(3) 4-6 Fish Finelli series. Illustrated by Jason Beene. Fact-obsessed Fish and his friends aim to win the Captain Kidd Classic in the old Fireball while wealthy Bryce lords his newer boat over them. There's plenty to keep series fans and new readers interested, including frequent humor, illustrated trivia sidebars, and the introduction of a girl to the competition. Cartoonlike black-and-white illustrations match the tone of the text.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(3) 4-6 Fish Finelli series. Illustrated by Jason Beene. In his first outing, precocious Norman "Fish" Finelli and his friends search for Captain Kidd's famed long-lost treasure while frequent sidebars explain the science and history behind the trivia-nut narrator's many dropped facts. Scatological humor adds entertainment for the young middle-grade set. Beene's black-and-white illustrations show amiable, earnest-faced young detectives prowling land and sea for booty.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(2) PS Illustrated by Barbara Cooney. In this reissue of a long-unavailable holiday book (adapted from a poem originally published in the December 1966 Horn Book), a star awakens the "winter-sleeping" creatures (e.g., bear, badger, skunk) and sings them to Bethlehem. About the 1980 edition, Paul Heins noted the "simple, unabashed realism" of Cooney's art, which, along with Farber's respectful text, celebrates the hibernators "as part of a divine plan."

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2006

(3) PS A child asks his mother questions about how he can do things animals do, such as, "Without a tail, how can I swing in the breeze?" To each question his mother has an answer: "By ropes and a board, hung from the tallest of trees." Narahashi's gentle watercolors are the book's strength, portraying a world of soft greens and blues in which mother and child have plenty of time for questions and play.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.