"Overall, a warm Christmas story with jolly rhymes and happy times for both the humans and the mice who share this house. (Picture book. 3-7)"
Mr. and Mrs. Mouse and their 17 children celebrate their first Christmas in their new home under the floorboards of a warm kitchen.
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"Clad in peasant dress but sporting elaborate hairstyles (or, for the sheep, poodle cuts and jellybean colors), the figures in the hilariously understated illustrations add a plethora of sight gags to the mix. (Picture book. 6-8)"
As much an essay on the responsibilities of government as it is a cautionary tale about the hazards of boredom, this tale of a queen who takes a beauty-school correspondence course and uses her unwilling subjects—and their sheep—for practice will give readers food for thought as well as a chuckle or two.
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"As in the previous story, there are tiny hidden pictures to search for in each illustration. (Picture book. 4-8)"
The husband-and-wife team who created the popular Snowmen at Night revisits their snowy creations to see how snowmen celebrate Christmas.
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"No—but this low-slung role model shows the inner stuff, both to transform himself, and to rise to the challenges that come his way. (Picture book. 7-9)"
The Buehners convincingly suggest that heroes, super or otherwise, are self-made.
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"It would be difficult not to fall in love with this rollicking flight of imagination created by a terrific combination of talent. (Picture book. 2-6)"
The work of this husband-and-wife team best known for The Escape of Marvin the Ape (1992) is always special; here it comes together in a delightful story about the nocturnal activities of snowmen that is refreshingly original and visually sparkling.
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"Most children will have no problem discerning correct behavior, and some adults may wince in recognition at the black-and-white approach to ethics: It's not right to lie about a child's age at restaurants where those under five eat free. (Picture book. 4-8)"
The Buehners (It's a Spoon, Not a Shovel! 1995, etc.) continue their mission to make learning decorum a giggle instead of a slap on the wrist.
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"A delightful wedding of winsome story and ingenious illustrations; there is no more to be asked of a book. (Picture book. 4-8)"
An ungainly farm girl named Fanny Agnes has a bit of the Cinderella in her and on the night of the mayor's ball goes out to the garden to wait for her fairy godmother.
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"A slight tale, lively in the telling, with vibrantly comical Hopperesque illustrations featuring the dowdy, earnest witch and her delightful slew of bug-eyed cats. (Picture book. 4-8)"
Having trouble making ends meet, witch Wittilda kisses her 47 cats good-bye to go job-hunting, but promptly gets into trouble when, as a newly hired hairdresser, she arranges Mrs. Hatrack's hair into a web, complete with spider.
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Like Fatio's Happy Lion, Marvin leaves his cage at the zoo through an open door; unlike the lion, no one ever notices him as he roams—reading on the subway, giving his order to a bored waiter, catching a foul at a ballgame, or playing checkers in a park—nor does he return to the zoo (a hippo-escape provides the conclusion).
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