Any child who has yearned for anything will understand how much Kitten wants that elusive bowl of milk. Readers will giggle as she tries to lick the faraway moon and gets a bug on her tongue, or leaps to catch it and falls down the stairs. In an effective refrain, the narrator repeats, "Still, there was the little bowl of milk, just waiting." The winning combination here is the simplicity and humor of the story, paired with gorgeous black-and-white illustrations with thick black lines (mirrored by the thick bold sans-serif font) and shades of grey that are as luminous as a moonlit night should be. Full-moon circles and ovals appear throughout the design: white circle full moons on the endpapers, elliptical flowers by the porch, white circles of firefly light, oval pads on Kitten's paws, and her big round eyes (especially when surprised and soaking wet). Children will love Kitten's quest and ensuing comedy of errors, but what they will love even more is that there's an actual bowl of milk waiting on the porch for Kitten. (Preschool) --Karin Snelson Copyright, 2004: Hardcover

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Unbeknownst to Blaze, young Joselle Stark has recently moved into her grandmother's nearby farmhouse after being abandoned by her self-centered mother. When Joselle hears about Reena's death, she feels darkly compelled to write disturbing messages to Blaze, using the stones she finds on the hill between them. In this book, as in his others, Kevin Henkes eloquently builds sympathy for the perpetrator as well as the victim, helping young readers understand the traumas and insecurities that cause people to lie and hurt others. When Joselle and Blaze eventually meet and become friends, Joselle hides the truth about the words she once wrote in stone. But when the lie is revealed, Henkes does not create a swift or easy resolution. Instead he becomes more graceful and paced in his writing--allowing the reader to savor the intricacies of betrayal, rejection, and reconciliation. ALA Notable Book, School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, Publishers Weekly Best Book, Horn Book Fanfare Honor List. (Ages 10 and older) --Gail Hudson Copyright, 1993: Paperback Novel

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Months later, on Henry's 60th birthday, he brings his daughter a trained 3-year-old dog named Dinner. The replacement dog does not mend the broken trust. Rather, it underscores just how shattered Fanny's trust truly is. Kevin Henkes is sympathetic to the struggles of an aging, uninspired artist as well as the ache of a young girl who longs to believe in her father, but is afraid to take another leap of faith. When the source of their rift--Fanny's need for a dog--becomes the source of her father's inspiration, Henkes does not settle on a pat ending. Instead, he dares to enter the deeper complexities of the father-daughter relationship, exposing young adult readers to the emotional vulnerability of both parents and their children. School Library Journal Best Book, Publishers Weekly Best Book. (Ages 12 and older) --Gail Hudson Copyright, 1996: Paperback novel

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It is not until the eve of Owen's first day of kindergarten that his mother hatches the perfect solution. Ultimately, she finds a way that Owen can hang on to his first true love while also taking the next step into middle childhood--a solution that suits everyone, including Mrs. Tweezers. Caldecott Honor Book, Horn Book Fanfare Honor List, ALA Notable Book, Boston Globe/Horn Book Honor Book, School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, ALA Booklist Children's Editors' Choice. (Ages 3 and older) --Gail Hudson Copyright, 1993: Hardcover

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Kevin Henkes has great compassion for the victims of childhood teasing and cruelties--using fresh language, endearing pen-and-ink mouse characters, and realistic dialogue to portray real-life vulnerability. He also has great compassion for parents, offering several adult-humor jokes for anxious mommies and daddies. On the surface, the finale is overly tidy and the coincidences unbelievable. But in the end, what sustains Chrysanthemum, as well as this story, is the steadfast love and support of her family. And because of this, the closure is ultimately convincing and utterly comforting. ALA Notable Book, School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, Horn Book Fanfare Honor List. (Ages 4 to 8) --Gail Hudson Copyright, 1996: Paperback

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Sheila Rae is not afraid of anything. She walks backwards with her eyes closed, steps on every crack, growls at stray dogs, and bares her teeth at stray cats. But when Sheila Rae becomes lost on the way home from school, it is her "scaredy cat" sister, Louise, who shows her a thing or two about bravery and sibling love.

Chester and Wilson had their own way of doing things, and they did everything together. When they cut their sandwiches, it was always diagonally. When they rode their bikes, they always used hand signals. If Chester was hungry, Wilson was too. They were two of a kind, and that's the way it was - until indomitable Lilly, who had her own way of doing things, moved into the neighborhood.

Kevin Henkes, well-loved creator of the award-winning Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, gets to the heart of a child's feelings like no one else can. Young worrywarts (and their parents) will see themselves in Wemberly, and be relieved that she, too, worries about playground equipment ("Too rusty. Too loose. Too high."), sure-to-be-inhabited cracks in the wall, whether she will be the only butterfly in the Halloween parade, and, of course, whether school will be dreadful in every way. Henkes's Lilly-style illustrations are sweet, expressive, and loaded with funny, inventive details that invite close perusal with every reading. (Wemberly's roller-blading grandma, for example, is wearing a T-shirt that says "Go with the flow.") We're not worried about whether this book will become a classic--it will! (Ages 4 to 8) --Karin Snelson Copyright, 2000: Hardcover

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