(3) K-3 Illustrated by D. B. Johnson. In Johnson's fifth Henry Bear book, the Henry David Thoreau stand-in writes about his nighttime quest to find the whippoorwill ("Are you the one who sings / the song of night?"). The Walden-inspired text is poetic; fans of Henry's more concrete previous adventures may find it somewhat opaque. Johnson's signature gauzy mixed-media art takes on a dreamlike appearance.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 Illustrated by D. B. Johnson. Using easy-to-find supplies, Zuzu creates things--a telescope, sunglasses--for a morose-looking new neighbor, but it's her "wishing cake" that finally makes the boy smile. The wishing cake seems like an arbitrary change agent; the strength of this inventive book is Zuzu's creativity, shown through Johnson's unmistakable gauzy and geometric art, and presented here in a comic-strip-style layout complete with dialogue balloons.

Reviewer: Nell Beram