(4) K-3 Illustrated by Simon Scales. "Look out, children, / here they come, / bringing pandemonium! / Lock doors and windows, run and hide. / Do not let these creeps inside!" Children, aghast, look on as four monsters draw on walls, talk in school, throw food, etc. Bad behavior drives the story, but the ending fizzles. Digital-looking illustrations (some a little blurry) with a Disney-meets-anime quality dutifully depict the monsters' antics.

Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden

(4) PS Illustrated by Steve Bjorkman. Amiable loose-line watercolors illustrate this combination counting/colors/animals book: "Blue barn, blue barn, what are you hiding? / Two sturdy stallions saddled for riding, / Three fillies neighing, / Four hens a-laying...." The framing device gets a little intrusive, but the rhymes are pleasant and relaxed, and the conclusion (the "heart" of farm life is the family) is perfectly pitched. Glos.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(4) 4-6 Soon after moving to a coastal California town, Pete, an eleven-year-old surfer, finds a stray dog who understands the waves better than most surfers. Blackie provides the friendship Pete craves and the approval he seeks from better surfers, but when the dog's real owner shows up, Pete has to make it on his own. Unconvincing characters mar the otherwise engaging story.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Martin Matje. Perrier, the pampered young pig ward of a Hollywood actress, pines away longing for another forbidden wallow in a mud puddle. Epiphany and a happy ending result from his discovery that his mistress puts on a mud mask every night. The situation is elegantly constructed and humorously over the top, while the refined, pink-and-chocolate illustrations add the perfect snooty touch.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam