(2) K-3 Viking Easy-to-Read series. Illustrated by Lisa McCue. Cork (muskrat) realizes Fuzz (possum) has never been to his house. "'I cannot go to your house,' [Fuzz] said. 'I do not know how to swim.'" After some on-the-ground lessons, Fuzz falls into the water and, following a moment of panic, swims. McCue's happy-go-lucky characters receive a lot of face time. Sight words ease the task for beginning readers.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2011

(3) K-3 Viking Easy-to-Read series. Illustrated by Barbara Johansen Newman. At FunLand, Grandpa wins a teddy bear at the Basketball Shoot but loses the roller coaster tickets. It's up to boy detective Jeffrey Bones to track them down. Divided into five chapters, Adler's easy reader mystery has just the right dose of humor (Jeffrey decides not to ride the big roller coaster because it's "too scary for Teddy"), and Newman's illustrations reinforce the text nicely.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(3) K-3 Viking Easy-to-Read series. Illustrated by Susanna Natti. Cam's class celebrates the hundredth day of school with a "Letter P Party." All their snacks fit the theme: popcorn, pretzels, pineapple juice. When the pièce de résistance--pizza!--goes missing, Cam puts her detective skills to good use. Plenty of humor and lots of cheerful spot- and half-page illustrations round out the easy-to-read (and not too difficult to solve) mystery.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(3) K-3 Viking Easy-to-Read series. Illustrated by Lisa McCue. Muskrat Cork, who loves finding things, is especially excited by a shiny green stone he discovers. However, best friend Fuzz, an opossum, likes keeping things, and when Cork mislays his green stone, Fuzz tells him, "finders keepers." An encounter with a chipmunk helps Fuzz see Cork's point of view. This frustrating but familiar aspect of friendship is effectively explored and winningly illustrated.

Reviewer: Susan Halperin

(3) K-3 Viking Easy-to-Read series. Illustrated by Barbara Johansen Newman. Solving mysteries--not addition problems--is Jeffrey Bones's forte. When the young detective's math test goes missing, he starts searching for clues right away to avoid taking the test all over again. Adler's easy-to-read story has plenty of humor (beginning readers will giggle over Not-Me Amy, a classmate who always says, "Not me"). Newman's cheerful half-page illustrations nicely reinforce the text.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(4) K-3 Viking Easy-to-Read series. Illustrated by Susanna Natti. When Cam, best pal Eric, and Cam's father arrive at the airport to greet Aunt Molly, they discover that the sleepy traveler has misplaced her shoes. Cam, as always, uses her photographic memory to solve the puzzle; her fans won't be far behind, thanks to Adler's not-too-difficult clues. Short sentences, gentle humor, and bright illustrations make for an accessible (albeit boilerplate) mystery.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(3) K-3 Viking Easy-to-Read series. Illustrated by Lisa McCue. While looking for rocks and feathers for their collections, muskrat Cork and opossum Fuzz stumble upon a nest of ducklings. The babies follow Fuzz until Mama Duck returns and herds him into her nest along with the ducklings. Cork comes to the rescue and gains a feather for his collection. Textured illustrations reaffirm the warmth of this unlikely friendship.

Reviewer: Susan Halperin

(3) K-3 Viking Easy-to-Read series. Illustrated by Barbara Johansen Newman. "Bones, Detective Jeffrey Bones" discovers he's the chief suspect in the disappearance of his grandfather's birthday card--a card that includes a present for Grandpa and for the young sleuth himself. Jeffrey cracks the case before the cake is cut. Adler's cleverly terse text (picture hard-boiled-mystery/easy-reader offspring) is smoothly reinforced by Newman's brightly patterned illustrations.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(3) K-3 Viking Easy-to-Read series. Illustrated by Susanna Natti. On a trip to the zoo, Danny's lunch goes missing, so Cam uses her photographic memory to find it. A red herring involving two boxes--one for lunches and the other for lost-and-found items--will keep beginning readers on their toes. Adler serves up another simple yet satisfying easy-reader mystery, reliably accompanied by Natti's friendly half-page and spot illustrations.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(3) K-3 Viking Easy-to-Read series. Illustrated by Lisa McCue. Cork the muskrat and Fuzz the possum play many games, but Cork gets frustrated when Fuzz keeps winning. He suggests a swim race without realizing Fuzz can't swim. When Fuzz momentarily disappears, Cork fears the worst, and soon realizes that winning isn't so important as long as he has his buddy. Sharp, playful illustrations display the friends' emotions.

Reviewer: Susan Halperin

(3) K-3 Viking Easy-to-Read series. Illustrated by Barbara Johansen Newman. When Not-Me Amy opens her lunch at school, her spinach noodle cupcake has disappeared, and it's up to Jeffrey Bones, detective, to solve the mystery. Using "detective powder" and logic, Jeffrey examines the clues and, after a wrong turn, comes up with the answer. Jeffrey's sense of humor, the simple text, and colorful illustrations make this an enjoyable read.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(3) K-3 Viking Easy-to-Read series. Illustrated by Lisa McCue. When Cork the muskrat runs into Fuzz the opossum in the woods, they begin to learn about their differences and similarities. Cork likes to eat "veggie stuff" rather than Fuzz's beetles, and Fuzz is afraid of the water Cork lives in. But they both love rocks, and a new friendship is begun throughout four simple, appealingly illustrated chapters.

Reviewer: Susan Halperin

(3) K-3 Viking Easy-to-Read series. Illustrated by Amy Young. "This is my pony. / His name is Jack. / He is brown and white. / His nose is black." A girl tells (and shows) beginning readers how she cares for her pony. The simple rhyming text and uncluttered art explains currying, cleaning hooves, and feeding the pony. A glossary of pony care terms is included.

Reviewer: Barbara Barstow

(3) K-3 Viking Easy-to-Read series. Illustrated by Barbara Johansen Newman. Jeffrey Bones finds clues and solves mysteries. In Yellow he helps a bus driver find his missing bus at a shopping mall, and in Dog he finds his Grandpa's lost dog. The brightly patterned illustrations help make these two beginning readers enjoyable. The solutions involve simple logic so readers can figure them out along with Jeffrey. Review covers these Viking Easy-to-Read titles: Bones and the Big Yellow Mystery and Bones and the Dog Gone Mystery.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(3) K-3 Viking Easy-to-Read series. Illustrated by Barbara Johansen Newman. Jeffrey Bones finds clues and solves mysteries. In Yellow he helps a bus driver find his missing bus at a shopping mall, and in Dog he finds his Grandpa's lost dog. The brightly patterned illustrations help make these two beginning readers enjoyable. The solutions involve simple logic so readers can figure them out along with Jeffrey. Review covers these Viking Easy-to-Read titles: Bones and the Big Yellow Mystery and Bones and the Dog Gone Mystery.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(3) K-3 Viking Easy-to-Read series. Illustrated by Susanna Natti. Once again, Cam is back with a mystery that only she can solve. This latest in the series gives kids another chance to pit their memory against Cam's photographic recall, and Adler's humor about a new student's confusion about school rules will entertain young readers. Pleasant color illustrations accompany the text.

Reviewer: Becky Levine

(4) K-3 Viking Easy-to-Read series. Illustrated by Elwood H. Smith. In three simply written episodes, pirates Pete and Joe visit their rambunctious mom, the Pirate Queen; share a meal of eels, crabs, and jellyfish; and go bowling at Disco Dan's House of Pins. There's not a lot of plot, but the cartoony color illustrations are bright and comical and the prose has a freewheeling, rollicking quality ("Yo ho ho and away they go!") that will engage young readers.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(3) K-3 Viking Easy-to-Read series. Illustrated by Susanna Natti. When Eric misplaces his permission slip for the class trip, it looks as if he'll be spending the day at school rather than at the zoo--that is, until Cam Jansen puts her detective skills to work. Each page of this simple yet satisfying story is reinforced with an illustration, making it a good choice for beginning readers, many of whom will relate to the anxiety-provoking experience of losing something vital.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(4) K-3 Viking Easy-to-Read series. "Turtle and Snake ride the waves. / Oh no, Snake. Watch out! / Wipeout!" This is another episode in the lives of Turtle and Snake with very simple text for beginning readers and bright images of a trip to the local beach. While the language is a bit flat, the paintings will inspire discussion of the readers' own excursions.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) K-3 Viking Easy-to-Read series. To surprise Snake on Valentine's Day, Turtle makes a card and buys Snake's favorite treats. But Snake is secretly watching his friend's preparations, and in the end Turtle's the one who's surprised--by Snake's Valentine's Day party. Readers can enjoy spotting Snake in the simple illustrations for this genial, accessible story, the seventh in a series. Instructions for making a Valentine are included.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert