(3) K-3 Illustrated by Christiane Krömer. Action-filled collages of traditional fabrics, textured paper, yarn, and more display intricate sky- and cityscapes of Lahore, Pakistan, during Basant, the spring kite festival. Malik, skillfully using his handmade small kite to conquer the bully next door in the kite battle, is a real hero; that he uses a wheelchair is incidental to the story. Useful contextual information is appended.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Christiane Krömer. After five-year-old Anh gets frustrated, cries, and scatters his blocks, Grandfather sends him to his room. There Anh meets a hairy, red-faced creature: his anger. Together, they howl and pound the floor. But after Anh sits still and breathes, his anger disappears. Based on Thich Nhat Hanh's Buddhist teachings, this time-out story's text is occasionally stiff, but the textured collages are expressive and striking.

Reviewer: Bridget McCaffrey

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Christiane Kromer. Sarah, who looks about four but sounds older, describes her experience as the flower girl in her aunt's wedding, with all its pleasures and anxieties ("Suppose I trip and fall down?"). The textured mixed-media art shows a joyful African-American family wedding, including Sarah's predictably triumphant walk down the aisle. The writing is banal but captures a wedding from a child's viewpoint.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke