Preschool, kindergarten

THE MOONGLOW ROLL-O-RAMA, by Dav Pilkey, Orchard Books, New York, 1995, $15.99.

We see animals in the daytime, but where do they go at night? Children can imagine animals coming alive and wandering with them to a special place where animals put on their skates and dance in the magic moonlight. The beautiful use of color of Dav Pilkey’s glowing painterly illustrations adds to the book’s enchantment. As night winds down, animals and children return to their beds to dream of when they will meet again in “Moonglow Roll-O-Rama.” The attitude of anything goes and of being fearless in creating a lively and energetic art is one of the main inspirations Pilkey finds in children’s drawings. A children’s illustrator and writer of many books, he is noted for the “Dragon” series for beginning readers.

Grades one-three

LOOP THE LOOP, by Barbara Dugan, pictures by James Stevenson, Greenwillow Books, New York, 1992, $15.

Loop the Loop, The Sleeper, Walk the Dog, Around the World and Rock the Baby. These fabulous yo-yo tricks are performed by baseball-capped Mrs. Simpson, a magnificent, sometimes forgetful, senior citizen, who is confined to a wheelchair and then to a nursing home. She forms a lasting friendship with little Anne and her doll Eleanor. In this story, Mrs. Simpson and Anne have many funny and heartwarming adventures together, sacrificing finally something each dear to them both.

James Stevenson’s whimsical drawings highlight this longer picture book. It’s a great book that showcases the talents of the grandparent generation, and one for parents and children to share together, to talk about, laugh along with and enjoy to the end.

Grades four-six

MURDER FOR HER MAJESTY, by Beth Hilgartner, Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1992, 241 pages, paperback, $5.95.

Consider the consequences for a girl, posing as a boy in the York Minster Boys’ Choir in 16th century England, if her daring disguise is discovered by cathedral officials. Weak, cold and hungry Alice Tuckfield, after witnessing her father’s murder apparently sanctioned by Queen Elizabeth I, is fortunately taken in by boys who provide her with shelter and food at the choir dormitory and encourage this venturesome deception. Though she is temporarily safe from possible harm, considering the knowledge she has of the murder, fear and danger eventually escalate as those who threaten Alice’s safety begin to discover her true identity and Alice unravels the truths revealed in her father’s death.

From page one, Hilgartner hooks the reader with this adventure mixed with elements of danger moving swiftly through the character’s plight. Although Alice panics with fear as her identity gradually becomes known and seems to calm and reassure herself more quickly than one might think, her character is a strong, believable one whose actions, words and close calls create a nervous, anxious excitement in the reader. Finally, by Alice’s perceptive, logical thinking, along with events and other characters, the author weaves the pieces of the story together, creating a satisfying ending that will leave the reader with a smile.

Grades seven and up

NORTH TO FREEDOM, by Anne Holm, translated from Danish by L.W. Kingsland, Harcourt, Brace and World Inc., New York, 1963, 190 pages, $5.

From a Stalinist prison camp in the Balkans during the Cold War era of the mid-20th century, 12-year-old David escapes with the assistance of a commandant who plants the idea of flight and offers a half-minute window when the electricity in the fence will be turned off. From the confinement that is all David remembers, a journey of self-realization and deliberation follows. David travels to Italy as a stowaway and then on through Italy and Switzerland to Denmark. He meets with adventure as he rescues a girl from a fire and is held hostage through the winter in the barn of a Swiss farmer who sees him as a source of cheap labor. David’s internal journey, though, is the greater adventure. The author’s clear, skillful description of the reasoning, choices and spiritual development of the main character makes this story a memorable and profound example of psychological realism for young people. With earnestness and purity, David’s quest speaks to the heart and mind and leaves the reader with much to ponder.

First published in Danish as “David,” and winner of the 1963 Gyldendal Prize for Best Scandinavian Book, the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, and an American Library Association Notable Book, “North to Freedom” stands as a beautifully told, timeless story of freedom, ethics and innocence.