(2) K-3 "I can't ask her what it means. Then she'll know I don't know." The resident of apartment 2C (skinny bright-blue walking rectangle with a red bow tie and a thatch of brown hair) prides himself on being "the know-it-all neighbor." When 2B (pink teardrop with red high-tops at the end of stick legs) asks 2C to "wake me up in 20 coconuts," though, 2C is thrown for a loop. Keller's wacky mixed-media illustrations set the tone and the scene: a red-brick apartment building inhabited by a variety of cartoony characters who mainly communicate by shouting out their front windows. 2C tries logic ("How many coconuts in a minute?"), removing the sock and noisy chicken from his ear, and getting his brain washed, all with the hope that the meaning of "coconut time" will become clearer. The existential crisis reaches its ridiculously exaggerated crescendo when 2C finally admits (to the whole building) that he doesn't know what 2B is talking about. And this is where the silliness has been leading: "It's all right to say 'I don’t know,' 2C. It doesn’t mean that you're not smart." An encouraging note provides more details on the benefits of owning what we don't know.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2022

(4) K-3 Potato is agog: a shop is selling Potato Pants! Unfortunately, Potato is too intimidated to enter, because the eggplant that shoved him yesterday is inside. Can Potato make peace with his nemesis before the pants are sold out? This book is like a daffy-touching episode of SpongeBob SquarePants, although the layouts--combining speech balloons, regular text, and collage art--could have used some mellowing.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Elephant & Piggie Like Reading! series. This spinoff series' first entries feature lively speech-balloon conversations with energetic illustrations to match. In Keller's quirky book, seven blades of grass and one dandelion discover they're growing but in different ways. Santat delivers a raucous math lesson, as four animal friends attempt to share three cookies. Willems frames each story with a brief, humorous exchange between enthusiastic readers Elephant and Piggie. Review covers the following Elephant & Piggie Like Reading! titles: We Are Growing! and The Cookie Fiasco.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(3) 1-3 Adventures of Arnie the Doughnut series. In their third romp, doughnut Arnie and his pal, Peezo (a pizza slice), sign up for their favorite game show on which they compete in obstacles against Yummy Valley locals and Peezo faces his fearsome rival, Nick Pumpernickel ("the PUMPERNATOR!"). Keller's signature storytelling style shines with countless puns, grayscale cartoons, and word bubbles. The anthropomorphized foodstuffs will continue to delight their new-reader fans.

Reviewer: Kari Allen

(3) 1-3 Adventures of Arnie the Doughnut series. Arnie the Doughnut narrates his second adventure with caretaker Mr. Bing and friend Peezo (a pizza slice), in which Earth is threatened by a bizarre invasion. When wacky puns, eccentric characters, and doughnuts from outer space mix together with Keller's recognizable illustrations, it's a recipe for a deliciously zany story. Keller even works in a secret alien-doughnut language (think Pig Latin).

Reviewer: Kari Allen

(3) 1-3 Adventures of Arnie the Doughnut series. "Doughnut-dog" Arnie has been adopted by Mr. Bing, not to be eaten but to be his friend. When they attend Mr. Bing's bowling tournament, Arnie and his anthropomorphized-object friends--bowling balls, a slice of pizza--must solve the mystery behind the usually talented Mr. Bing's bowling blunders. With humorous cartoons and dynamically laid-out text, this zany book will engage young readers.

Reviewer: Margaret Nell Becker

(3) K-3 Birdy, a wide-eyed redhead with an expressive topknot ponytail, makes a book-length case for the smile, covering the health benefits of smiling, different kinds of smiles, etc.; at book's end, she's off to practice her grin, as can the reader, thanks to the mirror provided. Like Birdy, her costars are ebullient and Muppet-like--the right cast for this uplifting story.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 In this follow-up to The Scrambled States of America, Uncle Sam emcees a talent show starring Minnesota the Magnificent, the New States on the Block, and others. Great sight gags and droll wisecracks (Hawaii asks, "Does this grass skirt make my butte look big?") come courtesy of the individual states, shown as geometric slabs with facial features and stick-thin limbs.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 When a family of otters moves into the neighborhood, Mr. Rabbit panics. "Do unto otters as you would have otters do unto you," advises wise Owl, thus beginning Rabbit's lesson in manners. The story's thin but the puns are funny, and Keller's eminently energetic acrylic illustrations and exaggerated humor combine for a painless way to introduce a perennially important topic.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(3) K-3 Narrowly escaping the jaws of habitual doughnut eater Mr. Bing, Arnie is shocked to learn that a doughnut's fate in life is to be eaten. After sparing him, Mr. Bing realizes that Arnie could fill a void in his life, and Arnie becomes a sticky but obedient "doughnut-dog." Happily busy acrylic and collage art sprinkled with humorous, punning asides complements this silly, satisfying story.

Reviewer: Bridget McCaffrey

(2) K-3 Set in Tooth School, where Sally Incisor, Conan Canine, and all their enameled pals study under the tutelage of Dr. Flossman, the book identifies the four different types of teeth and their functions, shows the components of a tooth in cross-section, and discusses the importance of brushing and flossing. The information is presented in a comic sprawl of collage and acrylic art.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2000

(3) K-3 Tired of being stuck in the same old places, the states decide to swap spots with one another. With generous dollops of wacky, wisecracking humor, and a mixed-media art style that creates states with loads of personality, newcomer Keller has created a madcap story and a geography lesson rolled into one.

Reviewer: Jackie C. Horne