Children's Notes

Joan Steiner's Look-Alikes: Around the World, the fourth in the series, offers a remarkable re-imagining of sites around the globe. Depicted as a series of postcards, the landscapes are created from a wide assortment of everyday objects. Cookies and staples combine to form the Leaning Tower of Pisa, while the Taj Mahal is comprised of recorders, children's shoes and onion domes made from… onions. (Little, Brown, $15.99 40p ages 3-6 ISBN 978-0-316-81172-9; Sept.)

Third in a series, It's Not What You've Got!: Lessons for Kids on Money and Abundance by Wayne W. Dyer with Kristina Tracy, illus. by Stacy Heller Budnick, uses rhyme to teach youngsters about finance, encouraging them not to judge themselves or others by their material possessions, to live within their means, to work for their money and to enjoy it intelligently (“When you work hard at a job and do your very best/ you may earn more money than some of the rest”). (Hay House, $15.95 32p ages 4-8 ISBN 978-1-4019-1850-7; Sept.)

Adèle Geras explores the life of one of the world's most powerful and notorious women in Cleopatra, illus. by M.P. Robertson, presented as the personal diary of Nefret, the queen's handmaid. Kids will learn about Cleopatra's involvement with Julius Caesar, the daily workings of the Egyptian palace and marketplace, and other historical facts. Neither text nor illustrations shy away from grimmer moments in Cleopatra's life. (Kingfisher, $16.95 64p ages 6-10 ISBN 978-0-753-46025-2; Oct.)

In How the Incredible Human Body Works... by the Brainwaves by Richard Walker, illus. by Lisa Swerling and Ralph Lazar, the brainwaves (the wisecracking little people introduced in How Nearly Everything Was Invented) explore the body's systems as well as the history of medicine. Already packed with visual detail, full-page spreads fold out to reveal such excitement as the activation of body's defense systems when bacteria invade or the machinations of the digestive tract. (DK, $19.99 64p ages 8-12 ISBN 978-0-7566-3145-1; Sept.)

Pirate-themed titles arrgh as popular as ever. For pirates-in-training, the activity kit Everything... Pirates by ALEX Toys, illus. by Pattie Silver-Thomspon, includes an activity book, toy coins, an eye patch, temporary tattoos, stickers, a compass and more. (Little, Brown, $14.99 46p ages 3-6 ISBN 978-0-316-11346-5; Sept.)

I Love My Pirate Papa by Laura Leuck (Santa Claws), illus. by Kyle M. Stone (Please Bury Me in the Library), expounds on the wonders of being a pirate's progeny, from raising the Jolly Roger to uncovering hidden gold. (Harcourt, $16 32p ages 3-7 ISBN 978-0-15-205664-3; Sept.)

The “hairiest pirate who ever lived” is back in Backbeard: Pirate for Hire by Matthew McElligott. After being forced into retirement by the Pirate Council for refusing to dress like a pirate (and for having a pig instead of a parrot), Backbeard is forced to take a job as a waiter in a tea room. (Walker, $16.95 32p ages 4-7 ISBN 978-0-8027-9632-5; Sept.)

Pirate Fun by Dominic Guard is an activity kit for lowly deckhands looking to be promoted to first mate. Kids can look their best with an eye patch, pirate hat, dagger, treasure map and an inflatable parrot as they read the interactive story, filled with tricks, games and pirate vocabulary. (Barron's, $19.99 24p ages 5-8 ISBN 978-0-7641-9343-9; Sept.)

Little hands will stay busy as they flip through these titles. If You See a Fairy Ring, illus. by Susanna Lockheart, pairs well-known poems about fairies with lively pencil and watercolor illustrations with die-cut oval windows that change scenes as the pages turn. Robert Graves's “I'd Love to Be a Fairy's Child” is accompanied by a picture of fairies in a market place that turns into a fairy wedding, while in Laura Ingalls Wilder's poem a sleeping fairy becomes a dew drop within a flower. (Barron's, $16.99 24p ages 4-up ISBN 978-0-7641-6028-8; Sept.)

Roxie Munro's Rodeo puts kids in the center of the action, as more than 50 flaps unveil the day's events. Multi-step flaps lend a sense of motion to bronco riding, calf roping and other rodeo favorites. Full-bleed pen and watercolor illustrations should draw kids in, and informative text hidden behind flaps provides ample background. (Bright Sky Press, $15.95 24p ages 3-8 ISBN 978-1-933979-03-8; Sept.)

Riding on the tremendous success of all things HSM, Disney High School Musical Book and Journal by Cynthia Stierle gives fans an inside look at all their favorite characters. Presented as a series of journal entries from Troy, Gabriella and the rest of the gang, the book also provides pages to let kids write their own entries. An included microphone pen features a version of the hit song “Breaking Free.” (Reader's Digest, $24.99 64p ages 6-12 ISBN 978-0-7944-1392-7; Oct.)

Every aspect of life at East High gets covered in Disney High School Musical: All Access, a scrapbook-style compilation of notes, postcards, email messages, awards and more. Flaps and envelopes yield such rewards as a program for the “Twinkle Towne” musical, Sharpay's country club ID card and a peek inside four major characters' lockers. (Disney Press, $19.99 32p ages 8-up ISBN 978-1-4231-1066-8; Oct.)

Disney High School Musical: East High Yearbook by Emma Harrison is filled with photos and trivia about the characters from the über-popular TV movies. Kids can relive their favorite moments in this yearbook-style adaptation, with pages dedicated to the winter musical, varsity basketball, scholastic decathalon and more. Now to get it signed by Zac Efron... (Disney Press, $10.99 56p ages 6-12 ISBN 978-14231-0596-1; Sept.)

Ian Falconer's energetic heroine returns... in Latin. Olivia: The Essential Latin Edition translated by Amy High, returns to the pig's first adventure (she now sports a toga and laurel wreath on the cover). (S&S/Atheneum, $17.99 40p all ages ISBN 978-1-4169-4218-4; Oct.)

Picking up where Kampung Boy left off, Town Boy by Malaysian cartoonist Lat finds Mat in the town of Ipoh to attend a boarding school. As he progresses through his teens, he explores the bustling city, develops friendships, nurtures a growing interest in art and music and goes on a date with “the hottest girl in Ipoh.” In one standout double spread, an art teacher is floored when his all-male class displays their handiwork—all bikini-clad '60s-era celebrities, from Marilyn Monroe to Jane Fonda. (Roaring Brook/First Second, $16.95 paper 192p ages 10-up ISBN 978-1-59643-331-1; Oct.)

Don Freeman's 1969 classic Quiet! There's a Canary in the Library tells the story of a girl who imagines running a library that caters to the birds and the beasts. But when mice unexpectedly show up, her well-behaved menagerie of readers goes wild. Freeman's (Corduroy) delicate line drawings run the gamut from fully rendered scenes of activity to the barest suggestions of tables and chairs. (Viking, $15.99 48p ages 3-up ISBN 978-0-670-06230-0; Oct.)

One Million Men and Me by Kelly Starling Lyons, illus. by Peter Ambush, derives from the author's experience at the Million Man March in 1995, which she attended as a journalist. Here she imagines the narrative of a girl she saw with her father. Although the voice Lyons creates frequently sounds older than the girl (“Like a quilt of moving pieces, we walked together”), Ambush's illustrations capture the visceral excitement of the gathering and the tenderness between father and daughter. (Just Us, $16.95 32p ages 4-8 ISBN 978-1-933491-07-3; Oct.)

Correction: The boxed and starred review of Peter Cameron's novel that appeared in the Oct. 8 Children's reviews listed the title incorrectly. The correct title is Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You.