Books by Harriet Ziefert and Complete Book Reviews

Paul Zindel, Author, Harriet Ziefert, Author HarperCollins Publishers $14.95 (12p) ISBN 978-0-06-026877-0
Zindel's novel is a paean to teachers (the extraordinary ones) and to Manhattan. Its protagonists, Zelda and Henry, each have a rich store of enthusiasms and views, but most of these diverge. For instance, ``Zelda is worried about the regular death...
READ FULL REVIEW
Santiago Cohen, Illustrator, Harriet Ziefert, Author Grosset & Dunlap $5.99 (14p) ISBN 978-0-448-42607-5
Moo, Cow, Moo! and Kitty Says Meow! by Harriet Ziefert, illus. by Santiago Cohen, combines rhyming text and snappy graphics. In the first: ""One cow is blue/ Another is green/ Prettiest cows you/ ever have seen."" With a question, the second...
READ FULL REVIEW
Simms Taback, Author, Harriet Ziefert, Author, Simms Taback, Illustrator Blue Apple Books $12.95 (96p) ISBN 978-1-59354-035-7
Divided into categories of ""Playthings,"" ""Clothing,"" ""Food"" and ""Animals,"" Simms Taback's Big Book of Words offers a straightforward collection of kid-friendly vocab and accompanying illustrations, one per page. A standout spread pairs ""kitt
READ FULL REVIEW
Emily Bolam Zeifert, Author, Harriet Ziefert, Author, Emily Bolam, Author , illus. by Emily Bolam. Blue Apple (Chronicle, dist.) $15.95 (40p) ISBN 978-1-59354-066-1
In this playful if uneven picture book, a young woman from Boston and her yellow Lab embark for the City of Light, where a special "Heavenly Pets" hotel package assures top-dog treatment for four-legged guests. From his bed, "custom-cover
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author Random House Books for Young Readers $12.95 (14p) ISBN 978-0-394-82248-8
This enormous (12 16) board book exhorts parents to ``Give your preschooler a head start!'' The volume offers busy, brightly colored pictures depicting ``basic concepts that every young child needs to master'' in letters, numbers, colors, shapes,...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, illus. by Jenni Desmond. Blue Apple (Random, dist.), $17.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-60905-286-7
Simon, a red smudge of a cat, reminiscent of the felines from Desmond's Red Cat Blue Cat, regularly accompanies his "leading lady" owner to the theater where she performs. Darting out from the dressing room and startled by a loud noise, Simon...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author HarperCollins Publishers $3.95 (22p) ISBN 978-0-694-00097-5
Drescher's oddball animals romp through these four Leap, Shake, Hoot and Gulp books: Run! Run! (where turtles creep, warthogs scurry and baboons leap); All Gone! (mice gnaw, bears lunch, kangaroos graze); Cock-A-Doodle-Doo! (owls hoot, horses whinny,
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author HarperCollins Publishers $5.95 (23p) ISBN 978-0-694-00080-7
Both of these fold-out frieze books are sort of shaggy dog stories. The fact is, in the first book, nothing keeps Daddy awake; Mom must take over the wheel and get the family home safely. And in the second book, the reason the sister is put off by...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Hawthorne, Author, Laura Rader, Illustrator Little Simon $12.95 (1p) ISBN 978-0-689-80160-0
An appeal to the ears, nose and eyes, this picture book takes a gastronomical, delightfully silly-if not entirely educational-trip through the alphabet. Mice, inviting themselves into a house, attempt to eat their way ``from a to z'': ``almost lost...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Gus Miller, Joint Author Viking Books $15.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-670-89118-4
Newcomer Miller's artwork provides the fireworks for this homage to the Independence Day parade, set in the Massachusetts seaside town of Chatham. Ziefert (When I First Came to This Land) describes the goings-on in stagnant verse that belies the...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, A. Haley, Author, H. Ziefert, Author , illus. by Amanda Haley. Handprint/ Blue Apple $15.95 (40p) ISBN 978-1-929766-68-0
"Your nose, skin, ears, eyes and tongue are working all of the time," notes Ziefert in this whimsical, if somewhat uneven, primer, "even when you are not paying attention to them." Each sense gets its own brief chapter, kicked off...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, illus. by Barroux. Blue Apple, $8.99 (16p) ISBN 978-1-60905-601-8
In this sweetly soporific story, as a blond boy rides his scooter toward home, he bids good night to vehicles, animals, and the passing landscape: “Good night to the garden,/ Good night to the grass./ Good night to the water and the seeds./ Good...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Elliot Kreloff, Illustrator, Brian Stokes Mitchell, With with Brian Stokes Mitchell, illus. by Elliot Kreloff. Blue Apple $19.99 (48p) ISBN 978-1-934706-68-8
Tony Award–winning actor Mitchell’s fittingly dramatic introduction ushers readers into the world of Broadway, inviting them to “be ignited by the incredible collaborative magic that gives life and light to the theater.” The...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Simms Taback, Joint Author Blue Apple Books $7.95 (0p) ISBN 978-1-929766-47-5
Harriet Ziefert and Caldecott Medalist Simms Taback team up for a pair of lift-the-flap board books. Where Is My Baby? features mamas' search for their little ones, naming them as they go (""Here is my calf,"" says the cow). In Who Said Moo?, Red
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, illus. by Barroux, Blue Apple (Chronicle, dist.), $16.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-60905-028-3
"He's Charlie. I'm his bunny," explains the tentative speaker of this smart and sweet story that provides a very clear picture of common toddler emotions, experiences, and demands. Bunny, who wears a coral-orange shirt that matches Charlie's hair...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, illus. by Barroux. Blue Apple (Random, dist.), $16.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-60905-187-7
“WAH-OOO-OOO-ROO!” That’s the nonstop howl that Lucy, a rescued pound puppy has been emitting since arriving in her new home—and her well-meaning adoptive family is at wits’ end. In a particularly inspired touch, Barroux shows the howling...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, illus. by Karla Gudeon. Blue Apple (Chronicle, dist.), $17.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-60905-058-0
When young Michael and Emily discover wedding apparel in their grandmother's attic, it becomes the perfect motivation for Grandma to walk the kids through the beautifully decorated photo album of her 1965 nuptials (an invitation to the festivities...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, illus. by Karla Gudeon, Blue Apple (Chronicle, dist.), $17.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-60905-020-7
Through a series of handsome, mural-like gatefolds, Ziefert and Gudeon, who previously collaborated on Hanukkah Haiku, remind readers that every Passover Seder exists in two realms of time simultaneously: the time of Now, when participants partake...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, illus. by Karla Gudeon. Blue Apple (Chronicle, dist.), $16.99 (36p) ISBN 978-1-934706-67-1
"Pick a red apple from a tree" is the first of several simple directives that comprise this picture book about the life cycle of an apple, from the creators of Hanukkah Haiku. After a girl delights in a crisp, red apple, birds surround two apple...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, illus. by Tatiana Oles. Blue Apple (Chronicle, dist.), $12.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-60905-076-4
Photographs of personable stuffed creatures, handmade by Oles, appear in photographs with brief imperative phrases for each letter of the alphabet. "Eat the crust for me," requests a yellow and floral-printed bear with a red button nose. A cat in a...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Rebecca Doughty, Illustrator Blue Apple Books $6.95 (16p) ISBN 978-1-929766-67-3
Holographic foil dresses up the die-cut window in two holiday titles by Harriet Ziefert and Rebecca Doughty. A pumpkin peers out from the cover on Halloween Has Boo! Within, just one silly couplet per spread (""Spiders have spin./ Pumpkins have...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Rebecca Doughty, Illustrator G. P. Putnam's Sons $12.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-399-23862-8
Harriet Ziefert enumerates all the things that make moms great in 31 Uses for a Mom, illus. by Rebecca Doughty, a companion to 39 Uses for a Friend. ""Clock"" leads the list, and Doughty depicts a hands-on-hips mother standing at the open door as
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Rebecca Doughty, Illustrator G. P. Putnam's Sons $13.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-399-23617-4
Like their previous collaboration, 39 Uses for a Friend, Toes Have Wiggles, Kids Have Giggles by Harriet Ziefert, illus. by Rebecca Doughty, presents poetic observations (""Summers have bicycles Winters have icicles"") alongside childlike ...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Rebecca Doughty, Illustrator Putnam Publishing Group $11.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-399-23616-7
""Backrest,"" ""perfume sniffer,"" ""hand warmer"" and ""phone buddy"" are just four of Harriet Ziefert's 39 Uses for a Friend. The descriptive words and phrases accumulate in a heartfelt homage to best friends everywhere. Rebecca Doughty's...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Ethan Long, Illustrator , illus. by Ethan Long. Blue Apple $12.99 (0p) ISBN 978-1-934706-48-0
This fun book offers a lesson on opposites: “I'm nice,” says a cheery pink flamingo to a somber-looking blue gorilla, adding, “You're grouchy.” Elsewhere, a green alligator balances on a floating log (“I'm
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Anita Lobel, Illustrator Dragonfly Books $6.99 (0p) ISBN 978-0-394-89861-2
A rebuilding of the country after war and the gradual attainment of a much-needed new coat are deftly woven themes, luminously portrayed by Lobel. Ages 4-8. (April)
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Anita Lobel, Illustrator Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers $11.95 (32p) ISBN 978-0-394-87426-5
Ziefert and Lobel have spun a story of hope and revitalization that takes place just after the end of World War II. When winter comes, Anna's blue fuzzy coat is worn-out and too small. Her mother thought, last winter, that shops would be open by now
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Arnold Lobel, Illustrator HarperCollins Publishers $3.5 (0p) ISBN 978-0-694-00184-2
It is only Lobel's artwork that elevates these four board books above the average. The prose is leaden and the verse graceless: ""There's the guinea pigsoft, brown, and not too big,'' or ``This dog is a pet and she's soggy and wet.'' A few more...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Arnold Lobel, Illustrator HarperCollins Publishers $4.95 (16p) ISBN 978-0-694-00087-6
These four ""guessing-game stories'' fall short of the mark in their efforts to provide preschoolers with engaging mental stimulation. The books are differentiated by various themes (the seasons, morning activities, etc.) and have a question-and-answ
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Richard Brown, Illustrator Viking Children's Books $2.95 (0p) ISBN 978-0-670-81297-4
Nicky, the star of these board books, is a small gray-striped kitten with shoe button eyes. In No, No Nicky he goes after a goldfish, a hot pot, an electrical outlet and other off-limits items. But when he laps up his milk and goes to bed, he gets a
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Amanda Haley, Illustrator Blue Apple Books $15.95 (32p) ISBN 978-1-59354-015-9
You Can't See Your Bones with Binoculars: A Guide to Your 206 Bones by Harriet Ziefert, illus. by Amanda Haley, done in the style of their earlier books (You Can't Taste a Pickle with Your Ear and You Can't Buy a Dinosaur with a Dime), uses humor
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Lisa Campbell Ernst, Illustrator Viking Children's Books $3.95 (14p) ISBN 978-0-670-81581-4
The Start-the-Day series breaks down moments of the morning into fractions. Good Morning, Sun! mimics Goodnight Moon as a bunny addresses familiar objects. Breakfast Time! takes a bite-by-bite look at the bunny's time in the high chair; Let's Get...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Emily Bolam, Illustrator Puffin Books $6.99 (16p) ISBN 978-0-14-250012-5
A flurry of novelty titles inspire interactive Easter fun. Youngsters follow the fate of two different eggs (one stays on the farm and hatches into a chicken; the other is boiled and ""decorated for Easter"") in the lift-the-flap offering This ...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Emily Bolam, Illustrator Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) $15 (32p) ISBN 978-0-395-92324-5
Ziefert and Bolam (previously paired for I Swapped My Dog) buoyantly reroute a familiar morning saga, namely, a child who wakes up grumpy. It's time to get up and dress, but Clara Ann Cookie is not cooperating: ""Mother said, `Will!'/ Clara said, `Wo
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Emily Bolam, Illustrator , illus. by Emily Bolam. Houghton/Lorraine $16 (32p) ISBN 978-0-618-11357-6
The narrator of this makeover tale starts out as a roly-poly Labrador whose favorite pastimes are lying on the porch and bumming junk food from the neighborhood kids. His owner, Cheryl, informs Murphy in no uncertain terms that he has tubbed out. 
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Emily Bolam, Illustrator Puffin Books $6.99 (16p) ISBN 978-0-14-230064-0
The liftable flaps in Ziefert's My Funny Valentine, illus. by Emily Bolam, let youngsters follow a Valentine's Day card through the U.S. postal system, from sender to recipient and all stops in between.
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Emily Bolam, Illustrator Tambourine Books $15 (1p) ISBN 978-0-688-13260-6
A farm goes from quiet to noisy and back again in this ho-hum semi-cumulative escapade. ``Because the bull was chasing the cow, the farmer's wife shouted, `Stop, stop, you big, old bull!' and chased them around the pasture,'' Ziefert (Pete's Chicken)
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Simms Taback, Illustrator Candlewick Press (MA) $9.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-56402-621-7
Little goblins learn to count to 10 with this yarn--and they'll pick up some good costume ideas, too. What is counted are trick-or-treating friends: two witches who meet up with a clown, a skeleton, and so forth. Nothing macabre whatsoever here--just
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Simms Taback, Illustrator Blue Apple Books $8.95 (14p) ISBN 978-1-59354-014-2
Harriet Ziefert and Caldecott Honor artist Simms Taback team up for two oversize board books designed to encourage toddlers to join in with animal noises and movements. ""Can you baa like a sheep?/ Sing like a bird?/ Whinny like a horse ahead of...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Simms Taback, Illustrator Putnam Publishing Group $15.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-399-23044-8
With the same jolly spirit of last year's Caldecott Honor book, There Was an Old Lady, Taback and Ziefert interpret another classic American folk song. The cumulative verse tells of a man who arrives in America with next to nothing and cheerfully...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Simms Taback, Illustrator, Simms Taback, Photographer HarperCollins Publishers $4.95 (0p) ISBN 978-0-694-00458-4
Virtually guaranteed to entertain its audience, this pair of paperbacks combines zippy text and amiable art with reusuable stickers--each book contains two sets of almost a dozen different stickers. Forest opens with the question ``What kind of...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Todd McKie, Illustrator Walter Lorraine Books $16 (32p) ISBN 978-0-618-34574-8
From the team behind Squarehead comes Rockheads by Harriet Ziefert, illus. by Todd McKie, a rhyming counting book featuring a cast of friends that expands to 12 (""Our cheerleading squad totals ten./ Can you guess which kid is Jen?""). Their...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Todd McKie, Illustrator , illus. by Todd McKie. Houghton/Lorraine $16 (32p) ISBN 978-0-618-08378-7
George has a face like a cardboard box. He prefers rectangular buildings and angular animals. Although his oblong, staring eyes and carrot-stub nose never alter their symmetrical expression, his stern line of a mouth bends downward when a circle...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Todd McKie, Illustrator , illus. by Todd McKie. Houghton/Lorraine $16 (40p) ISBN 978-0-618-14171-5
When Little Gator goes exploring there's no telling what trouble he'll encounter in this misadventure from the team behind Squarehead. Here, Ziefert takes an alligator's eye–view as she imagines the hero on the go. He's only...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Todd McKie, Illustrator , illus. by Todd McKie. Houghton/Lorraine $15 (32p) ISBN 978-0-618-31133-0
Ziefert and McKie (previously paired for Squarehead) each try to approximate a child's style in this art lesson–cum–picture book. Jessica, the narrator, visits her artist grandfather in his studio, where the two paint. First comes...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, illus. by Katie Kath. Blue Apple (Consortium, dist.), $14.99 (56p) ISBN 978-1-60905-514-1
Lively grandmothers with a variety of skin tones, ages, and interests demonstrate 101 ways they play important roles in their grandchildren’s lives in this list-style offering. The 101 ideas referenced in the title are grouped into more than 30...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Ziefert, Author, Taback, Author Candlewick Press (MA) $6.99 (20p) ISBN 978-0-7636-1894-0
On the flip side, Two Little Witches: A Counting Story (1996) by Harriet Ziefert, illus. by Simms Taback, uses an ever-growing group of trick-or-treaters to teach addition skills. Taback's outlined characters stand out like black-light images...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, H. Ziefert, Author, R. Doughty, Author Blue Apple Books $6.95 (8p) ISBN 978-1-929766-66-6
Holographic foil dresses up the die-cut window in two holiday titles by Harriet Ziefert and Rebecca Doughty. A pumpkin peers out from the cover on Halloween Has Boo! Within, just one silly couplet per spread (""Spiders have spin./ Pumpkins have...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, H. Ziefert, Author, S. Taback, Author Blue Apple Books $7.95 (8p) ISBN 978-1-929766-46-8
Harriet Ziefert and Caldecott Medalist Simms Taback team up for a pair of lift-the-flap board books. Where Is My Baby? features mamas' search for their little ones, naming them as they go (""Here is my calf,"" says the cow). In Who Said Moo?, Red
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, H. Ziefert, Author, R. Brown, Author Blue Apple Books $6.95 (7p) ISBN 978-1-929766-72-7
In the first of a pair of board books by Harriet Ziefert, illus. by Richard Brown, Where's Nicky's Valentine?, the titular feline delivers cards to neighborhood friends; addressees appear behind flaps. Thank You, Nicky! follows the courteous cat...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, H. Ziefert, Author, R. Brown, Author Blue Apple Books $6.95 (7p) ISBN 978-1-929766-73-4
In the first of a pair of board books by Harriet Ziefert, illus. by Richard Brown, Where's Nicky's Valentine?, the titular feline delivers cards to neighborhood friends; addressees appear behind flaps. Thank You, Nicky! follows the courteous cat...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, H. M. Ehrlich, Author, H. M. Ehrlich, Joint Author Orchard Books (NY) $14.95 (36p) ISBN 978-0-531-30254-5
This jolly picture book should prove the perfect elixir for young readers with a case of doctor-itis. Driving his big red van, Dr. Duck makes forest-, barnyard- and pasture-calls to treat his menagerie of patients, prescribing such remedies as ""Coug
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Donald Dreifess, Illustrator, Donald Dreifuss, Illustrator , illus. by Donald Dreifuss. Houghton/Lorraine $15 (32p) ISBN 978-0-618-14175-3
Part counting story, part separation-anxiety anodyne, Zeifert's (Lunchtime for a Purple Snake, reviewed below) workmanlike text serves mostly as occasion for Dreifuss's (Birdhouse for Rent) uneven art. Leading her 12 ducklings over to Farmer
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Santiago Cohen, Illustrator , illus. by Santiago Cohen. Houghton/Lorraine $15 (32p) ISBN 978-0-618-34976-0
As in Miracle of the First Poinsettia (reviewed above), this tale stars a struggling Mexican family, but it takes a more mundane approach. The miracle here is that after three years cleaning homes in Nueva York, Rosa's mother is coming home for...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Santiago Cohen, Author, Santiago Cohen, Illustrator Grosset & Dunlap $5.99 (14p) ISBN 978-0-448-42608-2
Moo, Cow, Moo! and Kitty Says Meow! by Harriet Ziefert, illus. by Santiago Cohen, combines rhyming text and snappy graphics. In the first: ""One cow is blue/ Another is green/ Prettiest cows you/ ever have seen."" With a question, the second...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Harriet Zeifert, Author, Simms Taback, Illustrator Blue Apple Books $8.95 (14p) ISBN 978-1-59354-013-5
Harriet Ziefert and Caldecott Honor artist Simms Taback team up for two oversize board books designed to encourage toddlers to join in with animal noises and movements. ""Can you baa like a sheep?/ Sing like a bird?/ Whinny like a horse ahead of...
READ FULL REVIEW
Fred Ehrlich, illus. by Amanda Haley. Blue Apple (Consortium, dist.), $16.99 (48p) ISBN 978-1-60905-452-6
Illness is the focus of this entertainingly educational addition to the You Can’t... series. In five chapters loosely devoted to digestive troubles, common ailments, germs, skin problems, and allergies, retired pediatrician/children’s author Ehrlich
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Lauren Browne, Illustrator , illus. by Lauren Browne. Blue Apple $15.95 (33p) ISBN 978-1-59354-100-2
Mommy, when I am all grown up, I want to have a really big job," says young Lulu—as long as that means she doesn't have to be elephant-washer ("I'll get all wet"), a teacher ("Teachers have to wipe noses"), a doctor
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Robert Wurzburg, Illustrator , illus. by Robert Wurzberg. Blue Apple $15.95 (40p) ISBN 978-1-59354-063-0
Young Emma, who narrates this understated story, has three best friends "when I'm in the city. But when I'm in the country my best friends are Grandpa and the big tree that lives on his farm." (Three prepossessing chickens and a...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Seymour Chwast, Illustrator Walter Lorraine Books $15 (32p) ISBN 978-0-618-05047-5
Picking up where Mother Goose left off, Ziefert and Chwast's (previously paired for Moon Ride) mundane outing imagines the aftermath of Humpty Dumpty's great fall. After various tradesmen fail to save Humpty (neither the baker's flour paste nor the...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, illus. by Mark Jones. Blue Apple (Chronicle, dist.), $16.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-934706-69-5
After their winter-themed Snow Party, Ziefert and Jones return to fete the joys of autumn. The story's backdrop is Apple Hill Farm, where a wind comes up and "orange, yellow, and crimson leaves swirl and twirl and dance in the sky" until they...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Mark Jones, Illustrator , illus. by Mark Jones. Blue Apple $16.95 (40p) ISBN 978-1-934706-28-2
When the first snow of the year coincides with winter solstice, it's a magical convergence so powerful that snow people come from far and wide to celebrate. “Hooray for winter! Hooray for snow!” cheers the crowd in a lantern-lit...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Donald Saaf, Illustrator Atheneum Books $15 (0p) ISBN 978-0-689-81064-0
Expressionistic dabs of pale pink, minty aqua-green and buttercup yellow lend a quirky charm to this otherwise formulaic tale. The uncomplicated plot follows a day in the life of Wee G., a pert white kitten with bright chartreuse eyes: ""Early every
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Donald Saaf, Illustrator , illus. by Donald Saaf. Putnam $15.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-399-23358-6
Its title notwithstanding, this bland book has little to do with ducks. The web-footed birds figure in only one spread ("Fluffy ducks in their sleepy hours/ Fly their bikes over hills and flowers"), which pictures them riding airborne...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Donald Saaf, Illustrator Atheneum Books $16 (40p) ISBN 978-0-689-81413-6
Jealousy of a new baby is the well-trod theme of this fairly predictable story, which depends on the art for its imaginative flourishes. The narrator, Pushkin the dog, enjoys his home life with Kate and Michael until the arrival of a baby consumes...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Carol Nicklaus, Illustrator Random House Books for Young Readers $4.95 (0p) ISBN 978-0-394-88139-3
In this book and night light package, Lewis the lion cub delays going to bed by drawing pictures (a tube of toothpaste is his pen), feeding his fish and listing another hour's worth of activities to his mother, who's ready to read him a story and...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Andrea Baruffi, Illustrator Little Brown and Company $10.95 (32p) ISBN 978-0-316-98768-4
Harry doesn't want to go to bed, so his father says, ""Then don't,'' and goes to bed himself. Harry wanders around the house, playing with the remote control, singing songs to himself and listening to the sound of his father's breathing. He is...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Andrea Baruffi, Illustrator Little Brown and Company $11.95 (33p) ISBN 978-0-316-98756-1
In this sequel to I Won't Go to Bed , Harry is still having problems getting to sleep. Last time he kept himself up; this time, his stuffed toys won't let him have a moment's peace. No sooner does the tired boy shut his eyes than the stuffed lamb...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Laura Rader, Author, Laura Rader, Illustrator Little Simon $12.95 (1p) ISBN 978-0-689-80172-3
With a title that doesn't beat around the mulberry bush, this aromatic volume delivers mightily on its odoriferous obligations. Nine scratch-and-sniff panels, incorporated into the illustrations, add a new sensory dimension to such nursery rhyme...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Mavis Smith, Illustrator Viking Children's Books $13.5 (400p) ISBN 978-0-670-84550-7
With Smith's ( Come Visit My House ; Harry Takes a Bath ) bright cartoon drawings presented in panels, and Ziefert's (author of the Hello Reading series) lively story line and copious, generally sensible instruction on pet care, this volume offers...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Mavis Smith, Illustrator, Mavis Smith, Photographer Random House Books for Young Readers $5.95 (32p) ISBN 978-0-394-89193-4
Jessie is a methodical youngster, and she likes to have everything just so before she gets settled. In Hurry Up, Jessie!, Jessie and her mother are going to the beach. But before she's ready to go, Jessie has to find her missing sneaker, a search...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Richard Brown, Illustrator Blue Apple Books $6.95 (7p) ISBN 978-1-929766-79-6
Nicky the kitten is back in a board book lift-the-flap edition of Nicky's Noisy Night by Harriet Ziefert, illus. by Richard Brown, originally published in 1986. Restless Nicky can't sleep, so he tours the house, discovering the sources of noises,
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Tanya Roitman, Illustrator , illus. by Tanya Roitman. Blue Apple $15.95 (40p) ISBN 978-1-59354-088-3
An entire town has come out to watch the title event march down the main street, but no worries: this book gives readers a front row seat. In simple couplets, Ziefert (The Biggest Job of All , reviewed above) ticks off the sights and sounds that...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Emily Bolam, Author, Emily Bolam, Illustrator Blue Apple Books $9.95 (24p) ISBN 978-1-59354-062-3
A fetching gray donkey sporting a striped red shirt stars in a pair of adventures by Harriet Ziefert, illus. by Emily Bolam. Buzzy's Birthday: A Lift-the-Flap Story shows the fellow helping his mother put up decorations and icing his cake,...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Emily Bolam, Author, Emily Bolam, Illustrator Blue Apple Books $9.95 (40p) ISBN 978-1-59354-059-3
A fetching gray donkey sporting a striped red shirt stars in a pair of adventures by Harriet Ziefert, illus. by Emily Bolam. Buzzy's Birthday: A Lift-the-Flap Story shows the fellow helping his mother put up decorations and icing his cake,...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Ingri Von Bergen, Illustrator , illus. by Ingri Von Bergen. Blue Apple $15.95 (40p) ISBN 978-1-59354-146-0
Using multicolored faux leather and jellybean-glossy plastic eyeballs, Von Bergen stitches "Ingri dolls" with oversize heads and teeny bodies in this padded paper-over-board volume. Ziefert, smitten with the dolls (as stated in an author bio)
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Laura Rader, Illustrator HarperCollins Publishers $4.5 (1p) ISBN 978-0-694-00417-1
You might expect these diecut board books to closely represent the objects they describe, but you'd be wrong. For starters, the shape of each book only crudely approximates that of camera, cassette player, etc. Open them up, and the pages present...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Laura Rader, Illustrator Tambourine Books $15 (1p) ISBN 978-0-688-13256-9
This longish picture book about an artistic rabbit celebrates the true spirit of originality. Young Pete revels in being a one-of-a-kind bunny: ``In all the world you won't find anyone who is exactly like me,'' he says repeatedly. He's proud of his...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Karen Gundersheimer, Illustrator, Karen Gundersheimer, Photographer HarperCollins Publishers $11.95 (28p) ISBN 978-0-06-026883-1
Molly and her younger sister Jenny are at Grandpa and Grandma's, making a mud cake, fixing it with sand, adding leaves and other decorations, and baking it in the sun. But when it's time to have a bite, the girls opt for pretzels instead. Similar in
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Emilie Boon, Illustrator Candlewick Press (MA) $7.99 (10p) ISBN 978-1-56402-885-3
Fifteen reusable vinyl stickers put kids in the director's chair for this cheerful adventure. Should Benjy carve a happy, scary or sad jack-o' lantern? Readers can dress Benjy Bear for trick-or-treating as well as control the distribution of candy...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, David Prebenna, Illustrator Little Brown and Company $2.95 (0p) ISBN 978-0-316-98760-8
Let's Go! is a book about opposites; Piggety Pig and a mouse go to the beach. However, the pictures of ""loud'' and ``soft'' (pig with a big radio, mouse with a little one) doesn't convey anything about volume. ``No More!'' the mouse tells Piggety...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, Author, Sidney Levitt, Illustrator HarperCollins Publishers $4.95 (24p) ISBN 978-0-694-00225-2
In these two delightful books, a young rabbit is trying to decide what he can give to his grandparents. In Happy Easter, Grandma!, Rabbit asks a hummingbird, a robin, a sparrow and several other birds if they lay Easter eggs. When they all say no,...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, illus. by Travis Foster. Red Comet, $12.99 (48p) ISBN 978-1-63655-018-3
Ziefert (It’s Time to Go to Sleep) and Foster (Take a Hike, Miles and Spike!) launch a dialogue-driven early reader comics series starring Really Bird—a feathered friend who feels things most emphatically. “When I’m happy, or sad, or thirsty, or...
READ FULL REVIEW
Harriet Ziefert, illus. by Brian Fitzgerald. Red Comet, $19.99 (80p) ISBN 978-1-63655-020-6
Via jaunty rhyming tributes, Ziefert offers up plentiful reasons to be grateful for trees. Seven chapters each open with a statement and question (“A tree is home./ Would life be comfy without trees?”), highlighting plants of many varieties for...
READ FULL REVIEW
X
Stay ahead with
Tip Sheet!
Free newsletter: the hottest new books, features and more
X
X
Email Address

Password

Log In Forgot Password

Premium online access is only available to PW subscribers. If you have an active subscription and need to set up or change your password, please click here.

New to PW? To set up immediate access, click here.

NOTE: If you had a previous PW subscription, click here to reactivate your immediate access. PW site license members have access to PW’s subscriber-only website content. If working at an office location and you are not "logged in", simply close and relaunch your preferred browser. For off-site access, click here. To find out more about PW’s site license subscription options, please email Mike Popalardo at: mike@nextstepsmarketing.com.

To subscribe: click here.