(3) K-3 Illustrated by Ella Okstad. In this entertaining story, feline narrator Princess Kitty describes her luxurious life in a palace, where attendants pamper her and even plan a surprise party just for her. The humorous catch: Okstad's cartoon-style illustrations reveal that this is a regular house, the "attendants" are the humans who live there (including a young girl), and the party is actually for the girl's birthday.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Jared Lee. Using a "House That Jack Built" structure, this book describes how various witches, vampires, and ghosts contribute to the (shoddy) construction of a "spooky" house, and the resultant chaos when trick-or-treaters come to the door. There's good read-aloud potential here (although the verse's meter may require practice), and the pen-and-ink illustrations are frenetically funny.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2016

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Amanda Haley. Princess Isabel's rudeness ruins her chance to marry eligible princes who later end up with well-known characters like Cinderella and Snow White. But don't expect Isabel to realize that there's more to life than bagging a prince: Metzger's cause is etiquette, not enlightenment. While not envelope-pushing, this fairy-tale spoof, bolstered by Haley's wacky art, is among the droller ones.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Jared D. Lee. When Pluto learns that astronomers have changed his status to dwarf planet, he's furious and races down to earth. The scientists explain their new definition to him, but it takes a child reassuring him that he's still special to send him home happy. Although facts about the solar system are included, the story, accompanied by sketchlike cartoon illustrations, is weak.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Tedd Arnold. Little Boy Blue is trying to keep a handle on crime in Storytown. He tracks down the Dish and the Spoon, nabs Mary's little lamb--but where is Miss Muffet? In this Mother Goose takeoff, one iconic character after another advises and distracts Detective Blue. Comic-strip panels illustrate the investigation, with Arnold's goggle-eyed characters alert to the quest and the humor.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2011

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Julie Downing. Teddy can have anything he wants in the ice cream shop, "just for me." While deciding what to order, he envisions a pastel-hued ice cream land where he reigns as king. Singsongy text touts the joys of not sharing--until Teddy finds himself alone and decides that two spoons are better than one. The slight story is enhanced by creatively composed illustrations.

Reviewer: Sophie Williamson

(4) K-3 Illustrated by John Abbott Nez. When the bronze animals on the Delacorte Clock start to "dance," Milo, a snow monkey in nearby Central Park Zoo, longs to join them. After his cage is left open he gets his chance; he's then horrified to learn he's been locked out. Metzger's rhyming text, while cheery, stumbles in places. Nez's cartoony illustrations have verve. More information about the Delacorte Clock is appended.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Hans Wilhelm. After his wise old dad is called away, owl Spotty glibly doles out advice that sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. When real help is needed, Spotty puts his silliness aside and, drawing from one of his father's lessons, saves the day. Chaotic watercolors of amiable woodland creatures illustrate the story.

Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden