(3) K-3 Illustrated by Mark Alan Stamaty. This story's narrator lives in a crowded, colorless urban world. When the boy finds a yellow construction hat, the useful item proves to be just what he needs. This reissue is a satisfying celebration of the power of imagination. Stamaty's busy, detailed (very seventies) cartoon line drawings are full of quirky, sometimes unexpected, often hilarious nonsense.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(3) PS Frank Asch Bear Book series. One Saturday, the pajama-wearing members of the Bear family enjoy their pancake breakfast so much, they decide to wear pajamas and eat pancakes all day. Their contagious enthusiasm inspires a town-wide celebration of Pancakes in Pajamas Day, with a bicycle parade and a party on the town square. The animals sport an amusing variety of patterned pajamas in Asch's signature flat, clean-lined illustrations for this cheery tale.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(3) PS Frank Asch Bear Book series. In an amusing story that should resonate with young readers, Baby Bear can't think of anything but pizza after he tastes his very first delectable bite; he even dreams of space aliens cooking strange pizzas. The next morning, to his parents' chagrin, Baby Bear requests pizza for breakfast. Asch's familiar, clean-colored illustrations do much of the storytelling and feature numerous round, pizza-like shapes.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(3) PS When Little Bird tells Moonbear about the sunrise, Moonbear is determined to see it. He tries setting an alarm, but he sleeps right through it. Buying more alarm clocks doesn't help either. Finally, Little Bird realizes Moonbear has to go to bed earlier in order to see the sunrise. Asch's signature color-saturated, clean-lined illustrations complete this sleepy-sweet book.

Reviewer: Kari Allen

(4) K-3 The Big Bad Wolf is taken aback when Little Pig throws him a surprise birthday party. The villain expects to feast on pig but instead ends up with vegetable casserole and chocolate cake. Although Asch's text is a little wordy, the story's happy ending is satisfying. The accompanying digital illustrations are bright and cheery.

Reviewer: Sophie Williamson

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Devin Asch. Tagging along with his tabloid reporter father, Hayward believes that everything he sees--the birth of a dinosaur, a bigfoot driving a cab, a gigantic chicken--was created by Dad to impress him. When Hayward prevents an octopus invasion it's his turn to be disbelieved by his schoolmates. The joke is one-note but fairly amusing. Digital illustrations in muted-gray tones offset the larger-than-life reporting.

Reviewer: David Elzey

(3) 1-3 Alex is a genius when it comes to building with cardboard. He's made a time machine, but it doesn't work quite as expected, and Alex's little brother/guinea pig pays the price. Alex has to set things right before the universe is destroyed (and he gets in trouble at home). Frequent black-and-white spot art humorously depicts the brothers' adversarial relationship.

Reviewer: Antonio Trujillo

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Devin Asch. After a neighbor finks on the prim Mrs. Marlowe for harboring mice--a crime in this cat-populated world--she must fool two police detectives into believing that the vermin are her sworn enemies. Like its similarly entertaining companion Mr. Maxwell's Mouse, this book's handsome digital illustrations feature impeccably dressed, upright felines set against stately brown and gray Old-World interiors.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) 1-3 Though his original cardboard spaceship was destroyed in Star Jumper, Alex has built an even better model. As soon as he tests a new gravity-manipulation device, he'll be able to escape his little brother--and their (broadly portrayed) antagonistic relationship--forever. Frequent spot art masterfully depicts high-tech devices made of common household items, and the boundary between reality and imagination is playfully fluid.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Devin Asch. An urbane, executive-level cat on his lunch break orders a live mouse instead of his usual baked mouse and finds himself in conversation with his entrée. Witty dialogue between the cat and the crafty, deferential mouse and refined, digitally rendered illustrations (primarily black and white) combine in this macabre but deliciously dark comedy.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann

(3) K-3 Walking home from the bakery with a long, thin baguette, Monsieur Saguette calmly uses his bread to perform a number of rescues, such as stopping a robbery and saving a baby from an alligator. Repetition adds humor to the description of his dramatic escapades. Asch evokes the story's Parisian setting with pale colors and a fine black line.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(4) 1-3 Class Pets series. Illustrated by John Kanzler. Sister and brother mice settle into new surroundings at an elementary school. Cheerful Molly makes friends with the class pets, especially two lovebirds and the ghost of a hamster. Jake winds up having an adventure of his own with a cat. Second in a series, this chapter book is likable and fast paced, but the combination of realism, animal fantasy, and ghost story doesn't quite jell.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke

(3) 1-3 Class Pets series. Illustrated by John Kanzler. Jake and Molly (two mice who live at P.S. 42) show the new class pet, a gerbil named Dexter, how to survive outside his cage. After being caught in a mousetrap, the trio gets separated; Molly is captured by the janitor, while Jake and Dexter are flushed down the toilet, threatened by sewer rats, and attacked by a vengeful cat. Asch's story is filled with suspense and movement. Black-and-white drawings accompany the simple text.

Reviewer: Mark Adam

(3) PS In flowing verse interspersed with the refrain "I want to play like a windy day," a little girl imagines all of the ways that she would play if she were the wind ("I want to shake the dew from a spider's web / and help her babies soar"). In the digitally colored art, in which waves of color drift evocatively across the page, the imaginative artists pair our frolicking "real" narrator with her personified wind playmate.

Reviewer: CHristine Sarrazin

(3) PS When a rubber ducky falls into the river, Baby Duck thinks it's real and invites it to go exploring with him. The two reach the sea, but a child scoops up the rubber ducky, leaving Baby Duck to figure out how to get home on his own. Baby Duck's adventures are told with delightful, subtle humor in both the text and illustrations.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(3) PS A young child provides a happy meditation on the sun's daily duties, from wake-up messenger to shadow caster to hide-and-seek player to rainbow maker to nightlight. The simple text, cheerful refrain ("The sun is my favorite star"), and candy-colored illustrations, featuring a sun that's almost otherworldly in its luminosity, create a sneakily educational astronomy primer for the very young.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) PS When Bear and Little Bird see an escaped kangaroo, they assume they must be dreaming. They decide they can do anything they want since all will return to normal when they wake up, so they eat their winter supplies and make a terrible mess in their house. Asch's surprise ending, his boisterous sense of humor, and his simple, bold illustrations are just right for preschoolers.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(3) K-3 Having fallen from the nest in the middle of the night, frightened Baby Bird hooks up with Little Frog, who helps him realize he's not as helpless as he thinks. Young children will find their own feelings mirrored in Baby Bird as he takes this brief foray away from his mama. The rounded, pen-and-computer illustrations are also fittingly childlike.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann

(4) K-3 Photographs by Ted Levin. The instinctive knowledge of seven northland creatures is described in verses followed by a distracting refrain: "But who knows Salmon [or Walrus, Puffin, etc.] / and the song she sings?" A sentimental conclusion asking, "Who hears the song [the Land of the North] sings?" is accompanied by a photo of a young girl. More interesting than the poem are the color photos, which are dramatic, expressive, and crystal-clear.

Reviewer: Emma Loy-Santelli

(3) PS When it's time to hibernate in a cave for the winter, Baby Bear is reluctant to change his sleeping routine. He asks for a snack, a drink, and even the moon, all of which Mama--in her way--manages to bring him. The simple, flat bear figures have a lot of personality, and the contrast between dark cave and light snow adds interest to this cozy book.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert