The opening line of text declares, “I love round things.”  And the rest of the text goes on to describe why, and to share different examples of roundness and why it’s to be admired, but there is definitely some artistic license taken with the term “round,” making this more a poetic ode to that which is (at least somewhat) round, rather than a true concept book that sticks to accurate examples of the true geometric term “round.”  Seeds and eggs are used as examples of round, and those pictured are, but not all eggs or seeds are round.  The mushrooms pictured, though rounded on top, are not truly round; neither are the rocks that have been smoothed by the sea.  More detailed paragraphs in the back share why rounded shapes are beneficial to the examples shared, but again the term is used loosely.

I LOVE the illustrations!  They are rich and detailed and evoke a certain fairy-tale element to the setting.  Cleonardo is a young inventory is a family line of inventors, daughter of Geonardo and granddaughter of Leonardo.  With the town’s Grand Festival of Inventions approaching, Cleo is determined to help her father, but though indulgent, he’s a bit dismissive, sending her off out of his way.  With her grandfather’s help, Cleo sets up hr own workshop in the woods to design her own project.  On the day of the great festival, when her dad’s project runs into trouble, it’s Cleo’s inventions that help to save the day, and “From then on father and daughter always worked…side by side.”

With bright, bold, graphic illustrations and rhyming text, this is a good introductory book for young children about different animal traits.  The text in the main body of the book doesn’t even specify the animals in question: some animals wear hair and some animals wear scales…but it’s up to the reader to look at the illustrations for examples of just what animals fit each description.  A good opportunity for letting young students see which animals they can identify by sight.  In the back, brief paragraphs go into more details, naming the animals pictured earlier in the book and explaining why they need the specified trait.  Not dense with information, but still a good introduction.

The text is simple, as is the bright artwork, but the message is profound:  it’s okay to be different, and to be friends with those who don’t fit in with the crowd. Colin is carrot, and so very different than all of Lee’s other pea friends.  But his differences prove to be what allows him to bring unique talents to the group.

An introductory page how animals develop certain traits in order to meet their survival needs.  It specifically describes convergent evolution: when animals who aren’t even related to each other develop the same or similar traits, due to similar environmental needs. Each two-page spread is dedicated to a particular trait, and how two different animals use that trait for survival.  A final paragraph on each page contrasts the two animals, explaining how they can share similar traits even if they’re not actually closely related.  All of this is illustrated with large color photos that support the text well.

The soft illustrations of friendly forest animals trying to encourage and console and help their friend Badger are charming.  And the story is one that so many of us (children and teachers alike) here in the Northwest and relate to — the anxious anticipation in waiting for snow that is not coming.  They come up with all sorts of ideas, from throwing stones at the sky to punch holes in the clouds, to performing a snow dance, to wearing their pajamas backwards.  Nothing seems to work, but throughout Hedgehog keeps trying to remind his friends that crocuses always bloom in spring, and the sun rises every day, and the stars shine every night; though they always come in their own time.  So eventually the band of friends realize that the snow also will come in its own time, and they’ll just have to wait.

The soft and misty nature of the illustrations add to the poetical nature of the telling of the tale of the origins of a house:  the door that was once a colossal oak, the stones that were once underground, the bricks that were once mud, etc.  A useful story to introduce young children to how humans make use of our natural resources.

The illustrations are cute and cartoon-like, and will draw kids in — I mean, with a dragon and giant orange polka-dotted underwear on the cover, it’s gotta be good, right?  The story itself is likely only to appeal to a particular audience of very young children who may find the struggles to dress the dragon reminiscent of scenarios they may have experienced when they were small.  Others drawn by the illustrations may find the story a bit disappointing.

With very simple text, and much repetition, this is a book intended for very young students, celebrating the power of imagination.  It consists of an argument between a duck and a cat, as the cat tries to convince the duck to act like a duck, even though the duck keeps insisting he’s a cat.  The argument wraps up when duck decides to be a parrot, explaining that the day before he was a squirrel and last week he was a rooster, and tomorrow he intends to be a cow. The cat gives up.

Recommended as a satisfying conclusion to a trilogy.  If you’re going to purchase this for your library, you’ll want to get the first two books, How to Catch a Bogle, and A Plague of Bogles, too.  Each book does provide enough context individually so that if a student picks them up out of order they will still make sense.  Set in the streets of England in the days before there were social services available to look after children on their own, these books tell the tales  of street kids who make their way in the world as assistants to a Bogle Hunter, working to clear the sewers and basements of London of the child-snatching bogles terrorizing the town.  It’s dangerous work, and the books are descriptive enough to offer a few goosebumps, but not overly done in the gruesome department.