(2) K-3 Translated by Matthias Wieland. The main story here employs the benign fairy-tale trope of a questing traveler who pauses on the journey to help out those in need. Albie, a mouse in red track pants, is summoned by the king, a pig, to deliver a scroll to a neighboring castle. Even though speed is of the essence, Albie interrupts the trip to administer first aid to an injured squirrel, retrieve a lost toy, and babysit for a harassed mother. He also meets his true love. Concurrently, a wordless strip running along the bottom of the pages shows what the king is up to during Albie's long absence. While the mouse's world is full of color, connection, and kindness, the king's monochromatic scenes suggest boredom, restlessness, and even grief, along with underscoring just how very long our deliverer's trip is taking. Humorously, Albie takes a wrong turn and ends up back home, scroll undelivered. The king, delighted to see him, throws the scroll into the fire and invites Albie to live in a cottage on the castle grounds, with visiting privileges for all the friends he made on his ­journey. (Looking back, we wonder what was in that scroll.) There's more to this fable than a tidy ending and the sheer visual fun of seeing a squirrel in a full-body cast.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2022

(3) K-3 Ready-to-Read: Our Universe series. Illustrated by John Wallace. With one clear, informative sentence per page, Bauer gives young readers solid introductory information about our closest neighbor in the universe. Wallace's uncluttered illustrations are welcoming and help with reading comprehension. For example, "our moon lights up our night sky, but it has no light of its own," accompanies a simple, clear diagram of light from the sun bouncing off the moon toward earth. Specialized vocabulary words such as satellite and gravity appear in a glossary preceding the main text to prepare young readers for success. A page of "Interesting Facts" concludes this accessible title. The series also includes Earth and Mars.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Ekua Holmes. From darkness, we experience the Big Bang, the birth of the universe, and the emergence of life on Earth. Holmes breathes life and depth into Bauer's ambitious poem with marbled paper and collage, in which representational shapes subtly emerge from the mottled background. By book's end, we see an adult and child together: "You, / and me / loving you. / All of us / the stuff of stars."

Reviewer: Lolly Robinson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2019

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Richard Jones. As winter approaches, a fox wonders what to do. Advice from other animals gives young listeners an overview of creatures in a woodland habitat as, for example, a squirrel scurries to gather nuts, a turtle buries itself in mud, and a snowshoe hare camouflages itself with a white coat. Illustrations reflect a gentle narrative and uncluttered setting as the fox learns its surprising seasonal role.

Reviewer: Betty Carter

(3) 4-6 Baseball-crazy, heart-transplant-survivor Jeremiah, twelve, moves with his adoptive single dad to tiny Hillcrest, Ohio, where he endeavors to resurrect the town's failing middle-school baseball team. There's a lot going on in this heartstrings-tugging novel (even before you figure in subplots involving steroid abuse, a friend's absent father, newborn eagles, and more), but Jeremiah's upbeat personality and pragmatic voice should win readers over.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Jennifer A. Bell. A drifting leaf lures calico house cat Patches outside and into surprising adventures in this companion to Little Dog, Lost. Patches's benevolence toward the animals she meets, especially Gus the dog, returns to her in spades in this kindhearted novel written in easy-to-read free verse. The story is a bit message-y but still appealing, its warmth aptly reflected in Bell's softly shaded illustrations.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(4) K-3 Illustrated by John Shelley. Coaxed from his bed on a late winter night by a bear risen from his own slumber, a boy hears a loud cracking. With a party of woodland creatures, he marches toward the sound, discovering a giant egg as it bursts open--revealing spring in all its glory. Soft watercolor and ink illustrations are playful and detail-rich, but the story's buildup is slow.

Reviewer: Pam Yosca

(4) 4-6 Anna is staying in her grandmother's idyllic town while her parents try to fix their marriage. Amid preparations for the annual flower festival, she witnesses a young girl being held against her will. Anna helps the authorities locate the girl while also supporting her family and friends prepping for the parade. Strong, lively characters carry the cumbersome plot lines, which all end neatly.

Reviewer: Pam Yosca

(4) K-3 When Queen Matilda summons individual colors, she can handle them. But collectively, "gentle" Blue, "bad mannered" Yellow, and "wild" Red create a disharmonious gray that brings her to tears. It's all pretty overwrought, but there's artistic ingenuity in the wordless, color-splattered latter pages. The final black-and-white image bears the omniscient narrator's unexpected overture, "Here you can do your own coloring."

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 Green Light Readers: 50 States to Celebrate series. Illustrated by C. B. Canga. Mr. Geo gives a necessarily brief but enthusiastic and generally child-friendly introduction to Illinois. He begins with a number of pages about Chicago before moving on to the rest of the state. Being Mr. "Geo," he keeps geography in mind, while touching on topics such as history, climate, and places of scenic beauty. Though not especially remarkable, the genial illustrations are serviceable.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(4) K-3 Green Light Readers: 50 States to Celebrate series. Illustrated by C. B. Canga. Since these brief books are for newly independent readers, Mr. Geo, the cheerful geography teacher, can only offer whirlwind tours. He mentions geographical features, cities, natural resources, wildlife, history, products, and weather, not forgetting sports teams and tourist attractions. They're all pictured in serviceable illustrations with touches of humor. Fast facts and activities complete each useful (if limited) volume. Timeline. Glos. Review covers these Green Light Readers: 50 States to Celebrate titles: Celebrating North Carolina and Celebrating Washington State.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(4) K-3 Green Light Readers: 50 States to Celebrate series. Illustrated by C. B. Canga. Since these brief books are for newly independent readers, Mr. Geo, the cheerful geography teacher, can only offer whirlwind tours. He mentions geographical features, cities, natural resources, wildlife, history, products, and weather, not forgetting sports teams and tourist attractions. They're all pictured in serviceable illustrations with touches of humor. Fast facts and activities complete each useful (if limited) volume. Timeline. Glos. Review covers these Green Light Readers: 50 States to Celebrate titles: Celebrating North Carolina and Celebrating Washington State.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(4) YA Despite an initial athletic rivalry, Gil Marsh and new kid Enko Labette soon become inseparable friends. When Enko dies from leukemia, devastated Gil runs away to Quebec to visit the grave and to seek a supposedly immortal man about the possibility of resurrection. The contemporary take on the legend of Gilgamesh is interesting, but the writing is heavy-handed at times.

Reviewer: Randy Ribay

(3) 4-6 When twelve-year-old Sawyer and nine-year-old Elvira's mother goes into a decline after their father dies and a fish swallows her wedding ring, brother and sister and a cadre of friends set out to catch Ol' One Eye, the biggest catfish in the bayou. The authors capture the cadences and ambiance of the Mississippi Delta in a satisfying quest/tall tale/coming-of-age novel.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(2) 4-6 Because Sugar's mother can't resist the persuasions of Sugar's gambling father, the worst happens and they're evicted from their house. Sugar eventually ends up in a foster home where she finds space to deal with her "broken places." Sugar's observations on how people treat the poor and homeless come organically from her character; her mixture of distrust and longing for connection rings true.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2012

(3) K-3 Illustrated by John Shelley. "Have you ever thrown / your trick-or-treat sack / on your back / on All Hallows' Eve / and taken your leave / of town?" So begins this account of a costumed child's Halloween-night journey into the woods. Bauer's free-form rhymes are creepy until the lighthearted twist ending. Shelley's chilling art features skeletons living in trees made of bones.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Jennifer A. Bell. More than anything, Mark wants a dog. His mom, the town's mayor, says no. More than anything, dog Buddy wants a boy. But hers has moved away. More than anything, shy Charles Larue wants to belong. But the town has labeled him as odd and shunned him. A chance thunderstorm fixes all their problems in this somewhat trite but sweet verse novel.

Reviewer: Lauren Aimonette LIang

(3) PS Illustrated by Margaret Chodos-Irvine. Brannon's afraid of thunder, and his relatives' attempts to explain it as "a big cat purring" or "angels bowling in heaven" send him running for cover. But Brannon's also a dinosaur fan, so when brother Chad announces that dinosaurs make thunder, Brannon comes out of hiding. Eye-catching cloud creatures (and dinosaurs) populate the dynamic, inventive illustrations in this satisfying new look at dinosaur mania.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(2) 4-6 Nine-year-old Corey tells all the stories he remembers about his family's dog, Moe. The tone is somber: even the funny stories are laced with darker moments in which the parents are fighting, or Moe gets hurt or lost. Dog-book lovers may not get what they're seeking, but they will find this book compelling nevertheless.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2013

(2) 4-6 On the run from Mom's ex-boyfriend, twelve-year-old cupcake-baker Foster McFee and her mother wind up in Culpepper, West Virginia. There, an odd assortment of characters come together like the ingredients for one of Foster's favorite confections. Foster's engaging first-person voice and interior monologue, the solid characterization, and the nimble, fast-paced prose are the quality ingredients of this tale cooked to perfection.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2011