(4) K-3 Illustrated by Michael Martchenko. Lauretta's mom has reservations about the new wheelchair her daughter has selected--an expensive, ninety-two-speed dirt-bike model. When Lauretta gets a speeding ticket on her first excursion, her parents decide the chair must go back, but they change their minds when the speedy chair proves useful. The simple, episodic story and colorful, exaggerated cartoon illustrations are corny but energetic.

Reviewer: Mark Adam

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Michael Martchenko. "Samuel woke up really hungry." Despite many servings of breakfast, nothing sates him until he goes head-to-head with three enormous men in a pie-eating contest. Samuel wins and goes home for lunch where his mother has baked-pies. The bright, garish illustrations complement this over-the-top story, which is mildly amusing in a gross-out kind of way.

Reviewer: Susan Halperin

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Michael Martchenko. Young Julie saves her money to buy cosmetics, but the poorly applied, garish results make her family faint. After being told she's pretty without makeup, Julie sells the makeup to other girls for a profit. Although the many messages seem unintentionally mixed, slapstick cartoon watercolors (which show Julie as a black child in a white family) match the exaggerated humorous effects of the outsized storyteller's voice.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(4) PS Illustrated by Michael Martchenko. This one-joke book will no doubt have kids laughing at how far the boy and girl main characters take their Pollyanna of a kindergarten teacher's reminder to share "everything." The boisterous, cartoony illustrations close with a happy class full of clothes swappers, the result of which is a few more beskirted, pink-wearing boys than usual.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann