A sweetly graphic demonstration that just a little ingenuity can resolve even the most daunting dilemmas. Ms. Quill's class is counting down the days until graduation, and Isabel and Walter, two porcupine friends, are feeling left out, knowing they will not receive balloons along with the rest of the animals in their class. Ms. Quill, a porcupine herself, warns the duo that balloons are not safe for them. Read full book review >

Children are likely to chuckle at (and take notes on) these sure-fire tips to terrorize your older sister. Read full book review >

Hopscotch is brave about many things: taking spiders outside, getting bandaged after a tricycle fall, hanging upside-down on the trapeze—none of these faze him a bit. Read full book review >

Smith offers three separate food-related short stories in which children help adults solve problems: One boy finds the recipe for the perfect hamburger spice; another helps untangle a mass of spaghetti; and a third deals with a doughnut glut during a benefit bake sale. Read full book review >

Ruthie loves her miniature assortment of dinosaurs, trains, ponies, teddy bears, seashells and a dollhouse-size tea set. Read full book review >

Rankin draws on her own childhood memories in this satisfying story of an unusual friendship between a German shepherd and a domestic duck. Read full book review >

Smith is back with another series for young readers, this time with a girl as the protagonist. Harriet Bean, like Smith's beloved adult book characters, has an interest in detective work. Read full book review >

Sometimes all it takes is the example of someone slightly older to encourage children to try new things. Read full book review >

The flora and fauna of the four seasons of the coast of Maine come to life in Rankin's (The Wriggly, Wriggly Baby, 2002, etc.) magnificent artwork. Read full book review >

A wriggly baby manages to wriggle right past his parents and into the middle of an exciting rhyming adventure. Read full book review >

Rankin (The Handmade Alphabet, 1991, etc.) returns with another elegant study of American Sign Language, demonstrating the count up to 100. Read full book review >

A quick and curious episode from Rankin (The Handmade Alphabet, 1991). Read full book review >

Exquisitely detailed, realistically portrayed hands of different ages, sexes, and colors demonstrate the positions for the manual alphabet used in American Sign; an object with the appropriate initial appears with each—the pointing finger for ``I'' reaches toward a dripping icicle; ``T'' sports three thimbles and a fistful of thread; ``X'' appears on an X-ray. Read full book review >