(3) PS Illustrated by Melissa Castrillon. "Yellow kayak. Blue sky. Paddle swiftly. Wave good-bye." Clipped, hushed rhymes follow a child and his friend, who resembles a spotted giraffe, as they set off in a rowboat. Together they brave a storm, sleep above active sea life, and square off with whales before returning home. It's a surreal, word-perfect adventure with swirling art in tweaked primary colors.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Melissa Castrillón. This engaging fictionalized account of Mary Anning's scientific curiosity begins in 1807 Lyme Regis, England, where eight-year-old Mary lives with her poor family. Mary shares her father's passion for finding fossils, and after his death she finds, at age twelve, what is later called an Ichthyosaurus. Extensive end notes are appended to the well-researched novel. Reading list.

Reviewer: Grace Worcester Greene

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Melissa Castrillon. An earnest young girl lists a string of "If...then" scenarios: imagining fancifully what she would do if she had a bicycle, a garden, a brother, etc., giving each a conceptual name ("If I had a little bicycle, I would name it Wings") and envisioning it broadening her horizons. The sinuous digitally colored pencil illustrations work in harmony with the sometimes saccharine, loosely metered poems.

Reviewer: Frank Arkage