(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Nick Maland. In this "sequel" to A Little Princess, McKay makes a valiant effort to set her book in the same black-and-white universe as Burnett's, but soon we're happily inhabiting McKayland, where everyone is human and therefore sympathetic. Although written out of love for a favorite classic, this book is less for Little Princess fans and more for devotees of the openhearted, endlessly forgiving McKay.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2010

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Nick Maland. Katie and James, engrossed in a messy cooking project, don't notice when a crocodile, camel, snake, and horse slip into the kitchen. But when a bear crashes the party, everyone pays attention. The children serve up a yummy main course, and all leave satisfied--except the bear, who stays for cake. The silly rhyming text is enhanced by exuberant watercolors.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Nick Maland. Insomniac Oliver Donnington Rimington-Sneep enjoys quite a nightlife as he paints, reads, pilots a spaceship to Mars, and comes back home to his own bed. Occasional shifts in type size echo the rhythm of the narrative. The illustrations, featuring some Wild Things–like monsters, also make use of crosshatching and patterned backgrounds, calling Sendak to mind.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian

(3) PS Illustrated by Nick Maland. When an alligator creeps into the apartment of three siblings, "Were the children scared? / YOU BET THEY WERE!" The repeated refrain adds suspense; the lighthearted illustrations make the story not too scary. The children finally order the alligator out "and was the alligator scared? / YOU BET IT WAS!" (In an urban legend nod, he retreats to the sewers.)

Reviewer: Angela Leeper

(3) PS Illustrated by Nick Maland. "Once I was slow. / I couldn't catch up. / You waited for me." A small creature describes all of the things that his friend, a bear with a fancy for snazzy shirts, has done for him, including forgiving him after an argument. The spare, unfussy text and the loose, bold images of the tastefully anthropomorphized friends steer clear of sentimentality.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Nick Maland & Nick Maland. "You don't want to think about dragons, but you do--all the time." Actually, "dragons" is code for fears or worries in this surprisingly palatable exercise in bibliotherapy, the gist of which is, the more you try to ignore your fears, the larger they loom. The text pointlessly and jarringly switches from the plural "dragons" to the singular and back, but the book's conversational tone and refined art are engaging and reassuring.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Nick Maland. After discovering that he can fly, a peasant boy leaves his family's cottage, only to crash in a blizzard. He is rescued by a showman, who costumes the boy in elaborate wings and adds him to his troupe as the Eagle. When the appeal of show business yields to a longing for home, the Eagle sets himself free by trickery. There are some gaps in the narrative; however, the delicately colored crosshatched illustrations enhance this home-is-best tale.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian