl is greeted by a patch of morning light on her pillow, and the text reveals the speaker to be sunlight. The recto of each spread features one of these tantalizing invitations from a different element in nature; the verso of the next spread reveals who (snail, tadpole) or what (pebble, rain) is speaking. Portis (Wait, rev. 7/15; Hey, Water!, rev. 3/19) offers viewers a sensory experience; we hear a stream and a cricket, feel an inchworm on our finger, splash in the rain, and see lightning. Toes "taste" mud; a pebble is likened to "a candy sucked smooth in the river's mouth." The palette features the earth tones of nature with visually distinctive hand-stamped lettering. The use of leaf prints in the art grounds the story in the earth it celebrates. The story ends, naturally, with the shadows of night ("a black coat slipped around Earth's shoulders" is but one example of the book's vivid figurative language) and thrumming crickets. A playful, thoroughly captivating guessing game for young listeners.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2020

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Mercè López. Divided into four sections by season, these "riddle-ku" poems use innovative language to represent something traditionally associated with each one. (For back-to-school in fall, for example: what is "a yellow train / carrying thoughts from your brain / to the waiting page?" A pencil.) In addition to helping readers solve the puzzles, the supporting acrylic and digital illustrations capture movement and texture through strong lines and seasonal hues.

Reviewer: Julie Hakim Azzam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2019

(3) K-3 Jacoby takes the abstract concept of time and presents it as an extended riddle: "the more you try to hold it...the better it hides." Watercolor, NuPastel, and mixed-media illustrations lend a softness to the narrative and combine minute details, such as facial expressions, with large expanses of bustling city scenes, sky, water, etc. The lyrical, contemplative text lends itself to one-on-one sharing.

Reviewer: Renée Wheeler

(3) 4-6 Wild Magic series. To save their family, Mup, her mam, and her baby brother cross a magical border into the realm of witches; there Mup discovers secrets about her heritage as well as another side of herself. Kiernan creates a rich new story in the fantasy tradition, with familiar tropes such as human-animal transformations and rhyming riddles alongside fresher elements (including a dark-skinned protagonist). Readers will look forward to the projected sequels.

Reviewer: Jeannie Coutant

(3) 4-6 Jenny's father is out of work, which means goodbye to Eden, Jenny's New Zealand hometown. But Jenny remembers the legend of Doc Magee, who found a huge gold nugget and then disappeared. With friends and a mysterious skeleton that's actually a map, Jenny searches for Magee's gold. Clues and puzzles abound to keep readers engaged throughout this fast-paced historical adventure, told by a colorful intrusive narrator.

Reviewer: Mariko Turk

(4) 4-6 Now in New York City, brainy middle-schoolers Sam, Theo, and Martina search for the third historical artifact hidden by a Founding Father. With Gideon Arnold (Benedict's descendant) and his goons still in hot pursuit, the kids race to crack ciphers, riddles, and American-history trivia questions--all related to Alexander Hamilton. It's the National Treasure formula yet again, but series fans likely won't mind.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Sam Brewster. This handsome volume presents "record-breaking" facts about the framework that gives vertebrates their shape. On each spread, readers view a skeleton and ponder clues (given by the animal in the first person) to guess which animal has the largest, smallest, longest, heaviest, etc., bones; turn the page for the detailed answer accompanied by a graphically sharp full-body illustration with tactile raised embellishments. Reading list, websites. Glos.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo

(4) 4-6 Prizewinners of Piedmont Place series. Illustrated by Colin Jack. The biracial Talaska family (The Prizewinners of Piedmont Place) works together to solve riddles to win the "Funland Fun House Makeover Contest" and save the dilapidated family home. Although lacking in character and plot development, slapstick humor and pun-tastic wordplay are at the heart of this imaginative book filled with clowns, amusement-park attractions, and last-minute saves. Spot illustrations echo the over-the-top tone.

Reviewer: Amy Seto Forrester

(4) 4-6 Gabriel and friends (Gabriel Finley & the Raven's Riddle) reunite for another subterranean-NYC adventure aided by powerful raven magic. Solving riddles and mazes, the team frees Gabriel's long-absent mother from the Chamber of Rune, defeats the evil demon Corax, and unexpectedly uncovers some secrets. Weak internal logic and character development reduce this fantasy to merely a series of adventures, albeit entertaining ones punctuated with verbal wit.

Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac

(2) PS Illustrated by Ross MacDonald. A panicked numeral 6 visits gumshoe "Private I" after hearing that 7 ate 9: "Now he's after me." The laconic I responds that "technically, he's always after you" but nevertheless promises his aid. The number jokes and puns are chased relentlessly through the story, aided by pictures that humorously personify numerals and letters and place the action in the not-too-mean streets of an old-timey big city.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2017

(4) YA In 1914, half-English, half-Indian fifteen-year-old Adi's life is upended when she accidentally foils the assassination plans of a shape-shifting, devil-like madman named Coal. Coal exacts his revenge by kidnapping Adi's brothers, presenting her with riddles to find them, and literally stealing her voice. Historical fiction melds with magical realism in this elegantly written but somewhat overstuffed novel.

Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello

(4) 1-3 Animal Planet Adventures series. Illustrated by Bryan Langdo. Word puzzles (Zoo) and a riddle (Puppy) are featured in two mild mysteries, both involving missing animals. Scattered throughout the stories are single- and double-page spreads of photographs and facts about habitat, animal care, veterinarians, zoo employees' duties, and more. Full-color cartoon illustrations accompany the fictional stories. Review covers these Animal Planet Adventures titles: Zoo Camp Puzzle and Puppy Rescue Riddle.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(3) 4-6 Witch Wars series. Illustrated by Laura Ellen Anderson. After newly crowned Top Witch Peggy's disappearance, evil Felicity Bat succeeds her, and it's up to nine-year-old Tiga (Witch Wars) and her good witch friends to restore order to Ritzy City. Short chapters quickly jump from one outrageously funny scene to another, and colorful characters and pure silliness abound throughout. Anderson's black-and-white illustrations are detailed and stylish, complementing the text.

Reviewer: Lana Barnes

(4) 4-6 Brilliant middle schoolers Sam, Martina, and Theo embark on another adventure (The Eureka Key), this time to find Jefferson's quill (the second of seven artifacts left by the Founding Fathers) in Montana. Numerous traps set by a descendant of Benedict Arnold are thwarted with the trio's puzzle-solving intelligence. Formulaic but fast-paced, with intrigue, interactive puzzles, and historical trivia for fans of the National Treasure movie franchise.

Reviewer: Rita Soltan

(3) 4-6 Eleven-year-old Mia Chen's visit to her mother's old home in Fuzhou (in southern China) takes an exciting and dangerous turn when her aunt goes missing. In order to rescue Aunt Lin, Mia must solve riddles and follow the trail to a fabled treasure hidden by Emperor Zhu Yunwen. Contemporary China is authentically portrayed, and the deliberately paced mystery concludes with a thrilling discovery.

Reviewer: Roxanne Hsu Feldman

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Lee Wildish. A witch arrives at twelve-year-old William's cottage and then threatens his little brother, leading William to complete his late father's quest and solve the witch's riddles to rescue his mother from an enchanted sleep. William's ally, humorously eccentric dwarf Tuli, is an effective counterpoint to the witch's eerie menace, while echoes of "Sleeping Beauty" enliven this highly inventive tale pitched toward middle-grade readers.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Audrey Benjaminsen. Squirrel, a slave, receives an invitation to a posh wedding, which launches him on a riddle-fueled quest for his name and freedom. While many conventions of the animal-fantasy genre are well incorporated, some elements oppose the intrinsic logic. Still, genre fans will enjoy the atmospheric all-animal world, pictured in stately charcoal illustrations, and a story-related crossword puzzle adds interest. A sequel feels inevitable.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Abby Carter. In alphabetical order, the authors present twenty-six intangible nouns such as time, reflection, and love. A double-page spread offers both verbal and visual clues to each; the following spread features a black, white, and fluorescent-pink cartoon drawing on the left and an informative description of the term on the right. Both a guessing game and a compendium of interesting information.