(3) K-3 Illustrated by Serge Bloch. Poems by Jane Yolen, J. Patrick Lewis, and others introduce a peppy group of punctuation marks, including the "forgotten" colon and a very excitable exclamation point. The humorous verses serve to help explicate meaning and usage. Clever and sophisticated pen-and-ink drawings showcase each punctuation mark in a bold, personified fashion, further bringing them to life. Teachers especially will appreciate this collection.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) PS Illustrated by Serge Bloch. The strength of a man's sneeze sends Circle rolling and Oval rocking (bypassing Rectangle, fortunately), and so on until Circle pops on Triangle's point, after which the chain reaction continues. Equally graceful as the rhymes are the simple collage and ink illustrations showing the bespectacled, stick-limbed shapes collaborating on this book-length geometry problem.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Translated by Debbie Bibo. Illustrated by Serge Bloch. A man named George wakes to find his shadow sitting in the kitchen. At first, George dislikes being followed around the city and tries to get rid of his shadow (via scissors, a vacuum, etc.). When he finally comes around to appreciating his constant companion, it disappears. This original story deserves distinctive art, and Bloch obliges with larkish mixed-media scenes.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) 1-3 Illustrated by Serge Bloch. In this comic-hybrid fictional memoir, Toby regularly aggravates his parents and other adults with his literal responses to questions and comments. While the frenetic narrative, with meandering introductions to the people in Toby's life, is mostly a vehicle for clever wordplay and smart-alecky jokes, second and third graders will eat this up. Bloch's childlike cartoons further the book's appeal.

Reviewer: Ed Spicer

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Serge Bloch. While facts about our smallest unit of currency are adroitly dropped into the text, the focus is on one particular penny, "born" in 1983, who describes its journey back and forth across the country. The little traveler is an actual photographed penny against airy and appropriately humble line-and-wash sketches. Appended with "A Brief History of U.S. Coins" and "Interesting Facts About Pennies." Reading list.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2017

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Serge Bloch. A boy describes his favorite aspects of Saturday: his parents cook all his meals, he can water the garden, etc. The joke is that the boy's heaven is his parents' hell (they tire of cooking, he drenches them while watering the garden). The illustrations are almost stick figure–like in their simplicity, and evoke a warm family feeling.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton

(2) PS Illustrated by Serge Bloch. One yawn, and "next thing you know, you're being sent upstairs to get your pajamas on!" What follows are suggestions for resisting the yawn's siren song. Of course, the more you think about not yawning, the harder it is to do anything but. Bloch's stylish illustrations amplify the well-paced text's humor while helping to telegraph its thinly disguised subliminal message.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2013

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Serge Bloch. Rosenthal has a knack for clever, participatory wordplay; here she offers a series of wordles, a term she's coined for phrases that are homophones, as in the book's title. Coming up with meaningful and humorous phrases that also happen to sound the same isn't easy. Yet Rosenthal manages to do so again and again--with crucial assistance from Bloch's gleefully silly mixed-media illustrations.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2013

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Serge Bloch. The narrator's father gives him a pet snake as a gift, but it's not just any snake. It spells words with its body, including this droll bit of advice for the narrator's mom: "relax." The book's second half--a laundry list of the snake's virtues--fizzles. More successful is the spot-colored black-and-white art, which favorably recalls Jules Feiffer's work.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Serge Bloch. A battlefield soldier is convinced that a hole in the ground near his own harbors something inhuman. In the end he realizes that his "enemy" may be just like him. This purposeful allegory's message will resonate more with adults than children, but it could be useful as a discussion starter. The spare cartoon drawings are a good match for the stark text.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Serge Bloch. This entertaining collection presents one profession per poem, with subjects ranging from the expected ("Librarian") to the odd ("Baby Chick Inspector," "Bubble Bath Tester"). Lewis's skill for puns and wordplay keeps things lively. Bloch's eye-popping digital collage illustrations enhance the quirky energy of the text, combining varying textures and mediums to great effect.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross

(4) 1-3 Illustrated by Serge Bloch. Two slight but amusing stories focus on princesses with fervent desires--one wants to go to school like a normal kid, the other wants a prince who knows how to scratch her back properly--and both get their wishes in the end. Friendly black-and-white cartoons enhance the book's good-natured humor, which is lively enough to mitigate the stories' predictability.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann

(2) 4-6 Translated by Gill Rosner. Illustrated by Serge Bloch. The new fifth-grade teacher, Monsieur Noël, gives each child a book of coupons that excuse the holder for infractions of the rules. But the real gift he gives them is a love for learning--he will give them a "whole year of lessons for free." Morgenstern's witty and poignant tribute to great teachers everywhere proclaims what education should be about. Her message may be pointed, but no reader will be unmoved.

Reviewer: Susan P. Bloom | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2001