(2) PS In Chuck's second outing (Chuck's Truck), the focus is on the band that accumulates as, one by one, the farm animals join in. Farmer Chuck starts it off with his new banjo; soon there are ten cheerfully raucous players. Once again the comical art and rhythmic text will keep the youngest chuckling, while the entertaining rhymes are great for new readers.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2008

(2) K-3 After frolicking in a paint factory, the pig children are filthy. Their broom-wielding mothers herd them to the hogwash, where they're washed and dried through a series of highly detailed processes involving ingenious contraptions. The story is wordless, and Geisert's watercolor and pen-and-ink pictures invite readers to trace the mechanical connections in this tantalizing, quirkily dignified, and joyous world.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2008

(3) K-3 Sister wants a cat for her birthday, but the pet store mistakenly sends a dog. Dudley runs away to chase cats and has nine harrowing adventures--running through traffic, falling into a ditch, getting sprayed by skunks, etc.--before returning home in a new feline form. Busy, playful exaggerated illustrations, with hidden numbers labeling each of Dudley's "lives," record his antics.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann

(2) 4-6 This lollipop of metafiction features four (self-described) old-fashioned children who notice their own resemblance to children's book characters. Chief among their goals is to become orphans, achieved when their feckless parents end up freeze-dried on a Swiss Alp. Supporting cast includes the no-nonsense nanny, benevolent benefactor, and foundling baby. All is cunningly crocheted into a hilarious doily of drollery.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2008

(1) YA With Richard Walker. Macaulay turns his prodigious curiosity and formidable talents to anatomy and physiology. The opening chapter introduces basic concepts of cellular biology and chemistry while subsequent chapters take us through the body systems. Humor occasionally leavens the information, which, though often complex and technical, is clearly and succinctly presented in double-page spreads, accompanied by an illuminating array of illustrations. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2008

(4) K-3 Little Joe the frog wants to be on the go, whether with a scooter, wagon, or tricycle. But the other frogs are too busy with their family reunion to play with him. Young-at-heart Grandma, who has her own set of wheels, may be Joe's salvation. The rhymes are uninspired, but the bright illustrations add to the playful atmosphere.

Reviewer: Elizabeth Shaver

(1) 4-6 Illustrated by Gerald Foster. Readers follow development of the imagined whaling town of Tuckanucket. We see industries grow: shipsmithing, candleworks, milling--and, later, tourism. Each precisely detailed ink and crayon double-page spread is drawn from the same bird's-eye perspective, allowing readers to spot landmarks and changes; additional interspersed pages offer elaboration. The Fosters have elegantly synthesized a tremendous amount of information into a beguiling format. Ind.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2007

(2) YA Sixteen-year-old Penelope is depressed, lonely, and still guilty over an accident that killed her little brother ten years before. Her fixation on love and sex as cure-alls leads to unhealthy crushes and failed relationships. The plot centers on her determination to graduate early and her relationship with her irresponsible mother. Jahn-Clough's prose is artfully stilted but infused with startling flashes of beauty.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2007

(2) 4-6 While on a sightseeing tour, fourteen-year-old Will falls into the Mississippi and finds himself stranded on an island inhabited by giant ferrets and a reclusive author who's training the ferrets to be eco-terrorists. Throughout, Jennings treats readers to eccentric characters, multiple coincidences, and outrageous wordplay. The story was first published serially in the Kansas City Star.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2007

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Lynn Munsinger. "Ewetopia was not comfortable in her own wool." In a complicated story (involving a costume party, mistaken identity, and a tantrum-prone wolf), she learns to love who she is. Munsinger's playful illustrations depict each character's wide range of emotions. Some of the many sheep puns--"she knitted her eyebrows (a sheep thing)"--may confuse the intended audience.

Reviewer: Sethany Rancier Alongi

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Middy Thomas. Outspoken and quirky Gooney Bird Greene is lucky to have an adaptable and good-humored teacher who's open to Gooney's suggestion for a class project: writing and presenting fables. As the class--a collection of types (shy, squeamish, antsy)--learns about fables, so, too, do readers. Each chapter includes one black-and-white drawing.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Gunnella. Taking a walk in windy Iceland can be challenging, so the village ladies--assisted by helpful chickens--plant trees to block the wind. The droll humor of Gunnella's oil paintings is a perfect match for McMillan's wry, economical text. Having successfully solved The Problem with Chickens in their first collaboration, the creators deliver another amusingly unconventional tale.

Reviewer: Lauren Adams | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2008

(3) 4-6 Morrison shows how the devastation of the 1946 Hawaiian tsunami led to creation of the Seismic Sea Wave Warning System, an elaborate network of seismographs and scientists intended to track and warn of earthquakes and subsequent tsunami waves. The clear text does a good job of balancing disaster drama and scientific information. Detailed paintings and diagrams and explanatory captions aid comprehension. Bib., glos.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton

(4) K-3 A piglet spills his milk, setting off a mildly amusing Rube Goldberg–style chain reaction (a buffer tool catches a clothesline that snags a table saw that cuts through a major support beam) that ends up demolishing his family's hillside home. Amazingly, the pigs survive unscathed. Precise architectural etchings tell the story--though sometimes not very clearly--in this wordless picture book.

Reviewer: Mark Adam

(2) PS A runaway ice cube with dreams of becoming an iceberg and bumping into ships is pursued by a boy (who, disobeying his mother, opens the freezer)--and by various others with reasons of their own. But a whale is waiting, and "he knew a frosty snack when he saw one." This imaginative, silly, heart-stirring romp is buoyed by its detailed illustrations.

Reviewer: Barbara Bader | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2006

(4) 4-6 Inspired by an 1854 incident--the threatened burning of a partially built Catholic church in Massachusetts--Hurst explores class and ethnic tensions as experienced by fifth-grade classmates, naive Charlotte and acerbic, witty Maggie. Yankee Charlotte lives in comfort, while Maggie's Irish family struggles to get by. The story is occasionally bogged down by a history-lesson feel.

Reviewer: Miriam Lang Budin

(2) 4-6 Although his family produces foul-smelling catfish bait, kindhearted Cade doesn't believe in killing fish. This makes him an easy mark for a fraudulent woman whose interests stem from greed rather than a concern for animal rights. The ensuing caper takes an exaggerated route into the heart of catfish country, with Jennings trolling for every bit of humor, satire, and slapstick he can find.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2006

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Lynn Munsinger. A perpetually losing, all-small-animal baseball team is excited when a big wombat shows up to play. Alas, Wombat is more like Amelia Bedelia when it comes to the rules of the game (hit a fowl?), but his super-digging skills excel when a tornado strikes. The contrived conclusion lets down the promising premise, but the dialogue and line-and-watercolor pictures are lively.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton

(3) K-3 This journey of rainwater down a mountainside invites readers to contemplate the interdependence of water, life, and land. Each double-page spread creatively showcases a body of water and selected plants and animals in the immediate vicinity. Further away from the water, the colors and details quietly fade away. Additional information about the plants and animals is appended.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(2) 4-6 Though immersed in the pleasures and responsibilites of starting fifth grade, doing chores on her family's South Dakota farm, and caring for her new baby brother, Rachel can't help noticing that her father seems under a dark cloud. This sequel to Prairie Summer is set in the mid-1950s. Geisert's quiet, simple style gives the novel's quotidian details immediacy and interest.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2005