(3) K-3 Illustrated by Drazen Kozjan. A series of bouncy rhymes describe the jobs of various "mummies" (moms): "Wanda's mum's a waitress. / She says 'Bone appétit!' / When serving hungry skeletons / Big bowls of Scream of Wheat." The punch lines are enhanced by the illustrations, all of which are completely realized scenes of ghoulishness, except for the final page, which shows--eek!--maternal love.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Kyrsten Brooker. "Report of a math attack, Second and Main. / They say there's a kid with a scrambled-up brain." The "kid" is a girl stumped by a math problem: "what's seven times ten?" Numbers everywhere (on a clock tower, in the grocery store) go haywire until she remembers the answer. Mixed-media illustrations capture the mayhem and grab attention with unexpected perspectives and jaunty angles.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(3) K-3 All Aboard Poetry Reader series. Illustrated by Melanie Siegel. A recipe for how to avoid homework, the teacher's directions for the class picture ("Uncross your eyes, Freddy"), and the principal's April Fool's joke all provide material for these pleasantly rhyming poems. Both the verses and the illustrations (the runaway rat of the title poem makes cameos throughout) use plenty of humor to appeal to beginning readers.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(3) K-3 Illustrated by JoAnn Adinolfi. From a pumpkin's lament to Frankenstein's trip to the grocery store, this poetry collection celebrates the Halloween season and is full of scary playfulness, rollicking rhythms, and surprise endings. The pages are decorated with stylized, wacky illustrations, and amusing gravestone epitaphs are found on the endpapers.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley