(4) PS Tried of feeling "odd," a spotless guinea fowl sends away for spots, and he gets all kinds: die-cut spots; "connect-the-dots spots"; and, eventually, colorful, textured "spots that were wrong / in the right sort of way." The story suffers from clumsy wording, including the final be-yourself-and-others-will-like-you moral, but the creative dot variants, engaging tactile elements, and expressive-eyed fowl will entice readers.

Reviewer: Rebecca Fox

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Wayne Anderson. When troublesome fairies vacation on the moon, the Man in the Moon stays inside. But his pet, Little Moon Dog, decides the impish visitors are more fun than his old friend. The story is message-driven, but the whimsical illustrations, which glow with light even though they're rendered in muted pastel colors, add verve and character.

Reviewer: Anne St. John

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Wayne Anderson. It's Christmas Eve, and a little girl is searching for the perfect gift. She finds a mysterious shop, where a portly customer with a "twinkly eye" buys everything and stuffs it into a sack; only later does she learn his identity. The text is as painstaking as the fantastical illustrations, in which colorful objects glow against somber backdrops.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Wayne Anderson. When lonely George's dragon friends (whom only he can see) become too troublesome, he builds a flying machine with which to lead them to a great wilderness, where, according to a map, "Here Be Dragons." Misty images of the dragon-shaped, Rube Goldberg-style machine are reminiscent of Sís's work. A distinctive font adds to the accessibly old-fashioned feel of this simple story about coming home.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(4) K-3 A growing hermit crab searches for a new home in this vividly colored tour through a thriving coral reef. Unfortunately, the pedantic telling of the crab's plight seems merely an excuse to showcase the reef's splendor in large double-page spreads and a double gatefold. The final nine pages are an encyclopedic "Key to the Reef" that details every organism found in the art. A list of conservation agencies is appended.

Reviewer: Hilary Breed Van Dusen

(4) K-3 The traditional carol "The Friendly Beasts" has been expanded to include a wider variety of animals such as peacock, mongoose, and woodworm. The text works best when read rather than sung, since some of the scansion is awkward. Sumptuous illustrations are the main attraction here, exquisitely detailed and colored with generous use of gold.

Reviewer: Lolly Robinson

(4) 1-3 Illustrated by Wayne Anderson. An old man uses hard work and the power of wishing to transform the garbage around him into a magnificent animal-filled forest. The book's themes seem muddled--the man's initial work converting trash and tin into an industrial forest is more impressive than his ability to wish a natural forest into being--but the story is a welcome paean to imagination nonetheless. Meticulously detailed illustrations achieve an Oz-like splendor.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Both Ward's dryly humorous text and her crisp, carefully drafted, realistic watercolor and pen-and-ink illustrations add panache to the overly familiar Aesop tale of "slow and steady wins the race." The book's type design rolls, leaps, and plunges along with the characters. A section at the end of the book provides interesting facts about the audience of animal spectators represented in the artwork.

Reviewer: Jackie C. Horne