(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith. Lazy, wired-in Parker is less than thrilled to be spending summer vacation with Great-uncle Philbert and Great-aunt Mattie on their farm with no electronics in sight. But, predictably, he eventually finds himself warmed and refreshed by their down-home lifestyle, with its Scrabble-playing, wood-splitting, and fishing. Though the story's message is too apparent, readers, like Parker, may be won over.

Reviewer: Susan Halperin

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith. When Holly offers to run a birthday party for her identical twin half-brothers, she doesn't anticipate how much action will follow. The active toddlers and their friends wreak havoc that will ring true to readers with siblings, and Holly and her friends' efforts to entertain sixteen young kids are funny. Cheerfully busy crosshatched drawings display the frenetic action.

Reviewer: Beth L. Meister

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith. Auctions make Aunt Lou tick, but she has a bidding nemesis, Miss Logsdon. When Aunt Lou's niece settles on an old straw hat, she enters the bidding war and becomes the first to out-bid the dueling ladies. Smith's red-faced bidders, dapper auctioneer, and tabletops with old china, antlers, and a stuffed groundhog perfectly animate the humor in this country event.

Reviewer: Hilary Breed Van Dusen

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith. Although Grampa Baby spoils Feliciana most of the time, he refuses to take her alligator hunting. Feliciana, a spunky, determined young girl, decides to go anyway and sneaks off to the swamp after her grandfather and brothers. Told in a lilting Cajun dialect, this enjoyable original tale includes a brief history of the Cajun people. Action-filled illustrations accompany the story. Glos.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 1995

(2) 1-3 Illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith. Thanks to his ambitions for the science fair, Owen puts himself at odds with his lab partner (and best friend) Joseph; his relationship with his new lizard, Chuck, isn't doing too well, either. Owen's impulsive bossiness is one of his most endearing qualities--even as it keeps getting him into trouble in this consistently fresh series.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2004

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith. When a sneaky thief steals Granny's beans, she heads to town to get the sheriff. Along the way she meets a snake, an alligator, a pecan, a cow patty, and a prickly cactus, each in turn asking Old Granny to "pick me up and put me in your sack. You'll be glad you did." Both the rollicking text and illustrations carry the visual humor, creating a situation that builds, and then unfolds, like the best of slapstick comedy. A tale well told.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2003

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith. Rosie is a terrier who loves to eat, knows how to get into and out of trouble, and tries to be part of the action happening around her. Voigt's writing includes the dog's point of view ("'Eat!' Rosie barked. 'Breakfast!'") so readers know just what the dog means when she is barking. Smith's light, action-filled illustrations complete this humorous, accessible short chapter book.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith. Austin and his parents--a country-and-western trio--are in a different town every week, but Austin's bedtime ritual in their trailer is a reassuring constant. Dad sticks firmly to the one-story-a-night rule until the family stays overnight in a two-story house, and Austin can't believe his luck. Pitch-perfect southwestern idioms set the tone and enhance the sense of place. Loose, carefree watercolors include fanciful touches.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2002

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith. When nine-year-old Holly, her mom and stepfather, and their four cats move into a new San Francisco home, she befriends the boy next door, who has invented a "de-yuckification" machine to help neighbor Annie, who has a yucky baby sister. In this sequel to The Trouble with Cats, Freeman addresses life-changing issues--moving, stepfamilies, new siblings--with a light, deft, and humorous touch.

Reviewer: Anne St. John

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith. This beginning history offers interesting tidbits about Henry VIII, Louis XIV, the wigs of the eighteenth century, the squash blossom hairdos of young Hopi girls, and Lincoln's beard. The lighthearted illustrations provide amusing caricatures. A compendium of "Hairy Information" provides a few scientific facts about hair. Some documentation for the text would have been helpful. Bib.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(2) 1-3 Illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith. When Simon's despotic fifth-grade teacher quits midyear, her replacement is, to Simon's dismay, none other than his beloved but eccentric great-aunt. Aunt Mattie defies convention, but she knows what she's doing, and soon the "worst class in the school" is winning math bees and science fairs. MacDonald keeps the pace lively and her prose crisp. Good fun for elementary-school readers.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2001

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith. Young Maggie wants to be "the loudest, fastest, best drummer in the State of Kansas." Unfortunately, her noise is so deafening that Mayor Plogg makes drumming illegal. When a tornado hits, Maggie breaks the law and quells the storm, thereby becoming a hero. Though humorous, this tall tale is overly wordy. The Sunday-comics-style illustrations are suitably exaggerated.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) 1-3 Illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith. Holly doesn't like her new school and she certainly doesn't like sharing her mother with her new stepdad or his four trouble-making cats. Finally, Holly realizes the problem isn't the cats but her failure to recognize the positives around her. The intermittent line drawings have frenetic hatch-marked shading that makes the action and characters hard to discern, but the story's emotions are realistic.

Reviewer: Emma Loy-Santelli

(3) K-3 MathStart series. Illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith. When Amy and Josh begin a rock collection, their friend Dave shows them ways to organize their rocks: by size, place of origin, color, the process that formed them, or hardness. Although the unsuspecting will think they are learning only about rocks, the topic of classification is thoroughly explored and is extended with activities for adults and children at the end of the story. Loose color cartoons keep the tone light.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(2) 1-3 Illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith. Baby Nathan becomes an unpredictable force, and even the independent, enterprising Amanda finds him hard to manage on her own, as the saga of Amanda and her frontier family continues (Nine for California, Boom Town). Levitin's likable characters are once more agreeably homely and energetic in Smith's well-rendered watercolor scenes. Children, parents, and teachers will enjoy the historical venture.

Reviewer: Margaret A. Bush | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 1999

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith. Rich or poor, ancient or modern, Eastern or Western--no culture or social group is neglected in this meditation on the rituals and customs of bedtime. The cheerful text and funny cartoon illustrations (e.g., King Louis XIV of France jumping on his fancy four-poster) elevate what could be just a mishmash of facts to the level of good entertainment. A "Facts about Sleep" page discusses the subject in more detail. Bib.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(2) K-3 To hear her tell it, young Amanda brought about the building of a whole town near California's gold fields in this sequel to 'Nine for California'. Amanda begins selling pies, and her business success spills over onto other folks, who decide to settle there. The matter-of-fact text (with its whiff of tall tale) and practical heroine demonstrate how personal ingenuity pays off, and the energetic illustrations are comic and informative.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.

(3) K-3 Feliciana wakes up cantankerous and causes trouble all day, so the Cajun werewolf Loup Garou comes to eat her. Thanks to her spunk, he instead shows her a way out of her snit. The watercolors are active, narrative, and appropriately dramatic. The Cajun dialect makes for some halting reading, but the tale is rousing and the heroine gets right to the reader's heart. An author's note is included. Glos.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.