A wonderful addition to the "Chicago and the Cat" series - warm, friendly, funny story, with warm, friendly, funny illustrations. I've found that kids relate to the personality conflicts in the stories, with the slightly crabby (but soft at heart), fish-loving Cat and the always optimistic, vegetarian rabbit, Chicago.

These are well-written, well-illustrated early chapter books, with strong chapter endings that keep the reader turning pages. The art and text work well together, each telling part of the story, resulting in a unified, delightful tale.

THE COMPLETE BACKYARD NATURE ACTIVITY BOOK

You can tell that Robin Michal Koontz, the author-illustrator of this book, has personal knowledge of the wildlife subjects she writes about. Each topic, from butterflies to birds to bats, gives children a wealth of information and plenty of projects to choose from. For example, kids can make a hummingbird feeder from an empty plastic bottle or draw a "family tree" of all the animals that use a tree for food or shelter. The sidebars provide fascinating information, such as the fact that many birds pick up ants and tuck them under their wings, so that the ants can deter lice, mites, and other annoying pests. I highly recommend this book - parents as well as kids can learn from it.

- Barbara Gregorich

Irreverent, gross in a way kids love (dogs throw up in people's shoes), this book is for reading aloud to preschoolers as well as for early readers to master on their own. As good as the text is, it's the illustrations that will win your heart -- how could anyone resist the expressions on the long-suffering cat's face? Kids love this book!