(1) PS Illustrated by Christine Davenier. Here is a book that begs to be read aloud at storytime--read aloud, and shouted, and paraded. The rhyming cumulative text begins with a child heading outside at night with a companion teddy bear and a tin whistle: "Here we come with a rum-pum-pum. / Wanna come?" The invitation is addressed to a dog inside a doghouse at the side of the road, who then emerges on two legs playing a guitar: "Here we come with a rum-pum-pum / and a pick and a strum." The pattern continues with Little Lu in her pajamas (who joins them with a "swish-swish bum"), a violin-playing bear ("fiddle-dee, fiddle-dum"), a mouse on a kazoo ("­zum-zum"), and more until there is a veritable parade of revelers...and until the newest sound is--uh-oh!--a drip on a drum. Just in time, they all take shelter under an enormous tree (though don't try this at home) as lightning strikes and the storm breaks. "Boom-boom-RUM-PUM!" From here the text reverses itself, dropping off participants as it unrolls, until finally it's just the child and teddy bear, "right back where / we started from." Davenier's watercolors in their nighttime hues capture all the excitement and movement of the impromptu music fest. Each double-page spread subtly introduces the next participant, much fun for observant viewers. A delight from start to finish--perfectly paced, joyful, with just the right amount of tension and drama for the young audience, and wonderfully inclusive with its welcoming refrain: "Wanna come?"

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2022

(3) PS Illustrated by Tuesday Mourning. Lighthearted couplets (an appropriate form) describe various activities a single-parent, one-child family can share throughout the seasons. In summer, for example, "Two is enough / for a double-scoop treat, / For sand castle contests, / for splashing our feet." The warm illustrations for this pleasant and useful book feature four diverse little families (grandmother-grandson, father-daughter, etc.) enjoying their own company.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Kristi Valiant. When Mom's doctor anticipates she'll be cancer-free by "pumpkin time," Janie thinks of a way to pass the months during treatment: plant a vegetable garden. As they plan, dig, plant, nurture, and harvest the garden, Mom has surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation treatments, finishing when the pumpkins are ripe. Ultra-cheery illustrations underscore the upbeat bibliotherapeutic message.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Anthony Lewis. Peter, pretending to fight a dragon, is slowed by fits of coughing and wheezing. After the doctor diagnoses asthma, Peter resumes play, now as the "Noble Knight of the Nebulizer." Approachable illustrations complement this simple introduction to a common disease. An appended note to parents accompanies the purpose-driven text.

Reviewer: Bridget McCaffrey