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40 pp.
| Greenwillow
| August, 2018
|
TradeISBN 978-0-06-267127-1$17.99
(3)
K-3
Evan (an anthropomorphized fox) and his dog enjoy doing everything together, especially working in Evan's garden. Lies's lush acrylic, oil, and colored-pencil illustrations with delicate line work evoke the magnificence of Evan's garden, then his intense sadness and isolation after his beloved dog dies. This tender story of loss, hope, and recovery comes full circle when Evan hesitantly returns to gardening--and gets a new puppy, to boot.
32 pp.
| Houghton
| October, 2018
|
TradeISBN 978-0-544-94882-2$17.99
(3)
K-3
When chipmunk Izzy receives Bear's note ("Please come at once!"), she braves heavy snowfall until squirrel Scritch relieves her with a piggyback ride; when Scritch tires, duck Bingle lends a wing, etc. Readers who don't question the advisability of characters risking Izzy's safety to pull off her surprise birthday party will enjoy the friends' mutual devotion and Lies's charmingly old-fashioned acrylic paintings.
32 pp.
| Houghton
| May, 2016
|
TradeISBN 978-0-544-53433-9$17.99
(3)
K-3
From start to finish, the titular father leads his alligator kids through a stellar, action-packed day: pancakes, shopping, park visit, reading, pillow forts, dress-up, bath time, and "one more story" before bedtime. Acrylic paintings with heavy shadowing capture the happy reptile family's high-energy hijinks; with a spare, lyrical text, the book celebrates fathers and the many small moments that collectively create childhood experiences.
32 pp.
| Houghton
| August, 2014
|
TradeISBN 978-0-544-10569-0$17.99
(3)
K-3
The creator of Bats at the Beach takes his bat cast to the theater, where various bat acts perform rock, country, classical, and the blues--music whose counterintuitive salubriousness inspires the best of many good rhymes: "It's hard to figure--eyes get wetter, / ...so how is it that we feel better?" Chiaroscurist Lies was born to depict the nighttime stage.
32 pp.
| Houghton
| September, 2010
|
TradeISBN 978-0-547-24970-4$16.99
(3)
K-3
The flying mammals from Bats at the Library and Bats at the Beach are at a baseball game. Hanging upside down in the stands, the bats eat "Cricket Jack" and "mothdogs" while rooting for their team. The text's rhymes build with excitement, and they're a hoot to read aloud. Acrylic illustrations filled with bat humor are also a home run.
32 pp.
| Houghton
| September, 2008
|
TradeISBN 978-0-618-99923-1$16.00
(4)
K-3
Bats invade a library after hours. The first-person-plural rhymes are amusing, but without its bat protagonists, the story would be a conventional love letter to books and reading ("It feels as though we've just begun, / but now we leave our books half done"). Still, the brooding acrylics are impressive, especially when Lies imitates some classic kids'-book art with bat embellishments.