Matthew McElligott

When the ant receives a special invitation to dine with the lion, she is ready to be on her best behavior. During dessert, the other guests do not mind their manners, each one taking half the remaining cake as it is passed around. By the time it reaches the ant, barely a crumb is left for her to share with the King. What to do?

She offers to make up for it by baking another cake, this one just for the King. Not to be outdone, all the other animals in turn offer to bake twice as many cakes as show more the next. As it turns out, this is not a particularly good idea.

Anyone in the market for a book about math, dessert, obnoxious animals, and the wisdom of knowing when you have enough will not be disappointed. As for everyone else? Let them eat cake. show less

This is a perfect Halloween book. Not too scary, not too silly, but the just right mixture of funny and scary! A little boy likes to watch his dad at work in his barbershop. Once a month, he's a barber too! He sneaks out at night, down to the barbershop and sets up his tools....and in come the monsters, ready for haircuts!

There's plenty of spooky, with a mysterious knocking at the door, gruesome monsters and lots of dark shadows. There's also plenty of funny, with an elaborate hairdo for show more Medusa, silly names for the little boy's equipment, and the different monsters' requirements. There's even an element of sweet, the little boy's admiration and emulation of his dad. The illustrations alternate between cameo insets of a few characters and full spread scenes, often with swirling shadows and layered colors.

This is just right for storytimes around Halloween or reading aloud to preschool and kindergarten classes at any time!

Verdict: Recommended for holiday collections specifically, but good for general picturebook collections as well. show less

This is a gorgeous picture book combining two unlikely concepts: manners and math. Ant is put in a bind when party guests behave rudely and each take half of the remaining cake...a good series of fraction problems there! Will he be able to keep them in line and appease the king? Heavyweight paper, clean creative layouts, and fresh-looking watercolor illustrations make this a winner.

A unique group of students learn from Dr. Cosmic and his extremely realistic dinosaur display, learning dinosaur facts seconds before they need them to escape danger. Fun and informative, with a very slightly muted color palette emphasizing earth tones (except for the rainbow-colored holographic Dr. Tibia).