(2) K-3 From a red cabin in a forest, the young protagonist calls for her dog. "Peppermint! Where is that pesky pup? I'm going out to look for Peppermint! You come too." In the panel-style illustrations that follow, the girl takes readers on a tour of her favorite features of the forest, while the cagey Peppermint comments from a circle inset on each spread. When there are reminiscences (about the time, for instance, when Peppermint came home with a snout full of porcupine quills), the action appears as childlike drawings in the girl's sketchbook (Peppermint: "Maybe not my finest hour"). A mix of the informative and the homey, the narration encompasses elements of history and geology (how millennia earlier, glaciers dropped erratic boulders), botany, zoology (the time a coyote chased them home and they later returned to find its den), and folk wisdom (how to make a whistle out of an acorn cupule), in a visually inviting and intellectually stimulating way. When the naughty Peppermint is at last reunited with her owner, they're rewarded with one of the girl's life-list ambitions: the sight of an elusive fisher regarding them silently from high in a tree. The back matter includes a note from the author about his home and a map showing the Adirondack Mountains, sidebars about porcupines and fishers, and a list of "a few good forest books."

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2024

(2) 4-6 Survival Scout series. This humorous and informative comic-format guide showcases all things survival in the great outdoors. After getting lost while hiking and later abandoned by her exaggeratedly incompetent grown-up brother (he gets chased away by a bear), protagonist Scout is left alone in the wilderness. She has no communication devices and only half of the gear she needs, but she is determined to pull through. Straightforward narration documents Scout's planning and behavior as she tends to her most immediate priorities of shelter, signals, water, and food. As she confronts each challenge (how to light a fire, use a compass, etc.), readers gain access to her decision-making processes and her persistence and problem-solving skills when tasks don't immediately go as planned. Each survival scenario is presented with tension, but none verges on scary or stressful. A silly cast of talking critters (especially a friendly skunk) lightens the tone, offering clarifications and lots of laugh-out-loud jokes. The thick-lined, brightly colored illustrations are jam-packed with diagrams, labels, and other instructions akin to what one would see in a survival handbook; a variety of layouts and visual perspectives allows for readers to focus on the facts and soak in the beauty of the setting. An appendix includes information on knot-tying, Morse code, first aid, bear safety, skunk scent remedies, and going to the bathroom; resources for further reading; and an author's note.

Reviewer: Elisa Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2023

(2) K-3 These additions to Eaton's informational picture book series (The Truth About Elephants, rev. 1/19; and others) are characteristically odd, exuberant, and instructive. Straightforward content is presented through expository text in a large, bold typeface. Lively cartoons offer additional details--and plenty of jokes. While human children are shown actively learning about the titular creatures, the butterflies and hawks (among other animals) talk with one another and react to the facts, often with wit. After the child in Butterflies declares those to be her "favorite things with wings," for example, a bird sarcastically and disappointedly remarks, "Wow. Okay." Pen-and-ink illustrations, colored digitally with strong black outlines and solid color fills, threaten to overwhelm each spread, but sidebars, word balloons, labels, and other visual elements function as effective organizers. Brief back matter adds further context about wingspans, migratory routes, and more. Review covers these titles: The Truth About Butterflies and The Truth About Hawks.

Reviewer: Elisa Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2020

(2) K-3 This busy, boisterous, and information-­packed picture book explains the multi-step maple-syrup-making process--from tree to table. Bear, anthropomorphized and wearing cold-weather garb, begins her project when the temperature is below freezing at night but above freezing during the day: "sugaring time!" The third-person main text narrates Bear's undertaking as she locates a tree, drills into it, collects sap, and more. Tools are labeled throughout (brace, spiles, evaporator), and occasional sidebars include additional facts. The illustrations, too, help scaffold ­readers' understanding; one picture demonstrates how it takes forty gallons of sap to create one gallon of maple syrup. Bear's pancake-loving ­companions, Squirrel and Dog, follow her process impatiently, inserting questions, affirmations, and comic relief. (When Bear cuts a hole in a milk jug, Dog breaks the fourth wall and declares, "I lost scissors privileges long ago.") Sound effects and speech-bubble dialogue emphasize these humorous moments, while the watercolor and graphite illustrations, rendered in light hues, emit a cool winter vibe. This dynamic title succeeds in showcasing the complexity, can-do spirit, and fun behind "maple syrup splendor." Back matter includes an author's note and suggestions for further reading.

Reviewer: Elisa Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2020

(2) K-3 In this wacky, fact-packed addition to the Truth About series, straightforward informational prose provides a crash course on crocodile types, diet, reproduction, habitat, and more. The cartoonlike pen-and-ink illustrations tell their own story. Crocs and other creatures--including a party hat–wearing kid--are shown with speech bubbles in silly fictionalized scenarios, often cracking jokes about the factual content as they plan a birthday party for the child and newly hatched baby crocodiles. Reading list.

Reviewer: Elisa Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2019

(2) K-3 These additions to Eaton's informational picture book series (The Truth About Elephants, rev. 1/19; and others) are characteristically odd, exuberant, and instructive. Straightforward content is presented through expository text in a large, bold typeface. Lively cartoons offer additional details--and plenty of jokes. While human children are shown actively learning about the titular creatures, the butterflies and hawks (among other animals) talk with one another and react to the facts, often with wit. After the child in Butterflies declares those to be her "favorite things with wings," for example, a bird sarcastically and disappointedly remarks, "Wow. Okay." Pen-and-ink illustrations, colored digitally with strong black outlines and solid color fills, threaten to overwhelm each spread, but sidebars, word balloons, labels, and other visual elements function as effective organizers. Brief back matter adds further context about wingspans, migratory routes, and more. Review covers these titles: The Truth About Butterflies and The Truth About Hawks.

Reviewer: Elisa Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2020

(2) K-3 The fourth book in this "seriously funny" animal series follows the same winning formula, this time discussing elephants. The conversational main narrative--covering the two main elephant types, plus their diet, behavior, and defenses--is supported by text boxes, signs, and speech bubbles in which elephants and others offer additional facts and advance a silly subplot. The welcoming cartoon illustrations also effectively balance educating with entertaining. Reading list.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2019

(1) K-3 Eaton has hit upon an effective combination of silly and informative in this new series. The dynamic pages, with lighthearted, crisply rendered cartoon illustrations, are thoughtfully designed to make the books accessible to both new and more-independent readers. The main texts dispense basic animal facts while the animals' speech bubbles alternate between supplementing information and advancing goofy subplots (e.g., a hippo's failed attempts at bike riding). Reading list. Review covers these titles: The Truth About Bears, The Truth About Dolphins, and The Truth About Hippos.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2018

(1) K-3 Eaton has hit upon an effective combination of silly and informative in this new series. The dynamic pages, with lighthearted, crisply rendered cartoon illustrations, are thoughtfully designed to make the books accessible to both new and more-independent readers. The main texts dispense basic animal facts while the animals' speech bubbles alternate between supplementing information and advancing goofy subplots (e.g., a hippo's failed attempts at bike riding). Reading list. Review covers these titles: The Truth About Bears, The Truth About Dolphins, and The Truth About Hippos.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2018

(1) K-3 Eaton has hit upon an effective combination of silly and informative in this new series. The dynamic pages, with lighthearted, crisply rendered cartoon illustrations, are thoughtfully designed to make the books accessible to both new and more-independent readers. The main texts dispense basic animal facts while the animals' speech bubbles alternate between supplementing information and advancing goofy subplots (e.g., a hippo's failed attempts at bike riding). Reading list. Review covers these titles: The Truth About Bears, The Truth About Dolphins, and The Truth About Hippos.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2018

(3) PS The sun hasn't risen, but a young hamster-like critter is wide awake: "I even made pancakes!" While Mom sleeps, bleary-eyed Dad withstands an onslaught of the child's not-so-tempting attempts to coax him out of bed. Energetic children and sleep-deprived parents will both see themselves in the story, told via comic digitally colored pen-and-ink illustrations and minimal dialogue-bubble text.

Reviewer: Jessica Bushore

(3) 1-3 Flying Beaver Brothers series. In the sixth installment, island-dwelling beavers Ace and Bub compete in a race to win an awesome houseboat. In a scheme to take the lead, the bros accidentally plant an "everything vine," which indeed takes over everything on the Shark Tooth Islands. The speech-balloon text is deadpan, and the dynamic comic-panel illustrations--pen-and-ink with monochromatic digital coloring--feature plenty of onomatopoeic action.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(4) 1-3 Jump-into-Chapters series. This comics-style transitional book is divided into three "chapters," and each is an extended joke that pits Andy the alligator against his other quirky animal friends. The best part is an animal symphony of onomatopoeia, but many of the characters' interactions come across as senseless teasing. The illustrations have a rich yet limited color palette; speech-balloon text is nicely integrated into the pictures.

Reviewer: Miriam Steinberg-Egeth

(3) 1-3 Flying Beaver Brothers series. Beaver bros Ace and Bub return for a fifth heroic mission. Three entrepreneurial baboons are using "the Easy Breeze" (a giant hair-dryer contraption) to melt Beaver Island's snow for swimming pools--or maybe something more nefarious. The speech-balloon text is deadpan, and the dynamic comic-panel illustrations--pen-and-ink with monochromatic digital coloring--feature plenty of action paired with rollicking onomatopoeia.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(3) 1-3 Flying Beaver Brothers series. In these installments, beaver bros Ace and Bub combat a slew of nearsighted moles stealing Beaver Island's dirt for their own depleting island then get caught in the middle of a bird-bunny territory feud over on Little Beaver Island. The speech-balloon text is deadpan, and the dynamic comic-panel illustrations--pen-and-ink with monochromatic digital coloring--feature plenty of action paired with onomatopoeia. Review covers these titles: The Flying Beaver Brothers: Birds vs. Bunnies and The Flying Beaver Brothers and the Mud-Slinging Moles.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(3) 1-3 Flying Beaver Brothers series. In these installments, beaver bros Ace and Bub combat a slew of nearsighted moles stealing Beaver Island's dirt for their own depleting island then get caught in the middle of a bird-bunny territory feud over on Little Beaver Island. The speech-balloon text is deadpan, and the dynamic comic-panel illustrations--pen-and-ink with monochromatic digital coloring--feature plenty of action paired with onomatopoeia. Review covers these titles: The Flying Beaver Brothers: Birds vs. Bunnies and The Flying Beaver Brothers and the Mud-Slinging Moles.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(3) 1-3 Flying Beaver Brothers series. Beaver brothers Ace and Bub live on Beaver Island, and in these first adventures they step up to save their home from evil resort-building penguins and a mackerel-run factory producing Fish Stix (toys). Humor and wordplay in the speech-bubble text will charm young graphic-novel lovers; comics-style illustrations--with spare lines, digital coloring, and lots of energy--maintain the action. Review covers these Flying Beaver Brothers titles: The Flying Beaver Brothers and the Evil Penguin Plan and The Flying Beaver Brothers and the Fishy Business.

Reviewer: Beth L. Meister

(3) 1-3 Flying Beaver Brothers series. Beaver brothers Ace and Bub live on Beaver Island, and in these first adventures they step up to save their home from evil resort-building penguins and a mackerel-run factory producing Fish Stix (toys). Humor and wordplay in the speech-bubble text will charm young graphic-novel lovers; comics-style illustrations--with spare lines, digital coloring, and lots of energy--maintain the action. Review covers these Flying Beaver Brothers titles: The Flying Beaver Brothers and the Evil Penguin Plan and The Flying Beaver Brothers and the Fishy Business.

Reviewer: Beth L. Meister

(3) K-3 Two duck friends, Steve and Carl, are plagued by seagull bullies who keep calling them dumb. Setting out to get even one night, the ducks inadvertently end up covered in mud, and the seagulls, mistaking them for "muck monsters," fly away. The book's unfussy design, with its cartoon panels, simple shapes, and limited color palette, suits the story's deadpan humor.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(4) K-3 Adventures of Max and Pinky series. Max and Pinky the pig work hard painting a barn red. When they wake up the next day, they find the barn has turned pink overnight. The two set up an elaborate trap to solve the mystery, only to discover that Pinky is a sleep-painter. Bold-hued illustrations and silly asides add to the appeal of this slight but funny tale.

Reviewer: Susan Halperin