(3) K-3 Illustrated by Julie Paschkis. From "Market Breakfast: Oaxaca, Mexico" to "Train Station: Mumbai, India," short, sweet poems and tantalizing illustrations let readers sample delicacies from fourteen different locales. Each poem gets its own double-page spread: the text is framed by a decorative border on the recto; the whole spread is enveloped by Paschkis's kaleidoscopic paintings. A menu of the "Sweets and Treats" provides some more information about the different cultures and culinary traditions, including orange juice from Jaffa, Israel; "deep-fried scorpions on a stick" from Beijing, China; and Boston's Fenway Park hotdogs.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(2) PS Illustrated by Julie Paschkis. This entertainingly madcap alphabet adventure is wordless, save for the onomatopoeia and animal sounds that accompany the letters of the alphabet on display. It all starts with a mouse, who sneezes (A is for "achoo") after smelling a big, beautiful daisy. From that flower flies a bee (B is for "bzzz"), while a bird "chirps," and--uh-oh--here comes a large bell, hanging off a cat (D is for "ding-­a-ling"). So it goes, with the far-right recto of each spread often giving us a hint as to what's coming with the page-turn. Paschkis provides delicate drawings of well-dressed animals (in clothes with intriguing, eye-catching patterns) who (mostly) move across the pages from right to left, as if we are watching a play unfold. The solidly colored backgrounds pop with eye-­catching hues, and though things get hectic--there's a bicycle wreck that results in an injured raccoon, a musical parade, and a pig careening through the V and W spread in a sleek blue convertible--­Paschkis keeps the compositions from becoming cluttered. Viewers will delight in narrating the action, particularly given the boisterous sounds occurring all throughout the book, and in spotting and naming all the animals that appear. The ending reveals the recipient of that first spread's daisy--a lion--and never fear: the mouse falls asleep safely and snugly, because Z is for "ZzZzZ."

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2021

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Julie Paschkis. Dragons, mermaids, and trolls inhabit this menagerie, as do creatures from world folktales, including firebirds (Russia) and Naga water deities (Southeast Asia). Larios's fourteen poems capture in very few words each creature's essence. Paschkis's gouache paintings, with their intense colors and repeated curving lines, often incorporate culture-specific stylistic elements. A closing page provides brief information about each creature.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2008

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Anne Hunter. In each verse of this evocative poem, the speaker describes an experience--sleeping outside, holding a snake, nursing a baby bird--and ends with the question, "Have you ever done that?" The next speaker responds with a different experience, until the poem ends with an invitation to participate in nature's wonders. Hunter's illustrations, their simple shapes accented by crosshatching, add mystery and drama.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Mary Hofstrand Cornish. Readers will never view a trip up the stairs as mundane again after seeing how this pair of mice count and name each step as they ascend. From the "family step," beneath family photos on the wall, to the step where the nightlight resides, each step has its own adventure and something new to do. The softly colored illustrations follow the progression of the mice up the staircase and through their evening routine.

Reviewer: Susan Halperin