(2) K-3 Illustrated by Rowboat Watkins. Over-the-top writing meets equally over-the-top illustrations in this tongue-in-cheek tale featuring "the tiniest king...Cedric, King ME the First" (a possible relative of Lloyd-Jones's His Royal Highness, King Baby, rev. 11/17). From his absurd handlebar mustache to his delusions of grandeur, the self-absorbed and self-conscious Tiny Cedric is more cartoonish caricature than credible royal. To make himself feel "all big and tall, and NOT SMALL," Tiny Cedric banishes from the palace everyone taller than himself. His brash action leaves the tiny tyrant without adult workers--and with a castle full of babies. Hilarity ensues across a series of spot-art sequences after Tiny Cedric hires the little ones, culminating in an impressively chaotic spread featuring a botched rescue by the "Baby Fire Brigade." Not until Tiny Cedric is forced to perform a few simple caring acts for the babies does he see past his own insecurities and open his heart to others. The mixed-media illustrations have a handmade, tactile quality, featuring colorful watercolor washes and a pleasing, wobbly pencil line. Additional storytelling is packed into the highly detailed illustrations--from sardonic articles seen in Tiny Cedric's personal newspaper (The Daily Me) to a meta-cameo of this very book in the bedtime-story pile. While a modern political analog to Tiny Cedric may be obvious to more savvy readers, the overall message of general fairness and mutual respect, delivered through humor and whimsy, remains timeless.

Reviewer: Patrick Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2022

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Leo Espinosa. A sign appears on a derelict fountain: "COMING IN TWO WEEKS! CALLING ALL GOLDFISH LOOKING FOR A SUMMER HOME." Three goldfish-owning neighborhood children and their grandfather watch as a park worker cleans up the fountain, turning it back into something beautiful and functional--and ready for goldfish. Espinosa's bright illustrations bring a sense of joy to every page of this amiable story inspired by true events.

Reviewer: Monica Edinger | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2018

(2) K-3 Illustrated by David Roberts. "One horrible, NOT NICE day...a new ruler was born." The newly minted big sister describes, in a classic-fairy-tale narrative style, the havoc wreaked by her demanding baby brother. Even better, she draws the story as she sees it, in entertaining childlike illustrations that mirror--and sometimes humorously deviate from--Roberts's stylish watercolor and pen art showing the book's true events.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2017

(4) PS Illustrated by Anita Jeram. Punning on the old children's song, this book of silly rhymes shows a group of animal friends skipping joyfully on the way to the potty (a.k.a. the "loo" in British English). The saccharine text embraces the fact that "loo" rhymes with "poo." The playful ink and watercolor illustrations end with a mirror to encourage reader participation in the potty fun.

Reviewer: Miriam Steinberg-Egeth

(2) PS Illustrated by Jane Dyer. A home-away-home structure follows a little girl from the "house that's [her] home" to school and back, as she engages with her family, pets, and the world around her. Rhythmic text embraces childlike phrasing and captures the happiest parts of childhood's emotional landscape: "A friend is Your Friend / Who stays by your side." Soft gouache and pencil illustrations match the text's depiction of childhood idyll.

Reviewer: Megan Dowd Lambert | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2015

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Alexandra Boiger. Fish Doreen swims leisurely upstream oblivious to danger: a fisherman dangling his hook and Great Blue Heron looking for dinner. Even when the fisherman catches her, and later when the heron snaps her up, she remains blissfully, naively unconcerned, seeing only positives ("I'M FLYING!"). Bright illustrations and the narrator's urgent warnings ("Oh dear, Doreen. No. Not Flying. FALLING.") make this an enjoyable read-aloud.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(4) PS Illustrated by Frank Endersby. Little Red Squirrel asks a multitude of questions, trying to find out why his daddy loves him. He discovers it's not because of his "Super Fast Running," his "Brave Balancing," or any of his other accomplishments. Daddy finally says, "I love you just because you're mine." The agreeable story becomes overly sentimental in the end, though the lively illustrations are easy on the eye.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Jago. Over one hundred daily devotions for children are presented on handsomely illustrated spreads, each one elucidating a biblical passage with conversational text and child-friendly images. Christian families may find this to be a helpful tool to teach children simple wisdoms such as "if Jesus can calm a storm on a lake, he can calm the storm in your heart."

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Alison Jay. Animals all over the earth announce the arrival of "Heaven's son" in a simple, reverent Christmas story. Jay's jewel-like paintings, framed by white space, take readers around the world where desert animals, ocean creatures, and insects all anticipate the birth of a special baby, "God's great gift."

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Sue Heap. In this successor to two other How to... books, the narrator, a "Super-Ballerina-Soccer-Mermaid-Fairy Princess," introduces a wealth of professions. The joke--basically the narrator's serious articulation of silly ideas ("You shouldn't EVER bite the Boss when he is talking to you")--goes on a little long, but there are lots of funny moments. Heap's vignettes of kids demonstrating the jobs are entertaining.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Sue Heap. The big sister (How to Be a Baby...by Me, the Big Sister) has more advice, this time about weddings. Wearing a puffy white dress, the "bride" authoritatively lays out the rules: "You can marry your best friend or your teacher or your pet or your daddy." The narrator's views on marriage are authentically childlike, and kid-friendly illustrations in soft colors enhance the text's humor.

Reviewer: Marika Jeffrey

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Dan Krall. Fed up with Mom's talk of manners, a girl considers swapping places with animals whose standards of behavior are looser. After contemplating the various creatures' pros and cons, monster manners (or lack thereof) win out. In this humorous challenge to parental authority, the parent-mocking speech-bubble text will have kids laughing out loud. Boldly colored digital illustrations work well with the silly scenarios.

Reviewer: Sethany Rancier Alongi

(4) PS Illustrated by Jill Newton. Old MacDonald becomes Old MacNoah in this rhyming version of the biblical story. When the hungry animals spot dry land, everyone onboard lets out a heartfelt "YA-HOO! here / And a YA-HOO! there." A little potty humor in the text ("Here a POO! / There a POO!") isn't taken literally in the illustrations; thankfully, the animals' reactions make the point.

Reviewer: Amy Kellman

(3) PS Illustrated by Michael Emberley. This tongue-in-cheek advice book turns the tables to a kids' point of view, describing what grandchildren should do for their grandparents. Readers are instructed about the importance of such practices as letting their grandparents sometimes win at games and making sure they get naps when they are tired. Emberley's cartoon illustrations show animal grandparents and grandkids enjoying time together.

Reviewer: Lisa Catherine Findlay

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Sue Heap. A big sister describes what it's like to be a baby, listing the many things that infants, specifically her own brother, can't do. All along it's obvious that her disparaging comments hide a whole lotta love. The breezy illustrations are supplemented with handwritten lists (e.g., "Here's What Else You Can't Do"). Author and illustrator get the balance of annoyance and adoration just right.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2007

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Jackie Morris. Lloyd-Jones's lyrical text describes the joy of new parents: "People were sleeping. We didn't care. / Good news, we sang, our baby is here!" The text, by itself, celebrates the birth of any baby, but Morris's lush, painterly illustrations make this a specific song in praise of Jesus's arrival. It's an unremarkable, albeit attractive, addition to the Nativity picture-book genre.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth