Grade: 2

Ore Mae Cotton of Crabapple Orchard loses a tooth and searches for the “no good varmint” who stole it.

He could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. He went to sleep with gum in his mouth and woke up with gum in his hair. When he got out of bed, he tripped over his skateboard and by mistake dropped his sweater in the sink while the water was running. He could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Nothing at all was right. Everything went wrong, right down to lima beans for supper and kissing on TV. What do you do on a day like that? Well, you may think about going to Australia. You may also be glad to find that some days are like that for other people too.

Pop-up guru Robert Sabuda performs his paper engineering magic again with this stunning adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s classic tale. With large and small textured pop-ups — some of the animals are actually furry — that will dazzle you with their intricacy and inventiveness, Sabuda’s rendition tells the familiar tale of Alice as she falls down the rabbit hole and makes her way through Wonderland. The book features artwork based on John Tenniel’s time-honored illustrations and text that follows the original story, and each spread includes several smaller pop-ups in “subpages,” along with larger pop-ups taking center stage. Some of the amazing must-sees are Alice’s initial fall down to Wonderland (with an accordion-like feature labelled “Open me” to pull up and peek into); the Mad Hatter’s tea party, with silvery dishware that includes a fuzzy dormouse; and the croquet match that opens wide.

When Allison tries on a kimono her grandmother sends her, she realizes she looks more like her Japanese doll, Mei Mei, than her parents. When her parents explain that she is adopted, she withdraws from them and her playmates at school and destroys childhood keepsakes that belong to her adoptive parents. Taking in a stray cat helps Allison see the true nature of adoption and love. Realistic illustrations show the many emotions Allison experiences on her way to acceptance.

There is lots of confusion in the English language. Some words sound alike but are not spelled alike. Some letters have no sound at all. This vocabulary builder reminds us that humor can be found even in an English lesson!

Fleming’s brilliant illustrations, created by pouring colored cotton fiber through hand-cut stencils, show a mouse working on each letter of the alphabet. Young readers will learn new vocabulary while the mouse “airbrushes the A, buttons the B, carves the C … ” and so on. And don’t miss the calendar in the back where the mouse maps out his shopping lists and chores.

Sportscaster Len Berman collects a plethora of true tales about minor leaguers, high school athletes and the majors in the paperback And Nobody Got Hurt!: The World’s Weirdest, Wackiest True Sports Stories. Organized by sport, the anecdotes range from the May 1993 home run hit by the Cleveland Indians’ Carlos Martinez, off the head of Texas Ranger right fielder Jose Canseco; to Natasha Zvereva’s 1993 Wimbledon match which quite literally brought her to her knees, from where she made not one, but two returns while playing with doubles partner Gigi Fernandez. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Angel’s stepfather has announced that he is taking the family to Greece to visit his parents. Angel, “the worrier,” has a lot on her mind. Will she survive the airplane trip? Will she be able to communicate with her grandparents who don’t speak English? In this sixth book of Delton’s popular series, Angel’s worries turn into fun adventures.