(2) PS Illustrated by T. L. McBeth. Distracted by a butterfly, a duck walks away from its pond and fellow ducks, only to discover upon returning that its friends are gone. Following some deceptive clues ("SQUAWK"s, footprints, feathers, etc.) leads the creature on a wild duck chase through a city until a "lost dog" sign gives our protagonist an idea that finally leads to the group's reunion. Underwood cleverly crafts her entire story using almost no text beyond the word duck ("DUCKS! / NO DUCKS! / DUCKS? / NO DUCKS"). Instead, the narrative largely plays out in McBeth's light blue and orange digital illustrations, making the book accessible to very young children. McBeth's minimalist style places the focus on the action by eschewing detailed backgrounds in favor of thick black outlines around the images to help them stand out against the white pages. Careful viewers may notice on the cover and title page that the protagonist is presumably a youngster, smaller than the other three ducks and with one feather to their two. Each reveal of a misleading clue and the young duck's exacerbated reaction adds visual humor, which lightens the tone of the otherwise serious subject matter; readers familiar with the "lost" child (or is it parent?) scenario should take comfort in the book's happy resolution.

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2020

(3) 1-3 Big Words Small Stories series. Illustrated by T. L. McBeth. Six everyday-type vignettes feature a kid and pet who learn "big words" (including flabbergasted and irked) with help from the Sprinkle Fairy. It's pretty obvious that the spot-illustrated stories are written around the vocabulary words, but prompts from the texts will have kids trying out the new words, which are, yes, big as well as funny-sounding enough to keep their attention. Review covers these Big Words Small Stories titles: Smell the Daisies and Traveling Dustball.

Reviewer: Jessica Costello

(3) 1-3 Big Words Small Stories series. Illustrated by T. L. McBeth. Six everyday-type vignettes feature a kid and pet who learn "big words" (including flabbergasted and irked) with help from the Sprinkle Fairy. It's pretty obvious that the spot-illustrated stories are written around the vocabulary words, but prompts from the texts will have kids trying out the new words, which are, yes, big as well as funny-sounding enough to keep their attention. Review covers these Big Words Small Stories titles: Smell the Daisies and Traveling Dustball.

Reviewer: Jessica Costello

(2) K-3 Illustrated by T. L. McBeth. The designation of bunny Ogilvy's knee-length, turtleneck garment ("Is it a sweater or is it a dress?") apparently matters greatly, "for bunnies in dresses play ball and knit socks / and bunnies in sweaters make art and climb rocks." The arbitrary imaginary categories encourage readers to consider whether real-world ones make much sense. The modern fable's tone reflects silliness throughout, with jaunty (gender pronoun–free) rhyming text and spare, cartoony mixed-media illustrations with bold lines.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2019

(3) 1-3 Big Words Small Stories series. Illustrated by T. L. McBeth. In six everyday-type vignettes, strait-laced boy Cris and his goofy cat, Crat, learn "big words" (including discombobulated and bamboozled) with help from the Sprinkle Fairy. It's pretty obvious that the spot-illustrated stories are written around the vocabulary words, but prompts from the book itself will have kids trying out these new words, which are, yes, big as well as funny-sounding enough to keep their attention.

Reviewer: Jessica Costello

(3) 4-6 Project Code series. Illustrated by Glen McBeth. These books include hands-on tutorials, available for download, to develop basic Scratch coding skills needed to create stories, animation, games, and music. Readers learn about underlying concepts such as binary instructions, loops, and repeats, and are encouraged to go beyond directives for deeper understanding. Accessible descriptions, short sections, and an appealing graphic layout recommend this series for self-guided learning. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Project Code titles: Create an Animation with Scratch, Create Computer Games with Scratch, Create Music with Scratch, and Create Your Own Story with Scratch.

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(3) 4-6 Project Code series. Illustrated by Glen McBeth. These books include hands-on tutorials, available for download, to develop basic Scratch coding skills needed to create stories, animation, games, and music. Readers learn about underlying concepts such as binary instructions, loops, and repeats, and are encouraged to go beyond directives for deeper understanding. Accessible descriptions, short sections, and an appealing graphic layout recommend this series for self-guided learning. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Project Code titles: Create an Animation with Scratch, Create Computer Games with Scratch, Create Music with Scratch, and Create Your Own Story with Scratch.

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(3) 4-6 Project Code series. Illustrated by Glen McBeth. These books include hands-on tutorials, available for download, to develop basic Scratch coding skills needed to create stories, animation, games, and music. Readers learn about underlying concepts such as binary instructions, loops, and repeats, and are encouraged to go beyond directives for deeper understanding. Accessible descriptions, short sections, and an appealing graphic layout recommend this series for self-guided learning. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Project Code titles: Create an Animation with Scratch, Create Computer Games with Scratch, Create Music with Scratch, and Create Your Own Story with Scratch.

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(3) 4-6 Project Code series. Illustrated by Glen McBeth. These books include hands-on tutorials, available for download, to develop basic Scratch coding skills needed to create stories, animation, games, and music. Readers learn about underlying concepts such as binary instructions, loops, and repeats, and are encouraged to go beyond directives for deeper understanding. Accessible descriptions, short sections, and an appealing graphic layout recommend this series for self-guided learning. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Project Code titles: Create an Animation with Scratch, Create Computer Games with Scratch, Create Music with Scratch, and Create Your Own Story with Scratch.

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin