Mary Serfozo

American author Maria Serfozo and Italian illustrator Valeria Petrone join forces in this rhyming romp of an autumn tale, as Peter the tiger sets out to find the perfect pumpkin. A plumply, dumply pumpkin that's not bumpy or grumpy, but fat and fine. Once that perfect pumpkin has been found, Peter and his father set out to create the perfect jack-o-lantern...

Although I have encountered the artwork of Petrone before, in such titles as The Witch Who Loved to Make Children Cry, this was my show more first encounter with Serfozo. I found it charming, and think that with the rollicking rhyme, entertaining story, and cute, cartoon-style illustrations, Plumply, Dumply Pumpkin would make for an excellent read-aloud selection at an autumn and/or Halloween story time. show less

Benjamin's mother and new kindergarten teacher cleverly suggest that Benjamin should not wear his father's shoes to school: his teacher shows him fun activities that will be difficult with big shoes and Benjamin decides to wear regular size shoes. I thought it was a little sad that growing up means making compromises and giving up the things you love.

The book starts off with a question by a boy who asks a girl, "Who said red?" The girl responds by telling what is red. Then throughout the book, she goes to different colors and explains what is green, blue, yellow, etc. Towards the end, the little boy is a bit fustrated and tells her that he said red, not any of the other colors.

I enjoyed this book because of the colorful pages and the objects picked by the author for the colors. I also found it funny when the girl asked the boy if he show more said this color and he would say no. But she would go ahead to another color. There are cute rhymes in the book along with the explanation of the colors. It's a cute and funny book.

This is a good book if the teacher is teaching the class about colors. It can also be read if the class is learning about the farm for the book takes place on a farm and outside of it. show less

What's What? A Guessing Game is a conceptual picture book that poses a question, like "What is wet?," and then answers the questions on the back of the page. Other items are dry, short, soft, dark, etc. Children can guess what items will be on the next page, or give their own suggestions, and then see what the characters in the story say when they turn the page. This fun system of guessing or predicting what will happen, and then turning the page helps children to understand how books follow show more a sequential plot, and also helps them to understand that in books, things happen in a set order. These concepts will increase reading readiness. The watercolor illustrations of two adorable young African American children and their puppy are beautiful and illustrate the concepts as the book progresses. The illustrations are colorful but the color palate consists of warm and natural shades. The mood of the illustrations matches the text, as well. The context of the text and the illustrations give the book a warm, snuggly feeling that would make it the perfect bedtime story. This book would be good for a beginning reader, or for read-aloud with children who are too young to read. show less