(3) PS Illustrated by Hiroe Nakata. What happens to a rubber ball left outside alone? Caterpillar crawls by it. Bumblebee buzzes it. Woodpecker pecks it. Everyone seems to reject it until a playful dog finds it and takes "it home to keep." The short sentences have fun rhythms and sounds, and the loose watercolor illustrations show what is happening in the yard behind the ball.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz. Riddle poems, written in a variety of styles, describe science-related places (Galápagos Islands), people (Einstein), and concepts (gravity, humidity); the answers are provided upside-down at the end of each poem. The accompanying cartoonlike illustrations provide a friendly touch, though they sometimes give away the answers to the riddles. A final section of notes provides additional scientific information.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(3) K-3 This winningly tongue-in-cheek takeoff on the Russian folktale "The Turnip" changes the vegetable to a giant stalk of asparagus and the setting to Renaissance Italy, where a king enlists help to yank the green "monster" out of his yard. Radunsky's confiding omniscient narrator ("Oh. I almost forgot. How silly of me") and whimsical art draw readers into the nonsensical story.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann

(4) PS Illustrated by Barbara Lavallee. In this companion to All You Need for a Snowman, busy kids enjoy a summer's day. Again, Schertle's rhyming text bounces along with its list ("sun and shade, / buckets and balls and / lemonade"), while Lavallee's illustrations capture the joys of sand and sea. Preschoolers, however, are bound to notice the one crucial item nowhere to be seen: sunscreen.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander

(2) K-3 Brainy friends Beverly and Oliver, tired of being branded "losers" at sports, decide to learn how to play softball. Beverly tries to learn by looking at books, but librarian Mrs. Del Rubio gently redirects her: "Have you ever considered practicing?" Beverly and Oliver work tirelessly until they can demonstrate their new skills to their flabbergasted teammates. The illustrations reveal character and situation simply but effectively.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2004

(3) PS Illustrated by Marc Rosenthal. Like a caffeinated Mike Mulligan, backhoe driver Mr. Rally, accompanied by his dog Lightning, completes not one but "five big digging jobs" in a single day. Friendly retro-looking cartoons and a spirited, rhyming text ("Dig up rock and dig up clay! / Dig up dirt and dig all day!") take Mr. Rally through his day digging "the drain for the rain," "the pool at the school," and so on.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Raul Colon. In each of the fourteen folktales in this well-rounded, well-told collection, boys solve their seemingly impossible problems not with force but with wit, trust, kindness, and other feminine virtues. Enhanced by Colón's dignified and boy-friendly crosshatched drawings (one per story), the tales come from many places including Afghanistan, Hungary, and Angola. Bib.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2003

(3) YA In this carefully researched fictional account, alternating first-person narratives of Pocahontas and John Smith recount the 1607 interaction between the Powhatan and the English in Jamestown, Virginia. In his stirring interpretation of this clash of cultures, Bruchac crafts a riveting portrait of a brave and proud man and a satisfying picture of Pocahontas as a curious and peace-loving Powhatan girl. Bib., glos.

Reviewer: Kristin Cashore

(4) K-3 Illustrated by John Clapp. Born "black and silent as wonder" into an African-like village, Shining grows without making a sound. At Shining's coming of age, The One appears and explains to the suspicious villagers the value of listening. The poetic black similes ("black as wisdom") work a little too hard, but with its sooty charcoal and mixed-media images, brightened with touches of orange, this elemental tale has power.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(3) PS Illustrated by Tiphanie Beeke. "Squeaky chairs, / secret stares, / coloring sheets with teddy bears. / Broken crayon-- / someone shares. / This is our first day." Lyrical, rhythmic, impressionistic rhymes full of memorable concrete details distinguish this first-day-jitters book from many of its ilk. Delicate watercolor and acrylic illustrations capture the young narrator's mixed emotions about an almost universal experience.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Kadir Nelson. This fast-paced tall tale depicts the feats of the chocolate-colored heroine, Thunder Rose. Like her male counterparts, Paul Bunyan and John Henry, Rose is born strong and, from the beginning, does big things: heads off a stampede, calms windstorms, and turns a tornado into a gentle rain. Dynamic, oversize illustrations capture the energy of Rose's rollicking adventures.

Reviewer: Henrietta M. Smith

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Debbie Tilley. Lauren McGill is crazy about pickles, "absolutely wild about" every kind. After a class trip to a pickle factory, however, pickles become popular with all the students and Lauren's fondness for the food turns sour. While this tale is amusing, it goes on for too long. The watercolor illustrations, featuring a variety of green shades and pickle shapes, get into the flavor of the story.

Reviewer: Andie Wurster

(4) K-3 Everyone tells dog Grody what to do, so he comes up with his own rules: don't get out of bed or wash; talk when the teacher talks; etc. Finally, the last busy mixed-media illustration shows a dirty, unhappy Grody clutching his dismal report card beneath rule fourteen: "don't follow my rules or you will look just like me-eeeeeeeeee!" While a bit facile, the book will speak to those who feel beset by authority figures.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(2) K-3 Illustrated by David Catrow. Borrowing the tactics of a number of clever underdogs in folklore, Little Pierre (based on Ti-Poucet, the Cajun Tom Thumb) helps his four trifling brothers "out of a big hole they [dug] for themselves" by saving the rich and trés jolie Marie-Louise from the Swamp Ogre. San Souci infuses his story with an easy Cajun lilt; the watercolor illustrations of the near-garish creatures play better from a distance--what a rollicking story time it promises.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2004

(3) K-3 Beverly Billingsly wants more than anything to be in the school play, but she freezes during her audition. Though she gets small parts (a wall and a shrub), her dedication and enthusiasm play a big role in the performance's success. Stadler's warm, sweet story and boldly outlined, pastel-colored cartoon illustrations are both simple and full of personality.

Reviewer: Mark Adam

(4) 4-6 A twelve-year-old kid stuck on safari with his "wacky" aunt quickly figures out that it's cool to be in Kenya. Detailed observations of African animals precede richly described adventures with the Masai and a dramatic nighttime capture of poachers. To make the journal seem authentic, Talbott uses slightly irritating kidspeak and scratchy handwriting interspersed with color photos and illustrations.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Stephen Gammell & Stephen Gammell. The text of this book, a lively rhyme enumerating the steps to making pancakes, is combined with equally lively, even chaotic pictures of three children making their own pancake breakfast. Gammell paints juice, syrup, and pancake batter splashing and dripping all over the pages, and the kids convey the joy of a make-your-own breakfast.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Raul Colon. Colón's richly textured watercolor and colored-pencil illustrations deepen the classical feel of this retelling of the myth. Pandora's curiosity about what's in the clay jar is stretched to fill this picture book and padded with Burleigh's stilted free-verse narration, but the conclusion, in which Pandora holds tight to hope and goes out to fight the evils she loosed, retains its impact.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Bill Wylie. Illustrated in comic-book style, with overdramatic prose to match, this is a clever and detailed retelling of the Wright brothers' seven-year struggle to invent a flying machine. Thought bubbles contain invented speech that may be jarring to some and refreshing to others (e.g., a discouraged Orville mutters, "Maybe we should start calling ourselves the Wrong Brothers"). Reluctant readers should find this high-energy version of the story appealing.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Holly Meade. Queenie's husband walked off after the simultaneous births of their fifteen daughters. Unfazed, Queenie is a hard-working single mother who indulges her daughters to the max. The message concerning the competent, ever-coping mother is hardly subtle, but the repetitive litanies and comical accumulations of detail keep this engaging tall tale light, as do the airy pen lines dappled in cheerful watercolors.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2002