(4) PS StoryPlay series. Illustrated by Barbara McClintock. This hearty and enjoyably old-fashioned retelling of the well-known tale, distinguished by McClintock's lively illustrations, is here published in a series promoting early literacy and intended to "shine a spotlight on problem solving." New to this edition are intrusive discussion prompts and appended "creative activities" to help parents "engage with your little one."

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 1998

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Barbara McClintock. Aylesworth extends the Yiddish folksong's events over four generations. "My grandfather," a tailor, made his own blue wedding coat; while his daughter's a baby, it serves for a jacket. Soon it's reduced to a vest, then a tie, then a toy for "you" (his great-grandchild). The old-timey, inviting book has well-paced pages, spreads, and vignettes that nicely celebrate one family's ongoing affection and continuity.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2014

(3) PS Illustrated by Brad Sneed. "Old stairs creak. / Come fast as you can. / Ham pop-pops / In the frying pan." Onomatopoeia-flecked rhymes describe a typical day with a farm family that suggests the Brady Bunch in the Waltons' time (and clothing). The rhymes have the easy gait of a country song, and the American regionalist–style watercolor paintings invest the characters with simple-folk dignity.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) PS Illustrated by Michael Hague. In this alphabet book, a mouse explores and discovers things to eat around the house. The narrative vacillates jerkily between quaint descriptions ("She found a lady's Lipstick / In a shiny golden case") and more modern-day expressions ("She sniffed a candy Wrapper / That was thrown down by some kid"). Digital coloring makes the otherwise traditional-looking illustrations appear synthetic.

Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden

(4) PS Illustrated by Henry Cole & Henry Cole. Chaos abounds as twenty-six naughty monkeys stir up trouble in alphabetically named order when their (human) parents go out. The mischief begins with Andy's paper airplanes and continues boisterously through Yates's yo-yos, until the beleaguered parents put the monkeys back into bed to rest for a next-day zoo visit. Zany, rollicking illustrations add to the fun and help to counterbalance the sometimes-awkward rhymes.

Reviewer: Susan Halperin

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Stephen Gammell. Burgers and hot dogs get into brawls, an ice cream bar stranded at the beach turns to nothing more than a stick--such are the misadventures of various foods in Aylesworth's collection of poems, illustrated with Gammell's powerfully elemental multimedia art. As humorous verse, the poems sometimes fall flat, but some achieve witty turns through clever set-ups.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Barbara McClintock. Here's a recipe for an old favorite: Take Jacobs's "The Old Woman and Her Pig," temper the threatened violence, and add a handsome farmer. Plump up the tale with extra words, though not enough to interfere much with its pell-mell trajectory, and top with a humorously expressive, delicately characterized cast. Yield: one picture book, a bit sweeter and less assertive in flavor; still, good nutritional value.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 1999

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Wendy Anderson Halperin. In return for a good deed, an old man receives a magic bowl that reproduces whatever he puts into it. Disaster threatens when he forgets the instructions for storing the bowl, but he finds an amusing, satisfying solution for his predicament. The distinctive colored pencil illustrations, with their intricate and varied compositions, lend character to the old man and his surroundings.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Eileen Christelow & Walter Lyon Krudop & Jo Ellen McAllister-Stammen. Two Terrible Frights (1987), Teddy Bear Tears (1987), The Completed Hickory Dickory Dock (1990), and The Good-Night Kiss (1993) have been combined into an omnibus edition designed to help parents ease their children into sleep. A note from the author preceding each story underlines the tale's themes and potential applications.

Reviewer: Amy Lois Cohn

(2) YA This hearty retelling of the well-known tale is distinguished by cheery, lively illustrations. The Gingerbread Man himself is particularly toothsome and delectable; the animals are remarkably anthropomorphic; and the scenery resembles that of the eighteenth-century English artist Thomas Bewick. With even a recipe included, this is altogether an old-fashioned and enjoyable version of a favorite tale.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.

(4) K-3 Intent on returning home to his family, a father drives alone in the night. The text, filled with visual imagery, describes his nighttime homeward journey along a moonlit highway through urban environs into a quiet suburban neighborhood. The muted pastel illustrations, which set the story in the thirties or forties, evoke a dreamlike mood in the nostalgic tale that conveys an adult experience.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.