(4) PS Illustrated by Mike Pantuso. In Food!, Cookie Monster discusses his favorite grub. In 1, 2, 3, Elmo invites readers to count to ten with him; a familiar object represents each number. The text is sometimes hard to read and the best jokes aren't intended for kids (Elmo's favorite books about numbers include Fahrenheit 451,) but they'll love spotting the Sesame Street characters in the childlike illustrations, ostensibly drawn by Cookie and Elmo. [Review covers these titles: Food! by Cookie Monster and 1, 2, 3 by Elmo.]

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) PS Illustrated by Mike Pantuso. In Food!, Cookie Monster discusses his favorite grub. In 1, 2, 3, Elmo invites readers to count to ten with him; a familiar object represents each number. The text is sometimes hard to read and the best jokes aren't intended for kids (Elmo's favorite books about numbers include Fahrenheit 451,) but they'll love spotting the Sesame Street characters in the childlike illustrations, ostensibly drawn by Cookie and Elmo. [Review covers these titles: Food! by Cookie Monster and 1, 2, 3 by Elmo.]

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(2) YA Writes Vecchione in her introduction, "All of the poems, I hope, explore the body without objectifying it," and her collection succeeds valiantly, whether a poem examines the skin, the genitals, or the elbow. Featured are poems by the old masters (Whitman, Rilke) and by modern-day writers known for their work for adults (Sharon Olds, Mark Doty) and for both adults and children (Gary Soto, Shel Silverstein). Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Nell Beram | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2002

(2) YA This primer, which includes essays, poems, biographical blurbs, photos, and a play, guides readers through U.S. women's history--and explains why the women's movement still matters today. The most interesting pieces spotlight lesser-known trailblazers or track the evolution of a specific aspect of female culture. That much of the prose and poetry tends toward the serviceable hardly mutes this resounding battle cry. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: Nell Beram | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2002

(4) 4-6 Conceived by the Peace Child International organization and written and illustrated by teens from around the world, this book dissects the Convention on the Rights of the Child, a United Nations document ratified by 191 of 193 members (the U.S. is a holdout). This timely offering is well organized but overwhelming: busy pages overflow with poems, testimonials, photos, and artwork that deserve a gentler format. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) PS A preschooler describes a typical day spent with his mom and baby brother. He's a model nurturer (the illustrations show how his suggestions help resolve problems), but he admits from his mom's lap that "sometimes I like to be the baby too." Shifting verb tenses--"We could play..."; "I will sing him a song"; "I kiss him good-night"--make for jerky reading, but the warm, detail-rich illustrations are winning.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) PS Harper Growing Tree series. Illustrated by Thierry Courtin. Guided by two toddlers, this is an entertaining tour of the seasons. Unpredictable rhymes in tight, stumble-free meter ("Steer a sailboat, touch the sea, / Listen to a bumblebee") do, as the title suggests, give the narrative a songlike quality. The bold-colored cartoons featuring two doughy kids making the most of the seasons are mundane but serve the text.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Amy Cordova. Young Native American Rosalie learns to garden from her grandfather, who can grow everything but the blue roses she yearns for. After he dies, he appears with blue roses in a dream, reminding Rosalie that "we're in different gardens now." This absorbing, lyrical book's only misstep is its clunky, literal ending: Rosalie finds blue roses on her grandfather's headstone. Expressive paintings convey the close intergenerational bond.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) YA Twenty-first Century Medical Library series. Tourette's clinical look at the syndrome is complemented by testimonials of child sufferers. The book features black-and-white photos, including images of people experiencing "tics." STDs balances science and sociology relevant to young readers (e.g., the reasons teens are especially vulnerable to STDs) with case studies. Both of these series books offer solid information and sound advice. Bib., glos., ind. [Review covers these Twenty-first Century Medical Library titles: Tourette Syndrome and STDs.]

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Steve Johnson & Lou Fancher. Young Robin paints on doors and plants flowers in the bathtub, so his parents give him his own bedroom, which Robin and three carpenters transform into a dream studio, complete with easel-like closet door with paint-jar shelf. The vast images are presented from unconventional perspectives, and readers must turn the book upside down at one point--qualities that honor Brown's gloriously surreal vision.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 In Child's third Clarice Bean offering, our narrator needs a topic for her school assignment on the environment. When a neighborhood tree is slated for destruction, her brother Kurt's "Free the Tree" project becomes a madcap family affair. The story and language are inspired, but the mixed-media art, which incorporates swirling lines of text, is too self-consciously zany.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) PS In Cleans Up, Charley the crocodile is rewarded with cupcakes for helping Maisy the mouse do housework. In Lemonade, Eddie the elephant drinks all of Maisy's lemonade, inspiring her to make a fresh batch--with Eddie's assistance. Thanks to Cousins's light touch, both books manage to promote helpfulness and hard work without lecturing. The boldly colored illustrations will appeal to preschoolers. [Review covers these titles: Maisy Cleans Up and Maisy Makes Lemonade.]

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) PS In Cleans Up, Charley the crocodile is rewarded with cupcakes for helping Maisy the mouse do housework. In Lemonade, Eddie the elephant drinks all of Maisy's lemonade, inspiring her to make a fresh batch--with Eddie's assistance. Thanks to Cousins's light touch, both books manage to promote helpfulness and hard work without lecturing. The boldly colored illustrations will appeal to preschoolers. [Review covers these titles: Maisy Cleans Up and Maisy Makes Lemonade.]

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Tammie Lyon. In this simple tolerance lesson, both animal and human families demonstrate opposite habits equally worthy of respect: "Some families dress up / to go do the town / And others are happy / just hanging around." Some of the rhymes strain, but the premise is sound, and the images of a colorful spectrum of families indulging their passions are winning.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Adrian Johnson. In this unique alphabet book, each of twenty-five boys and one girl with alphabetically ordered names describes what makes him or her special ("My name is Moss, / I'm at a loss. / I found three tons / of applesauce"). The snappy rhymes, matter-of-factly absurd scenarios (one boy spends his time collecting fuzz), and retro-style illustrations depicting strangely proportioned kids have a truly Seussian panache.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) PS Mr. Wolf intends to throw Baby Bear a dignified birthday party, but Goldilocks storms in uninvited and wreaks havoc--until Grandma Wolf sees a solution to both her own hankering for pie and to everyone's desire to be rid of the ill-mannered girl. The humorous illustrations are well suited to this spry, delectably dark comedy. Recipes for party treats are included.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) PS Illustrated by Tricia Tusa. After a magic hat sets itself onto the heads of various unsuspecting townspeople, they are turned into animals, the names of which any young reader who knows how to rhyme can guess. Despite the slight premise, preschoolers will enjoy staying one step ahead of the text. The kinetic ink and watercolor images appropriately and effortlessly add to the mayhem.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) PS "A is for alligator. Her teeth are quite awesome. Yours will be too, if you just brush and floss 'em." Inspired by conversations with children about animals, Frampton has created a funny, coy, and occasionally poetic rhyming alphabet book featuring an all-animal cast. While the text sometimes strains for quirkiness or fails to scan, unusual contrasting-color combinations enhance the masterful woodcut illustrations.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 Young Francisco must sell newspapers to support his family: his recently widowed mother is pregnant. There's not much story here--the reader never doubts that Francisco will eventually own the kite he covets, which the vendor simply gives to him for being a good kid. The book's value is its cinéma vérité quality: Garay faithfully records in word and luminous image a loving Latino community.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Lindsay Harper duPont. Young Lizzy decides that it's time to give her "don't"-saying mother a taste of her own medicine. After both are worn out by the funny "don't"-fest's negativity, they compile "do" lists that make plain their mutual affection. DuPont capably interprets the pair's gamut of emotions, but the order in which to read the rhymed text within the boxed cartoon illustrations is often unclear.

Reviewer: Nell Beram