(2) K-3 This posthumous work by iconoclastic picture-book creator Ungerer is austere and puzzling, yet ultimately hopeful. Left behind on a lifeless dystopian planet ("Birds, butterflies, and rats were gone. Grass and leaves had withered. Flowers had turned into memories...Everyone had gone to the moon"), a man named Vasco roams adrift from one harrowing scenario to the next. Adhering to an idiosyncratic sense of logic, physics, and time, he is literally guided through the narrative by his sentient shadow, which consistently saves him "JUST IN TIME!" At one point, charged with delivering a letter to the wife of a tentacled green creature named Nothing, Vasco survives a flood of biblical proportions to make the delivery. At the request of Nothing's ailing wife, Vasco adopts the couple's green child, Poco, and together they continue the journey. The pair endures pits of "gargling" magma, globs of lilac gelatin, and brigades of tanks, ultimately arriving at a cake-shaped refuge in the middle of a desert. An afterword reveals that the two "are still aging there, sheltered in peace." The surreal landscapes are dominated by simplified geometric forms, bold shadows, and strong horizon lines. Each illustration is singular, intriguing, and diffused with peculiar colors. This disorientating tale references several well-worn stories of adventure, exodus, and environmental turmoil; however, its greatest strength is found in its heroes' resilience against all odds.

Reviewer: Patrick Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2020

(1) PS Raschka presents six pairs of fathers and children reveling in their loving relationships. A series of double-page spreads playfully depicts each of the pairs, using only three words each (e.g., "horse and rider," "queen and jester," "side by side"). Raschka's loose, impressionistic watercolors convey both active and tranquil moments, communicating clearly and joyfully that there is nothing else in the world as important as being together.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2019

(2) K-3 Octopus Emile rescues a deep-sea diver, who then invites Emile to live with him. Emile awes swanky party guests with his musical skills (he can play all parts at once, given his eight arms). He misses his undersea home, though, so he gets a job as a lifeguard. The story swings into action when Emile captures smugglers while simultaneously driving the police boat they've nabbed (those eight arms!). Emile's many talents and kindly green face will surely endear him to a new generation of readers. An ever-fresh Ungerer classic.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: June, 1960; November, 2019

(3) 4-6 This comprehensive guide provides aspiring astronomers and stargazers with a wealth of information about the constellations of both hemispheres. Readers will be tempted to jump right to constellation-searching but should start at the beginning for some contextual history and science. The illustrations are largely aqua and gold on navy backgrounds and have a neat retro aesthetic. Back matter includes extensive star maps. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: Renée Wheeler

(3) PS Illustrated by Serge Bloch. The strength of a man's sneeze sends Circle rolling and Oval rocking (bypassing Rectangle, fortunately), and so on until Circle pops on Triangle's point, after which the chain reaction continues. Equally graceful as the rhymes are the simple collage and ink illustrations showing the bespectacled, stick-limbed shapes collaborating on this book-length geometry problem.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) PS "Of what do little bears dream?" A spare narrative running across a blue-and-white snowy landscape--where a wee polar bear dwells--proposes a variety of answers that introduce opposites (e.g., "Big love... / small friends"). Schmid supplies well-chosen visual incongruities (a slice of pizza in the Arctic; a black mustache on a bear) to reflect the befuddling nature of dreams.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Julia Rothman. A young stick-limbed brick travels the globe to "find her place in the world." While she loves the brick buildings she sees (Moscow's Saint Basil's Cathedral, the Great Wall of China, etc., each elaborated on in the back matter), she ultimately realizes that her destiny lies (literally) underfoot. It's an edifying parable, and Rothman creates an impressive architectural wonderland with her limited black, gray, and red palette.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Sam Brewster. This handsome volume presents "record-breaking" facts about the framework that gives vertebrates their shape. On each spread, readers view a skeleton and ponder clues (given by the animal in the first person) to guess which animal has the largest, smallest, longest, heaviest, etc., bones; turn the page for the detailed answer accompanied by a graphically sharp full-body illustration with tactile raised embellishments. Reading list, websites. Glos.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo

(3) PS Translated by Maria Tunney. A group of jungle animals amuses itself with a game of charades in which the animals guess the actor's animal identity, such as when Elephant hangs from a tree to mimic Monkey; the running joke is that hungry Toucan keeps incorrectly guessing foods ("YOU'RE A BANANA!"). The French import's child-friendly, interactive game and retro, tropical-colored block prints should intrigue young children.

Reviewer: Bridget McCaffrey

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Julia Rothman. While this book is about food, it's definitely not a cookbook. Kids will appreciate the humorous wordplay ("If I toss a salad, can I throw a salad?... Dough you can throw, though") and might be inspired to think up their own quips. Ink and gouache illustrations highlight foods close up and against high-contrast backgrounds.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(3) PS When does a lamp resemble a flower? When it's presented alongside flowers rendered in identical colors. This wordless book features twenty-nine two-page spreads offering similar seek-and-find pleasures (and a subtle message about the importance of paying attention). The striking illustrations are created with stencil patterns and a palette of fuchsia, Kelly green, and the rich brown that results from overlapping them.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Signal flags, the phonetic alphabet, Morse code, and semaphore are introduced and then explained in detail from A to Z; each flag appears on a double-sided page. With its clean, well-thought-out design; bold colors; and strong graphic illustrations, the book will appeal to boat lovers and code- and language enthusiasts alike. Further information is appended. Websites. Glos.

Reviewer: Nancy Sheridan

(3) K-3 Hungry worm Toto spends this book attempting to figure out how to retrieve an apple from a tree: he tries hitching a ride on a bird, painting butterfly wings to fly, etc. Like the flat gouache art, the early-reader-reminiscent sentences are deceptively simple and hilariously deadpan, especially when the story takes an unexpectedly dark turn: a child eats the apple, and "Toto is devastated."

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Fred Benaglia. Rhyming text names possible ways to read a book and treat it like a friend. Digitally painted ink illustrations with unconventional color choices create vibrant compositions and recall vintage books with limited-color printing palettes. These components work together to encourage appreciation for reading and for the book as a physical object.

Reviewer: Jeannie Coutant

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Julia Rothman. A food critic and a food artist team up for a random exploration of what to eat and what to leave alone ("a potato?...tomato?...tornado?!"); where foods come from ("Do eggs grow on eggplants?"); and some ethnic foods, such as Japanese sea urchin (uni). White pages contrast with bright close-ups of foods. A final page of spot art asks readers to identify edibles.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(3) K-3 This gorgeously produced, large-trim-size treasury features well-known titles (including Moon Man and The Three Robbers) and lesser-known stories (such as Fog Island and Zeralda's Ogre). The handsome slipcase edition is most notable for the "extras": a letter from the author/illustrator, an extensive interview by his current editor, archival photos and drawings, and "a brief biography."

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(2) K-3 When he happens upon a drive-in theater, Rufus the bat discovers colors beyond nighttime gray and black and decides to stay awake to see daylight colors. He's so moved that he paints himself, which leads first to disaster (people shoot at him) and then to friendship with a famous butterfly collector. Ungerer's vivid illustrations are funny and beautiful.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc. | Horn Book Magazine Issue: December, 1961

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Natsko Seki. Pigeon Speck Lee Tailfeather leads children on an international architecture tour, stopping at famous sites and offering both solid information and his special perspective on each one. The clever narrative concept is mostly well executed, and the flowery writing is entertaining (on the Eiffel Tower: "the latticed tower looked almost delicate, like spun sugar"). Seki's illustrations are attractive but stylized rather than technically detailed.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(2) PS A "blop" is a four-leaf-clover-shaped blob, and it is the only shape used in the book, which progresses from easy (black-and-white blops, different sizes and numbers of blops) to more complex (blops in a book within the book, merging and mixing their colors). The heavy paper, rounded edges, and thick board covers indicate a young, hands-on audience.

Reviewer: Lolly Robinson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2013

(2) K-3 In a tale enriched with magic and mystery, Finn and Cara's boat is lost in a fog. Washed up on an island, they meet Fog Man, who shows them how he makes fog. In the morning, they awake in an ancient ruin; the fog has lifted. The illustrations are glorious, especially Ungerer's masterful depiction of sea and sky.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2013