(3) K-3 Illustrated by Mary Reaves Uhles. Soft, cozy watercolors provide a realistic backdrop for this sweet secular Christmas story about finding your voice. Ava's family doesn't think she'll stick with the tuba, but she's motivated to continue as she practices for a surprise Christmas concert. The text, suitable for reading aloud, balances dialogue and narration. An author's note discusses "Tuba Christmas" traditions and interesting facts about the lesser-appreciated instrument.

Reviewer: Amy Seto Forrester

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Mary Uhles. Twenty-nine mostly rhyming poems make hay with the dottiness of days specially designated to celebrate hats, sunscreen, UFOs, zippers, older persons, vinegar, and toilets, among other things. Kids will likely enjoy the silly verse even as it is often clever, singsongy, and uneven at the same time. Colorful illustrations capture the amusing goings-on.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Mary Reaves Uhles. A young narrator describes the perks of sitting at the kids' table at his grandmother's house and theorizes that adults secretly wish they could join the messy, vegetables-spurning, manners-flouting fun. While the rhymes show little regard for rhythm, the art, which frequently captures interestingly off-kilter perspectives, imparts the thrill of getting away with impertinent behavior at a sit-down family meal.

Reviewer: Nell Beram