(2) K-3 Illustrated by Melissa Iwai. On September 9, 1942, the Japanese dropped two bombs near Brookings, Oregon--the first attack from the air on the continental U.S. That Nobleman can tell this story more lightheartedly than not is attributable to limited damage by the bombs and the remarkable reconciliation years later between the townspeople and the Japanese pilot, Nobuo Fujita. The naturalistic cartooning of Iwai's line and watercolor illustrations serves the story's many settings. Bib.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2018

(3) PS Illustrated by Melissa Iwai. When everything in the new house needs "fixing," Daddy brings the narrator and his younger sister to the local hardware store. As they shop, the text introduces simple tools and materials as well as more complex vocabulary. The straightforward narration and friendly mixed-media collage illustrations emphasize the child's perspective, warmly welcoming young tool lovers and others on this timeless small-town excursion.

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(4) PS Illustrated by Melissa Iwai. These purposeful stories will be appreciated by adults who want young children to examine their behaviors and improve relationships. Each double-page spread features a colorful background, simple line drawings, and a cheerful full-color illustration. The characters' diversity (e.g., a girl with a headscarf, a boy in a wheelchair) is a plus. A substantial "Note to Caring Adults" and many related activities are appended. Review covers these titles: Just Because I Am and We Can Get Along.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) PS Illustrated by Melissa Iwai. These purposeful stories will be appreciated by adults who want young children to examine their behaviors and improve relationships. Each double-page spread features a colorful background, simple line drawings, and a cheerful full-color illustration. The characters' diversity (e.g., a girl with a headscarf, a boy in a wheelchair) is a plus. A substantial "Note to Caring Adults" and many related activities are appended. Review covers these titles: Just Because I Am and We Can Get Along.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(2) PS Illustrated by Melissa Iwai. Readers get a behind-the-scenes tour of a truck stop run by the young narrator's family. Rockwell's straightforward, high-energy text keeps this tribute to trucks and truck stops appealing for even the youngest truck fans. Iwai's mixed-media collage art uses texture, bright colors, and a variety of perspectives to draw readers in. Endpapers show the many types of vehicles that visit the truck stop.

Reviewer: Julie Roach | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2013

(3) PS Illustrated by Melissa Iwai. "Hush, Little Monster, don't you howl. / Daddy's gonna give you a...screeching owl." In this amusing takeoff on the well-known lullaby, a father monster tries to soothe his child with promises of friendly visits from various ghoulish creatures, including a ghost, a vampire, and some zombies. The colorful illustrations are suitably more silly than creepy.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(3) K-3 Step into Reading series. Illustrated by Melissa Iwai. Two children pass by and observe a neighboring farm over the course of a growing season. They watch the farmer ready his field and tend to the growing plants, then they help him when it's time to harvest the corn and sell it. Richly hued seasonal illustrations complement the simple, friendly text.

Reviewer: Susan Halperin

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Melissa Iwai. "If you could be green..." or soft, or fierce, what would you be? A leaf, a breeze, or a dragon? The lilting verse encourages readers to imagine a variety of answers. Cheerful illustrations expand on these ideas and add a humorous dimension to the final stanza that brings the child back to being him- or herself.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(3) PS Illustrated by Melissa Iwai. "Garbage truck / with empty loader. / Alley-crawling / diesel motor. / Trash-can thunder, / sooty plume. / Grinding lever. / BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!" Clever rhyming couplets capture the ways in which a preschooler's imaginative play mirrors the actions of full-sized motorized vehicles. The accompanying color-drenched acrylic paintings are especially suited to viewing by a group.

Reviewer: Amy Lois Cohn

(3) PS Illustrated by Melissa Iwai. "With pliers and wrenches, / they turn and tighten... / pipes that drip, / bolts that slip." Snappy rhymes describe the fix-it activities undertaken by young Vincent and his dad (while mom does the dishes and looks after little sis). Schaefer doesn't have to put in words what the book is really about: father–son bonding; Iwai's tranquil acrylics take care of that.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) PS Illustrated by Melissa Iwai. Five children on outings won't get back into their strollers, so their caretakers suggest the carriages are really various vehicles: "'It's not a stroller,' Daddy says. 'See? It's...A FIRE TRUCK!'" While more a suggestion list for adults on cajoling recalcitrant tots than a sotry, the book's art, with brightly colored umbrella strollers and foldout pages revealing the imaginary modes of transportation, is inviting.

Reviewer: Bridget McCaffrey

(4) PS Illustrated by Melissa Iwai. Emma climbs Snuggle Mountain to wake the "two-headed Giant" to make her breakfast. Simple, descriptive language is supported by the brightly colored illustrations, which make clear what the mountain and the giant really are (a bed and two sleeping parents). While sentimental, the cheerful story will nevertheless fit into many morning routines.

Reviewer: Beth L. Meister

(4) PS Illustrated by Melissa Iwai. All kinds of vehicles, from trains and cars to airplanes and trucks, slowly come to rest for the night in this quiet, sometimes forced rhyme. The gradually darkening illustrations alternate between the outside world with its real eighteen-wheelers and jumbo jets and a small boy's bedroom as he puts his toy cars away and gets ready for bed.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(3) PS Illustrated by Melissa Iwai. "Do you see the Asphalt for paving the road, / or the big shiny Bulldozer pushing a load?" A simple text in rhyme and detailed, clear illustrations follow from A to Z the work at a construction site. What makes the familiar topic of additional interest here is that the year-long building project results in an amusement park, with Z for "Z-O-O-M!" as kids ride the long-awaited roller coaster.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Melissa Iwai. In verse that, though not cumulative, recalls the rhythms of "The House That Jack Built," the narrator briefly describes his beekeeper grandfather's equipment, the roles of different bees in the hive, and the activities surrounding honey-making season. Illustrated with generally attractive if generic acrylic paintings, the book is a cheerful introduction to beekeeping.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(3) PS Illustrated by Melissa Iwai. Through round cutouts we see pointy ears, shiny eyes, and other scary characteristics people fear about the Big Bad Wolf, but as the pages turn, we also see they're just part of being a wolf, and this one is a devoted father and husband. Kids will enjoy the amusing twist on a familiar villain, the effective die-cuts, and appropriately simple illustrations.

Reviewer: Susan Halperin

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Melissa Iwai. Hanna is homesick for Sweden as her family prepares for their first Christmas in America. With the help of a tomten, she celebrates Santa Lucia Day and settles into her new home. The art and story are both pleasant, but the package, designed in conjunction with the Hanna Andersson clothing company, suffers from an abundance of sweetness.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Melissa Iwai. Readers can count the lights from the first through the eighth day of Hanukkah as a family celebrates, lighting one candle each night. The text conveys the warmth of gathering with family and sharing the joy of the holiday with neighbors. The colorful paintings clearly capture the mood and the numbers. The spread for a ninth day abandons the counting but wraps up the season.

Reviewer: Amy Kellman

(3) PS Illustrated by Melissa Iwai. Jesse and Gramps are sitting in front of the fireplace, where Gramps tells a bedtime story about a fire dragon who chases them across mountains and a river and through a jungle until Jesse heroically extinguishes the dragon with a hose. Brief, rhythmic text and warm, colorful illustrations ensure that the adventure is fast paced and exciting but not scary.

Reviewer: Jim St. Claire

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Melissa Iwai. The young narrator describes a beloved ritual: her father, a night janitor, prepares her for bed before he leaves for work, and they reverse roles in the morning, when he returns home sleepy. The rhyming text manages to convey many feelings--love, loneliness, anticipation--in few words; the mood is reinforced beautifully by the rich, detailed illustrations, especially those depicting a child's room at night.

Reviewer: Nell Beram