(2) PS Illustrated by Lane Smith. A young brown-skinned boy, cozy in bed, smiles up at his female caretaker. The imaginative story--told in soothing, rhyming text--proceeds with the many possibilities a day could hold, from the mundane to the playful (encountering a squirrel...named Stu) to the fantastical. The stylized mixed-media illustrations' bright colors and energetic, angular lines capture the boy's city neighborhood and its hypothetical goings-on.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2019

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Ruth Chan. In this mischievous comedy, as the humans leave in a camper van, bears, beavers, deer, and skunks move into their house. The deer bring a karaoke machine; the beavers take over the kitchen; etc. The animals' week of excess leads to chaos before they all depart, cheerfully promising to return next year. Expressive cartoon illustrations play up the outlandish humor inherent in forest creatures vacationing indoors.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2019

(2) K-3 Earthworm Carl is always moving underground, digesting leaves and "turning hard dirt into fluffy soil." When a field mouse asks him why he does that, Carl suffers an immediate identity crisis and asks other animals if they know his purpose. Freedman's light ending allows readers to deduce an earthworm's role in maintaining ecological balance. Carl's existential woes are illustrated via delicate earth-toned watercolors on expansive, full-bleed double-page spreads.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2019

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Jonathan Bentley. This Australian import opens with baby penguin Gilbert's magnificent view of a seabird-filled sky. As he grows, Gilbert makes repeated efforts to soar, without success. The illustrations of soaring seabirds, snowy vistas, and underwater landscapes are splendid. Cleverly, the text plays with the story's premise: "up up up" at the opening is followed by "down down down" as Gilbert discovers the breathtaking "second sky" under the waves.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2019

(2) K-3 In this dramatic wordless tale, a commercial fisherman and (presumably) his son fish with a large net. When the boy notices their lines have entangled a whale, the father dives in to free the creature. Lanan's watercolor and gouache paintings are expansive and cinematic; mostly full-bleed spreads place readers at the center of the action. An afterword provides more information on whale entanglement and human-caused environmental damage.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2019

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Merrilee Liddiard. During WWII, Sam and Keiko's class is knitting socks for U.S. soldiers. Before Keiko's family is sent to an internment camp, kindly Keiko leaves behind a note and a pair of hand-knitted socks for Sam's soldier brother. Sam (whose family is Jewish) determinedly makes a scarf to mail to Keiko in return, the phrase come home safely taking on new meaning for him. Many of the border-framed illustrations aptly look like vintage photographs. Appended with information about internment camps.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2019

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Daniel Egnéus. Lubna befriends a pebble when she and her father arrive at a refugee settlement, telling it about her family, the war, and her prior home. When Daddy finds them a new home, Lubna gives Pebble to newcomer Amir. Meddour's short, simple sentences pack a punch; the cool-palette illustrations, with their frequent use of curved lines, offer a sense of security. This tender story honors the emotional resilience of young people.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2019

(2) PS Illustrated by LeUyen Pham. This boisterous adventure is about discovery and friendships forged when least expected--all in the form of a wild log-ride. A river "didn’t know it was a river" until...Bear shows up. Bear doesn't know he's on an adventure until...a frog leaps onto his head. And so it goes until...the animals plummet over a waterfall in an exhilarating vertical spread. Pham's illustrations have a 1980s-cartoon feel yet remain fresh.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2019

(1) PS In this playful and informative book, a girl named Zoe speaks directly to water while considering its role inside and outside a home as well as its different forms. Portis's spare and accessible main text makes effective use of figurative language. Water's many permutations are the focus of the crisp, uncluttered, primarily aqua-colored illustrations. Back matter includes notes on conservation and water forms and a simple water cycle diagram. Reading list.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2019

(1) PS This inviting counting book could also serve as a set of inclusivity instructions. A lone boy plays on a slide ("how to one"); when he joins a girl on a seesaw, we learn "how to two." One by one, children are welcomed until there are ten engaged in a jubilant game of tag. Bright watercolor and colored-pencil illustrations on simple backgrounds keep the focus on the children's joyous dynamics.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2019

(2) K-3 In this circular, layered wordless tale about loss and the cycle of life, a girl buries a beloved dog, then throws a rock into the ocean. Viewers are then swept back in time, witnessing a meteor strike. Through centuries, the meteorite becomes progressively smaller until the girl picks it up to throw. Becker uses gold to identify the meteorite's iterations in sumptuous, cinematic spreads.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2018

(2) PS Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. In this cozy (previously unpublished) story, winter is approaching, and it's time for all the farm animals to move into the "big warm barn." Brown's evocative text includes the sights, sounds, and textures of the farmyard--the horses' breath in the cold air, swallows chirping in the barn rafters. Pinkney's earth-toned, full-bleed double-page spreads create an atmosphere of warmth and tranquility, making this a particularly good bedtime read.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2018

(2) PS Illustrated by Jan Bajtlik. In this playful, visually appealing tale, a child and father go exploring in a car "as red as a fire engine." When not zooming through the landscape, they put on tires, wash the car, pull a trailer, observe a mechanic fixing the car, and more. Vivid colors pop off uncluttered spreads with generous white space. The imaginative twist ending comes on the final endpapers of this well-designed book.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2019

(2) PS Illustrated by Betsy Lewin. Farmer Brown and the barn animals (Click, Clack, Moo etc.) are invited to visit the local elementary school. He quells the animals' noisy enthusiasm with stern warnings: there will be none of that boisterousness. But when the recess bell rings, chaos ensues, and humans and animals alike happily run amok. The text's effective sound effects and repetition combine with expressive, relaxed-line watercolors for a funny and exuberant "quack"-to-school adventure.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2018

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Marion Arbona. In this inviting story, a boy jumping on his backyard trampoline sees the world from all-new perspectives. Vivid colors and vertical lines dominate the spreads of him jumping, juxtaposed with warm blues and swirling lines in the illustrations showing him, fantastically, suspended in the ether. A girl joins him on the trampoline; the last spread, in which they've jumped above a rainbow, bursts with color and exuberance.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2018

(2) K-3 Illustrated by David McPhail. Joe loves fishing, but it bores his father. However, Joe's father reluctantly agrees to chaperone Joe's fishing club on an ice-fishing trip, and in the abundant downtime the two bond. In simple, straightforward prose, Greenwald tells the sweet but never cloying story. McPhail's illustrations, rendered in warm pastel hues, depict the boy's emotional vulnerability and, later, the joy he feels at having his father's time and attention.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2018

(2) PS Illustrated by Laura Dronzek. This third season-themed picture book (When Spring Comes; In the Middle of Fall) is a lyrical ode to winter and its many moods. The gently rhythmic text uses descriptive language to bring wintertime to vivid life. Uncluttered, expressive acrylics capture the contradictions of the season. Expressive full-bleed spreads steal the show, especially at the book's close when winter "shrinks away bit by bit" and glorious, full-color spring arrives.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2018

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Matte Stephens. This appealing fictionalized biography introduces American wildlife artist Charles R. Knight from his young granddaughter Rhoda's perspective. They meet at the American Museum of Natural History to view his work--some of the first paintings, based only on fossil remains, to depict prehistoric animals--then visit the Central Park Zoo and have tea at the Plaza Hotel. Stephens's playful, quirky gouache illustrations incorporate some of Knight's actual art. Bib.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2018

(2) K-3 A girl pulls on peeling wallpaper in her new house to reveal a world she enthusiastically enters. Thus begins her mostly wordless journey through six more wallpaper layers. Within the mainly benign worlds, she's chased by a three-eyed monster that scares her--until she realizes it's only looking for friendship. Paper-collage illustrations provide depth and shadow to the compositions, and paneled spreads accelerate the action without rushing the pace.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2018

(2) 4-6 This follow-up to graphic novel Invisible Emmie again alternates perspectives, with (Emmie's best friend) Brianna's story rendered via large cartoon-panel drawings, and artsy-dreamer classmate Izzy's in smaller, border-free vignettes. Izzy's grounded but sneaks off to perform in the talent show. Brianna, meanwhile, reluctantly steps in for someone at the show and connects with her drama-teacher mother. A twist reveals an emotionally rewarding surprise. Libenson captures middle-school dramas with candor, fast pacing, and relatable characters.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2018