Told in rhyme, Ella Kazoo’s hair is described in many terms: hair, locks, mane, mop, curls, frizz, and tresses as it continues to grow longer and wilder.  As her hair grows, more and more items become entangled within it.  The ink and watercolor illustrations by Jennifer Plecas humorously depict Ella’s objections to brushing her hair and the eventual outcome.  At her wits end, Ella’s mother takes her to the hairdresser to find a style with which she can live.

“All due to a haircut, quite simple and snappy,

both mother and daughter are blissfully happy.”

This is a delightful story with equally delightful illustrations.  Mom keeps finding stray cats to rescue, much to the dismay of Dad, who has many reasons not to keep the cat(s).  He always relents when faced with the grim “future” of the poor kitty.  As Mom continues to find stray cats, Dad’s protestations become wilder and more absurd.  The ink and watercolor illustrations by David Parkins, make a humorous match with Dad’s comical objections.  When the pet count climbs to five cats, Dad wanders out and returns with… a dog!  Told in rhyme, the reader is entertained with clever reasons for keeping strays, the amusing objections for sending it on its way, and the witty and colorful illustrations.

Nick Fauchald begins this cook with a message to kids about how to have fun and be safe while cooking.  He also has a note to adults about how to help kids get the most out of the cooking experience.  The glossary, special tips, a metric conversion chart, and illustrated kitchen tools are in the front of the book for easy reference.  13 recipes are included in easy, intermediate, and advanced categories.  Ronnie Rooney does an excellent job of illustrating each step.  Each recipe lists the ingredients and tools needed.  The instructions are simple yet clear.  At the top of each page is a food pyramid telling which food groups are included, the number of servings, how long it takes to prepare, and a note about each recipe.  Some recipes have an additional food note or fact.  There is an index in the back.  Additional recipes can be found on the Facthound website.  One extra note: some ingredients may not be found in all grocery stores.

This book is “based on a teleplay written by Peter Hirsch”, which is “based on characters created by Susan Meddaugh.” – title page.  Martha tried very hard to please Grandma Lucille, but something always went wrong.  After several unsuccessful attempts to find the perfect gift for Grandma’s birthday, Martha decided on flowers.  Even that failed because Grandma Lucille is allergic to real ones.  However, Grandma is delighted because it is not the gift but the thought that counts, and Martha had tried her hardest to please.

This book for young readers deals with the topics of friendship and divorce appropriately.  Sam always plays with boys because boys are tough.  When a new girl, Ellie, comes to school, Sam is resentful when his mother invites her to their house after school and to spend the night.  He awakens to hear Ellie crying and when his parents don’t come, he comforts her just like his parents do with him when he is sad.  He learns that she is worried her parents may be divorcing.  He is surprised at how tough she appears.  At school the next day, Sam realizes that although it can be embarrassing to play with girls, it can be fun, too.  Ellie tells him she will call him after she and her parents have a talk.  Sam knows she will be all right because Ellie is also strong and brave.  This is a colorful book.  Large, black text is on a brightly colored page next to oil illustrations of Sam and his classmates.  Children of both genders will like this story of friendship.

Sam likes to play games but he hates to lose.  His temper often gets the best of him when he does not win.  To avoid losing a soccer game, he decides not to play and goes to Grandma’s house.  When she asks him how he can win if he doesn’t play, he does not have an answer.  She tells him playing a game also means being with friends and having fun.  Sam decides he misses his friends and soccer and arrives in time to play.  This is a good message to children that playing does not mean winning – as well as supporting your team.  This is a colorful book.  Large, black text is on a brightly colored pages next to oil illustrations of Sam and his family and friends.

Shawn Lewis is a big fan of Johnny Pride, a professional stock car racer, and tries to emulate him during go-kart races.  His Uncle Ray gives him a chance to spend time as a “junior racer” at the Talladega track where Johnny Pride trains and races.  However, instead of being able to spend time with Johnny, Shawn is paired with Johnny’s foe, Mean Gene Pederson.  Shawn learns there is much more behind the media hype as he gets to know Mean Gene.  This book provides an insider’s view of what goes on at a race track and some differences between “winners” and “losers”.  There is an additional page of information about legendary Nascar racers mentioned in the story.  Along with the expected glossary, index, and paragraph about the author and illustrator, are discussion questions, writing prompts, other Jake Maddox titles, and websites for further fun and information.

Begun by Don Freeman (Corduroy) before he passed in 1978, his son Roy Freeman is collaborating and continuing with where his father left off, publishing this delightful, soothing story of a squirrel looking for the acorns he buried so he can feed his furry family.  Gentle interaction with children, a strong beginning, middle and end, this book will entrance young children as have previous books.  This book would make a fine addition to collection already including Don Freeman’s work.

Told in rhyme, punctuation station is a train station where marks are taught, such as the period, the comma, the apostrophe, quotation marks, question mark, hyphen, and exclamation point.  Book could be repeated for each grade at which the various marks are taught.  There is quite a bit of activity in each picture, so young students will get distracted.  The end of the book reviews all the marks and gives examples of how to use them.

Is bat a bird or an animal?  Even bat can’t decide on whose team he wants to be.  Depending on whose ahead is how he decides, until the animals and the birds catch on and stop the game.  The lesson: a good player sticks with a team even when it’s losing.  Excellent lesson, beautiful illustrations.  Language is sparse yet eloquent.