(3) PS Illustrated by Fred Koehler. Baby and Puppy love each other and can't stand to be separated, even though Mommy and Daddy could clearly use a reprieve from the double trouble. Short, repetitive sentences highlight the word puppy in a simple story about the bond between a young child and pet. Only Koehler's giggle-inducing digital illustrations show the mayhem the adorable pair creates for the exhausted but doting parents.

Reviewer: Miriam Steinberg-Egeth

(3) 4-6 Top-Secret Diary of Celie Valentine series. Illustrated by Johanna Wright. Ten-year-old Celie adjusts to a new apartment and school in this third volume (Friendship Over; Secrets Out!), once again told through diary entries, notes, and lively sketches. Drama surrounding old and new friends as well as her sister's boyfriend mixes with more humorous moments and Celie's sweet, mutually supportive relationship with her grandmother.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Adam Gudeon. A frustrated bunny mother attempts to put her two eldest daughters to sleep with a bedtime story, but she abandons the book when the younger child is too distracted by the world around her. Ink and gouache illustrations in subdued colors, softly textured and stained with tea, depict the warm family dynamic (despite Mama's exasperation) in this playful story of a sisterly bond.

Reviewer: Pam Yosca

(2) 4-6 Top-Secret Diary of Celie Valentine series. Illustrated by Johanna Wright. Ten-year-old Celie (Friendship Over!) continues her ultra-honest (and at times unintentionally funny) journal. Here she's dealing with changing friendship dynamics; older sister Jo surreptitiously texting--and possibly more--with a boy; and, most worrying, her grandmother's worsening memory problems. Celie's voice is fresh, unselfconscious, and emphatic. Much of the book's considerable humor, and pathos, are communicated in Celie's heartfelt sketches, diagrams, and notes.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2015

(2) 4-6 Top-Secret Diary of Celie Valentine series. Illustrated by Johanna Wright. For her tenth birthday, Celie receives a journal, in which she relates her friendship and family woes (best friend Lula has suddenly become mean; Granny starts acting strangely) through authentic-sounding entries, drawings, and a variety of notes and letters. Celie navigates her troubles in a manner both satisfying and believable; readers can look forward to more of Celie's heartfelt, funny diaries.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2015

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Matthew Cordell. Fourth grader Eleanor's (Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie; Like Bug Juice on a Burger) friendship with Pearl is tested by the arrival of a fascinating new classmate. Add the stress of a class play and a first crush, and young readers will be hooked. Eleanor's dilemmas are realistic, familiar, and engaging; Sternberg's free verse is sharp, and Cordell's line drawings humorous.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(2) 1-3 Illustrated by Matthew Cordell. As readers of Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie know, Eleanor is a worrier, and a first trip to camp offers lots of opportunities for worrying. But just as Eleanor has sent a coded letter to her parents that means she wants to leave, she finds activities she enjoys. Sternberg gets all of the details exactly right, and Cordell's cartoon sketches add humor.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2013

(2) 1-3 Illustrated by Matthew Cordell. Eight-year-old Eleanor is bereft when her babysitter moves away; Eleanor's new babysitter sensitively gives her room to grieve. Sternberg uses short sentences spaced on the pages in very short lines, like poetry, and keeps the twenty-seven chapters very brief. The first-person narration and the details of Eleanor's emotional journey will draw readers in, while Cordell's line drawings add humor.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2011