(3) K-3 Ada wants a life that is “quiet and ordered, simple and good.” Then she rescues a goat who is caught in a fence, and it follows her home. In short order, the goat destroys her nice coat, eats all her apples, and climbs up on her roof -- but Ada learns to appreciate the love and chaos the goat brings. The charming story is accompanied by graphite and watercolor illustrations with an old-fashioned feel.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Kerns

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Nancy Meyers. In the latest book in the series, the mystery surrounds how one dog aptly named Houdini is able to leave Dog Days daycare. King and some other dogs at the facility are discussing the tricks they can do when Houdini disappears. He’s later returned by a neighbor. When Kayla comes back, she and King work together to solve the case using deductive reasoning. There is just enough suspense to keep readers engaged, and the plentiful digital illustrations provide important clues.

Reviewer: Marva Anne Hinton

(2) PS Illustrated by Aliaa Betawi. The young girl who narrates this funny, affecting, and sensitive picture book adores her new goldfish, Frank. She observes his behavior closely (and decides his favorite color is pink), plays games with him, writes him a lullaby, dresses up like him for Halloween, and makes him a Valentine's Day card. "Fish friends forever!" Then, after almost a year (the text takes us through the calendar with dates on every spread), Frank sickens and dies. The girl is inconsolable -- and angry. She discovers things that make her feel better: planning a funeral for Frank, wearing a locket containing his photo, journaling. A few months later, Mama brings home another fish. "She said it might be time for a new friend." Our narrator is not ready for that, but when she realizes that this fish's tail is pink, it opens the door to a new friendship, with its own games and rituals. "I love her...and I bet Frank would too." The child-appealing, aptly watery art -- made with "a combination of traditional materials and digital finessing" -- imbues even the fish with personality and captures the girl's varying emotions through highly readable facial expressions and body language. The narrator's journey through grief is authentic and age-appropriate; her eventual ability to accept and love new fish Fern but bring Frank with her in that acceptance is a healthy and useful model.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2025

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Charles Santoso. Evelyn Witch’s new mystery pet in a box is an egg on a nest, unready to hatch. Children will sympathize with Evelyn’s impatience (“sniveling snails!”) as she tries casting spells to bring forth a pet. After Evelyn learns it takes time and loving care, the egg finally hatches (in the pom-pom hat she knitted for it), and her new companion even eats those sniveling snails in her perfectly messy green hair. Ferry’s dramatic and well-paced text effectively uses repetition, humor, and occasional rhymes, while Santoso’s varied digital illustrations emphasize Evelyn’s dynamic personality, making this a storytime “hoot.”

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter

(2) PS In this loving tribute to the mischievous cats we encounter throughout our lives, Flett tells the “rather true story” of an unintentional adventure that separates May, a black cat, from her best friend Margaux, a young Cree girl. The two enjoy playing indoors and outdoors, together and apart, with the knowledge that May will always come home at dinnertime. But one day, May doesn’t return: Margaux and her family search high and low, but their feline friend is nowhere to be found. “They called out. But she didn’t call back, no meow.” Cree-Métis creator Flett personalizes the plot through her signature textured illustrations, adding depth and comfort to Margaux and May’s lush rural home, and with the incorporation of Plains Cree vocabulary; it’s Nitôsis, Margaux’s auntie, whose move to the city reveals what happened to May. At the same time, Flett celebrates the universality of this kind of story and concludes hers by encouraging readers who have known the stress of a missing pet—and the relieved exasperation once they’ve been found—to share their own experiences: “Do you have a story to tell? Your turn!” Back matter includes translation and pronunciation guides and an explanation of Plains Cree’s kinship terms.

Reviewer: Ed Spicer | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2025

(3) PS Illustrated by Eda Kaban. Kitty likes his home routine, but: "'Today you go to kindergarten.' Why would I do that?" The reason for the cat’s visit is eventually, sweetly revealed (kids may guess), but in the meantime, his classroom misadventures (though he's great at naptime!) will amuse readers who know the kindergarten ropes, and maybe even those anticipating their own first days. Illustrations reminiscent of animation depict a frisky Kitty with endearing facial expressions.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(2) 4-6 In this novel set during the Great Depression, protagonist Hurricane, like the eye of the storm that raged during her birth, has a quiet center. She is shy, hesitant, and often unable to speak up among classmates and strangers. With her father killed in WWI and her mother dead from tuberculosis, Hurricane lives in the family's remote coastal home with her beloved dog and her older sister, Bronte. But when Bronte also contracts tuberculosis and must go to a sanitarium, life changes. Hurricane's great-aunt Claire swoops in from the city and takes the girl to live with her and her kind, multi-talented chauffeur/cook/housekeeper, Mr. Keats. Having married into money, Aunt Claire adopted many highfalutin ways to appease her now-deceased husband and now wants to force Hurricane into the mold of "proper" young lady -- an image far removed from the girl's freer spirit. When Mr. Keats discovers a stray cat, he and Hurricane slowly coax it into trusting them, a clear metaphor for the protagonist's gradual acceptance of her new home, an acceptance not coincidently accompanied by the realization that she can speak for herself. Fusco takes her time developing the Depression-era setting and the backgrounds of each character, giving this heartwarming novel depth and authenticity.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2025

(3) K-3 When his people visit Nana and Grampa in the country, city pup Murray finds the surroundings strange and disorienting. What the city slicker doesn’t understand but the energetic illustrations make clear is that it’s Halloween; “the person made of dog treats,” for example, is just a skeleton decoration. Wynona the cat shows Murray “how to enjoy the spookiest night of the year.” The art in seasonal hues offers lots of treats, and the casual diversity (two dads—one with brown skin, one white; grandparents have brown skin) is another plus.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(2) PS With cheery colors and an economy of well-chosen rhyming words and phrases, this picture book joyously celebrates dogs, sorting them into an amusing range of categories including traits, shapes, actions, and moods. Starting with "big dog," "small dog," and "hardly there at all dog," the catalog cleverly highlights canines engaging in common activities such as digging, playing, and taking a walk. A pup looking in the mirror appears to be "two dogs." A sweet set of "three dogs" follows along with more visual comedy from the "really need a pee dogs!" Using ample white space, the watercolor-like mixed-media illustrations blend and bleed, creating organic, energetic lines and shapes that evoke a warm-and-fuzzy feeling. Each dog, and the one cat who proudly keeps watch by the "no dogs" sign, is full of personality, and the pages overflow with recognizably doggish mannerisms, antics, and humor. The snappy text lends itself well to repeat readings or even sharing together with a special canine friend.

Reviewer: Julie Roach | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2025

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Qin Leng. On daily walks with their puppy, the unnamed narrator of this contemplative book notices a woman sitting behind the first-floor window of a house without curtains. "Our windows are covered with curtains all the time," the child muses. One day the woman and child make eye contact and then become regular fixtures in each other's days, waving and exchanging pleasantries. The child learns that the woman is a writer. Compositions in soft watercolors and lively ink lines begin with a tight focus on the child, the woman, and their homes, but as the narrator's perspective expands, readers begin to see more of this older, comfortable city neighborhood. The woman isn't at her window one day, and her house goes up for sale, giving the child an opportunity, albeit bittersweet, to visit during an open house and see the world from the writer's perspective. This inspires the child to open the windows at home: "With the curtains open, now I see what I've been missing." While the illustrations show the child making friends with a kid who lives across the street, the text tells us that the child has taken to writing in front of their now-open window, bringing the story full circle.

Reviewer: Adrienne L. Pettinelli | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2025

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Tracy Subisak. Grace convinces her parents to let her have a dog, but it must be one she creates and buys herself. Her robot dog is hard to put together and then she has to code the dog to act properly. She soon discovers a dog that obeys her every command is boring, and she rewrites the code to add mischief. The pages devoted to coding are a bit tedious, but the pencil and digital illustrations add levity.

Reviewer: Marva Anne Hinton

(2) K-3 Henry loves wearing a fish costume that matches his pet goldfish, Marigold, and plans to wear it when he starts school -- a milestone about which he is anxious. His parents try to reason with him; they offer reassurance and eventually bribes to go to school without the costume, but he remains unconvinced. New school clothes can't compete with his "wonderful suit made of shiny scales, with flippery fins and a long tail." His fish costume "felt like wearing a hug," and, as he confides to Marigold, "What if I need a hug?" The gouache and wax pastel illustrations with "a bit of digital painting" are primarily in soothing shades of blue, making Henry in his bright orange costume the focal point of the compositions. Henry prevails and shows up on the first day in his costume. His classmates stare; no one sits near him at circle time. Things begin to change when Henry befriends Lucy, who is wearing cat ears. After meeting this kindred spirit, he slowly sheds parts of his fish suit. That he never totally abandons it displays the great respect and care with which Pilutti depicts this specific child's experience. A picture book that should definitely "go to school," to the library, to homes, and to wherever apprehensive kids and their peers may be.

Reviewer: Megan Dowd Lambert | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2025

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Magenta Fox. Maud, an indoor-loving guinea pig, secretly accompanies a young mixed-race girl named Kit on her first camping trip. As Maud ventures into the forest with a quirky hedgehog named Harvey, she learns about survival, friendship, and the unexpected joys of nature. The muted, cartoony illustrations complement the playful spirit of the overlong story. This is a lighthearted exploration of and facing fears and embracing the unknown.

Reviewer: Summer Edward

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Laura Park. Three endearing felines, named Big, Little­, and Middle, enjoy a happy life until a scraggly stray cat enters their backyard yowling and hissing. The mother of the cats’ young owner warns the child, who narrates the book, that this furry stranger might have fleas or even rabies, and the other cats regard the intruder with wide eyes and arched backs. However, when the persistent visitor starts exhibiting signs of friendliness (including bringing a dead mouse as a present), the narrator can’t resist giving the kitty some food and a bath. A bond develops, and even the other cats, once ­apprehensive, start accepting this raggedy new arrival. Sumovich fills her clever narrative, spanning four seasons, with such lines as “she appears like a magic trick, mowling like a banshee” that make this entertaining to read aloud. Park gives each cat a distinct personality and look and excels at rendering comical facial expressions and limber body language. The illustrations also deftly mix in some pathos, especially in an evocative wintry spread that shows the child inside a warm house looking out the window at the freezing feral cat. After some climactic drama, the story reaches a satisfying conclusion. Even the endpapers, packed with the child’s cat-centered drawings, are delightful.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2025

(2) 1-3 Illustrated by K-Fai Steele. Lone Wolf (Lone Wolf: Gets a Pet and Lone Wolf: Goes to School, both rev. 3/25) is back with two new misadventures. In the first, Wolf, whose energy is Oscar the Grouch meets Wile E. Coyote, wants to return a library book without running into the noisy kids at storytime. In the second, he goes on vacation hoping to evade social interaction. As in past installments, Wolf manifests everything he hopes to avoid, and his limited vocabulary ("Grrrr") leaves him helpless to communicate effectively. Fans of the first two series outings will appreciate the appearance of recurring characters such as the eager girl and the jolly hiker toting his goldfish in a plastic bag, but each book's dry, off-kilter situational humor stands on its own merits. Steele's watercolor and pencil illustrations have a classic cartoon appeal. Spreads establish setting, while close-ups and spot illustrations focus on character and action. A sequence of illustrations in which Wolf tries to avoid a "snotty little boy" whose mucus subsequently befouls the library's book return chute is LOL funny, as is the look of horror on Wolf's face when the driver of a nearly empty bus proposes a singalong. These transitional readers will appeal to kids who like their humor with a heavy dose of irony.

Reviewer: Adrienne L. Pettinelli | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2025

(2) 1-3 Illustrated by K-Fai Steele. Lone Wolf (Lone Wolf: Gets a Pet and Lone Wolf: Goes to School, both rev. 3/25) is back with two new misadventures. In the first, Wolf, whose energy is Oscar the Grouch meets Wile E. Coyote, wants to return a library book without running into the noisy kids at storytime. In the second, he goes on vacation hoping to evade social interaction. As in past installments, Wolf manifests everything he hopes to avoid, and his limited vocabulary ("Grrrr") leaves him helpless to communicate effectively. Fans of the first two series outings will appreciate the appearance of recurring characters such as the eager girl and the jolly hiker toting his goldfish in a plastic bag, but each book's dry, off-kilter situational humor stands on its own merits. Steele's watercolor and pencil illustrations have a classic cartoon appeal. Spreads establish setting, while close-ups and spot illustrations focus on character and action. A sequence of illustrations in which Wolf tries to avoid a "snotty little boy" whose mucus subsequently befouls the library's book return chute is LOL funny, as is the look of horror on Wolf's face when the driver of a nearly empty bus proposes a singalong. These transitional readers will appeal to kids who like their humor with a heavy dose of irony.

Reviewer: Adrienne L. Pettinelli | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2025

(2) PS Clad in a striped-pink romper, tiny tot Scamp takes being a "cat person" to the next level as she spends her day with pet kitty Hector -- crawling, prowling, and even grooming herself with her tongue. The two snuggle together and touch noses with contented grins on their faces. Things change one morning when Scamp discovers that she can stand on two legs and that she actually likes taking a bath; this causes an identity crisis for the toddler. Employing succinct, lively language, Wilder tells a satisfying story about friendship, change, and milestones. Crisp minimal illustrations, often bathed in warm light blues, capture both the humor and poignancy of connection between a child and pet. When Scamp startles Hector by becoming vertical for the first time, for example, their facial expressions and body language are very amusing. Soon the resourceful Scamp learns that her newfound ability to stand can help Hector in a crisis. Readers will cheer when Scamp saves the day and then laugh when Wilder slips in a funny final image of Hector standing on two legs to hug his faithful human friend.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2025

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Barbara McClintock. The title page of this heartfelt story about the death of a pet features an older man, recognizably the late author, gazing down at an empty dog bed. Two wordless illustrations follow: a single page shows dePaola looking small under an expanse of sky as a cloud in the shape of a sleeping dog floats by overhead; next, a double-page spread shows him indoors with a picture of a dog in a heart-shaped frame, the empty dog bed nearby. After this visual preamble signaling loss, dePaola's simple first-person text reflects on life with his beloved pet. In seven sections, all introduced with the titular question (eventually answered), he recalls the early days with Bronte and how their devotion to each other deepened over the pup's twelve years of life. In McClintock's mixed-media art, a pastel color palette, deft line work, and uncluttered compositions pay homage to the beloved author without being derivative. A pleasing variety of spreads, panels, vignettes, and single pages sets the story's pace and keeps young readers engaged. The moment dePaola realizes that Bronte will be "in my heart forever" is illustrated by a full-bleed double-page spread with a Bronte-shaped cloud frolicking under a rainbow. This sentimental expression of grief may not resonate with all who've lost a pet (or human), but it's comforting. The fact that the author died in 2020 adds another layer of meaning to this satisfying tribute. McClintock's appended illustrator's note adds some personal reflections.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2025

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Benjamin Chaud. "Old MacDonald had a farm" until a spaceship arrives and beams up his animals: "With a ZERP ZAP here, / and a ZERP ZAP there." Now space alien Old MacMartian and his doglike pet have all those animals on their ship—with humorous results. Initially perplexed, the cow, pig, cat, and sheep proceed to wreak havoc in close quarters ("With a GLOOP GLOOP here / and a GLOOP GLOOP there / ...Old MacMartian needs a bath"). After failed attempts at corralling the creatures, the exhausted would-be extraterrestrial farmer tries for sleep—but these sheep aren't the counting type. Old MacMartian proceeds to expel this onboard barnyard back down to Earth, to both farmers' relief. The humorous pencil and digital illustrations center goggle-eyed characters—earthlings with two eyes, extraterrestrials with three—with funny facial expressions recalling Sandra Boynton's menagerie. Details on the spaceship, among all the cheerful chaos, will have listeners looking closely to track the destruction. "But they CLEANED UP here / and they CLEANED UP there," and by the end, the Martian protagonist concludes, "IT'S NICE TO BE ALONE" with a loyal doglike sidekick and a lesson learned about alien abduction.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2025

(2) K-3 A dull day at the seaside yields to heart-pounding action. Danny's mother suggests that her mopey son take the dog for a walk on the beach, encouraging him to: "Keep your eyes open; you never know what you might see." In trademark Browne fashion ([Hide and Seek, rev. 11/18; What If...?, rev. 9/14), stable, symmetrical compositions echo Danny's mood as he and Scruff, a hairy yellow terrier mutt who embodies his name, pass glum beachside cottages to reach a bland, featureless beach beneath lowering gray clouds. Scruff's delight in a game of fetch lifts Danny's spirits, and the boy is further engaged when he spots faces and shapes in the beach rocks, studying them intently. Then he notices people waving at a far-off speck in the water who appears to be waving back. "Fetch!" he tells Scruff, and the dog obliges, swimming "on and on and on" in an edge-of-your-seat three-page sequence. Four half-page panels limit readers to Danny's foreshortened views of Scruff nearing the tiny, floundering figure and then slowly, slowly swimming back; the visual pacing is highly effective. A whale jumps joyfully in the background as Scruff leads the exhausted swimmer -- Danny's older brother! -- out of the surf against a now-bright-blue sky. Both a terribly high-stakes adventure and a celebration of the act of looking closely -- a favored theme of Browne's -- this day at the beach will have young readers riveted.

Reviewer: Vicky Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2024