(3) K-3 Illustrated by Britta Teckentrup. Unlike the other chameleons, Leon can't seem to change color to match his surroundings. Readers are interactively encouraged to count, whisper, smile, and more as neon-orange Leon searches for an environment (green jungle? yellow desert?) in which his brilliant glow will fit. Teckentrup's bold digital illustrations play with variations in shade and texture, demonstrating the many ways an animal can blend in--or not, in Leon's case.

Reviewer: Erica Wetter

(3) PS Illustrated by Migy Blanco. Sure, it's fun to make animal noises, but in this rendition of the classic children's song, Clarke swaps animals for vehicles, which create their own ear-pleasing din ("With a vroom-vroom here / and a vroom-vroom there," etc.). Loyalists to the animal-centric version won't feel slighted: the expansive, Golden Books–reminiscent illustrations show MacDonald's critters behind--and on, and around--the wheel.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) PS Illustrated by Charles Fuge. A baby gorilla is awakened--"smelly and yelly / and all forlorn"--by a hippo's yawn. In this cumulative rhyme, each jungle animal is awakened by another; what starts as a grumpy day becomes a happy day for all. Effective use of white space and creative placement of the large watercolor and ink illustrations of the animals add to the appeal.

Reviewer: Nancy Sheridan

(3) PS Illustrated by Emma Dodd. "I saw Anaconda swallow a tick... / It made her tummy hop and kick! / Will she be sick?" A child observes Anaconda as she gulps one creature after another until she is indeed sick--"ick!" The lift-the-flap format provides an inside view of Anaconda's stomach, and astute viewers will spot the next animal to be swallowed on each friendly, colorful spread. A gleeful--and gross--spin on a classic rhyme.

Reviewer: Rebecca Fox

(4) PS Illustrated by Lee Wildish. Steggy Stegosaurus and Tracey Triceratops are among the dinos competing à la TV's Dancing with the Stars (here it's "dancing with the 'saurs"). Clarke goes for easy, obvious rhymes ("Tango with our T. Rex, / do the Steggy twist and shout! / Disco with the Duckbills / and shake it all about") that Wildish almost rescues via his eye-snaring illustrations.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Charles Fuge. Shark Gilbert (Gilbert in Deep) returns for another unsurprising undersea outing. Little brother Finn isn't much fun at the park. When Gilbert leaves Finn unattended, a killer whale nearly devours him, but Gilbert manages a last-minute rescue. In the end, the terrifying attack is laughed off as a game. Serene, sea-green illustrations and ocean puns downplay the danger of the situation.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Charles Fuge. Against his mother's orders, great white shark Gilbert (Gilbert the Great) ventures off with his remora-fish friend to play hide-and-seek beyond the edge of their reef. Gilbert soon finds, however, that he's out of his depth. Playful blue-green illustrations provide readers with an imaginative view of the deep sea, but the story itself is didactic.

Reviewer: Jack Forman

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Garry Parsons. After a hen finds her chick stuck in the mud, she becomes trapped during her effort to free him. One by one, other farm animals and the farmer try helping and get mired. The surprise ending--the chick, who loves playing in mud, isn't actually stuck--is only mildly amusing. Parsons's acrylics serviceably capture the farm setting.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Anne Kennedy. Humorous drawings illustrate a heavy-handed story about a young stork named Stanley whose parents are always fighting and who decide to divorce and live in separate nests. Through conversations at school with a classmate whose parents also live apart, Stanley learns that having two nests isn't as bad as he feared.

Reviewer: Cindy Lombardo

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Charles Fuge. Gilbert the shark and Raymond the remora are inseparable. From finball to tide and seek, they do everything together. A bereft Gilbert is inconsolable when Raymond's family moves across the sea--until he meets Rita, a remora who's new to the area. Appealing underwater scenes liven up this predictable tale about moving from the point of view of the one left behind.

Reviewer: Susan Halperin