I’m recommending it with reservations. It’s a lift-the-flap book, which is unlikely to stand up to much hard library use, but if that doesn’t make you squeamish, it’s a really lovely counting book with beautiful illustrations, a repetitive format that asks after each animal, “Who has more babies than that?” It counts to ten and then fifteen and 25, and then the final page tells us that the spider had lots of babies, and asks the reader to count them all throughout the book. Observant readers may notice before they reach the end that most pages seem to include a spider or two, and the final page will invite them to go back and count more thoroughly on their own.

It’s sort of a hybrid picture book graphic novel that tells the story of Arnold, the guy who answers the phones at his family’s superhero business while he’s waiting to discover what his super power is. One day a call comes in when none of the other superheroes are around, so he borrows a cape himself and heads out. On his way to answer the summons he helps an old lady in a wheel chair, a little duck, and the girl who called, with his ordinary human powers of kindness, discovering he is a Super Nice Guy. I really like this one. It manages to stay true to the tone of the typical super hero tale, while reminding kids they have the power to change the world in their own ways. It’s got a good message without being schmaltzy.

It uses the format of a graphic novel and the character of a June bug to share a lot of information about assorted bugs, and June bugs in particular. As the June bug finds itself disgruntled to realize it doesn’t have some of the cool powers that other bugs have, and finally discovers his ability to avoid spider’s web, it makes friends with the other bugs. It’s not exactly packed with insect information, but many students will appreciate the graphic novel format and the personification of the bugs and learn some stuff along the way.

Originally copyrighted 1978, the cover proclaims it “Moonbear’s very first adventure,” a prequel to Happy Birthday, Moon. This one describes how much Bear loved the moon and how concerned he became when he noticed it shrinking smaller and smaller. In all his worry, he stops eating and then notices himself getting thin, which of course leads him to speculate that perhaps the moon isn’t eating enough either, so he puts out some honey for the moon. Birds come and ate the honey while Bear sleeps, and then he notices the moon getting bigger, so he things he’s found the solution, but he continues to help the moon so much that he continues to get thinner himself, because he’s not saving enough honey for himself, which leaves the birds with a bit of a moral dilemma: they could help bear by telling him that they’re the ones eating the honey, but then they’ll lose out on the honey for themselves… Both the words and the illustrations are simple and straightforward, appropriate for young children, and the seeming logical, yet wrong, path of Bear’s thinking provide young readers with an opportunity to bring their own knowledge to the story to explain where Bear is making his mistakes. A solid choice.

It’s got lots of rhyming and silly illustrations as a young girl proclaims all the ways she loves making noise, even while admitting that her mom and teacher and other library patrons don’t appreciate her noise. After being embarrassed by the complaints of the other library patrons, she decides to open a book and finds that she can be quiet on the outside while all sorts of noisy adventures go on inside her head. And that just turns her life around. The next morning she decides to listen and realizes this allows her to enjoy birdsong and to learn in school. So she decides she likes being quiet some of the time and saving being noisy for appropriate times and places. I think it’s a bit of a stretch to leap from enjoying a book to suddenly delighting in listening at school. It comes across as a bit pedantic — the author’s wishful thinking, maybe?

It’s cute. It’s fun. And it’s a new look at the role of the Easter Bunny. It’s got a repeating refrain that twists the traditional “Here comes Peter Cottontail…” to describe the adventures of Peter Easter Frog, but it keeps getting interrupted by other animals pointing out that he’s not the bunny. As he pleads his case to each animal — he can hop, he love Easter, etc. — the other animals join in. But when they run into The Bunny, he doesn’t seem too happy with the usurpers, until Frog gives Bunny and Easter egg. No one’s ever given him one before. It’s got rhythm and rhyme and a nice message about making sure those who are always giving get to receive sometimes too.

It’s a wordless picture book that shows a child of the circus refusing to wear his clown costume and choosing farmer clothes instead, and after helping to set up the circus tent and welcome guests, the last guest to arrive is dressed just like him. He and his monkey friend seem to recognize this new guest and introduce him to the boy’s clown mom and they all spend a day together full of music and juggling and food and then they wave goodbye to the rest of the clowns and head off to the farmer’s home as a family. The back flap does show that the book is the third book in a trilogy, and it would probably be best as part of the complete set. It works okay as a stand-alone, but would probably be better understood by someone already familiar with the previous encounters between these characters.

I really like this book, though I freely admit it probably has more appeal for the adults who will read it to the kids and actual kid-appeal. It’s sweet and sentimental, with humor in the illustrations as it chronicles all the firsts of ordinary things in a new year, from first waffles to first fight with your brother, to the first snowfall and on and on through the first halloween mask and the first giving and getting on Christmas morning. Just to keep things from being completely repetitive it tosses in a few other numbers, like the second lost umbrella of the year and the 226th fight with your brother, and wraps up the year with the last waffles, last snowfall, last stories. I like it for the way it celebrates ordinary moments and I could see it sparking some interesting New Year journaling projects. It’s definitely something everyone can relate to.

The book opens with Max writing invitations to his birthday sleepover, and feeling unsure about inviting the new kid, Sam, but his mom insists. Max can’t put his finger one what it is about Sam, just that there seems to be something strange about him. Throughout the story they never do come right out and say what the something is — the reader has to put the clues together. We learn he has a really good sense of smell, he’s not sure he can come to the birthday party because there’s a full moon that night, he likes his burgers really rare, after they change into pajamas that night he develops fangs and claws and really hairy hands, and when the moonlight shines on him, he runs out into the night. Though it never comes right out and say he’s a werewolf, the point is that though the boys are initially scares of his nighttime transformations, when they join him in his backyard adventures they all have a really good time and end up really liking him just as he is, not despite his weirdness, but because of it.

It’s rather got the feel of an olde world fable. Little Wise Wolf got his name because he loved to read so much that he came to know about many things and the other animals would come to him with their questions. But he doesn’t like being disturbed from his reading and complains about not having time for the other animals. When a messenger is sent to summon him to the bedside of the ill king, he doesn’t want to go, but is informed that one cannot refuse the king, so he sets off on a long journey. The trek is difficult, but he is helped along the way by the animals he did not have time for. After healing the king, he is offered a place within the castle where he can read all day undisturbed, but Little Wise Wolf realizes he must return to his friends, because he still has a lot to learn from them. From then on he is never too busy for those who come to visit him, and yet he still manages to read and learn in abundance. It’s got a lovely message, and while I can appreciate the way the illustrations contribute to the olde world feel of the story, I worry that the dark and drab colors will be a turn-off to many students and it may not circulate much.