Vorab-RezensentenEsmé Shapiro

Take a ride down Lilypod Lane with Weasel and Pam Pam as they try to solve a mystery in their neighborhood in this hilariously fetching picture book: could their peculiar neighbor actually be a dog in disguise?

On Lilypod Lane, everyone knows everything about everybody... or so they believe! When curious paperboy Weasel encounters his mysterious neighbor Roy on his route, he becomes convinced that Roy is actually a dog! But when his friend Pam Pam disagrees, Weasel must put on his detective cap and do his best sleuthing to reveal Roy's extraordinary secret, and prove that not everything is as it seems, once and for all!

An endearingly offbeat picture book that celebrates neighbors and neighborhoods, Roy Is Not a Dog delivers laughs and lessons about accepting others for who they are as well as the risks and rewards of showing your true self.

Follow along with lovable forest creatures as they discover what is a self and what makes each of us unique.

Your self is the only self you have, and my self is not your self . . . but what is a self? Whatever it is, it's what makes you you!

From the way you button your coat to the way you tap your toes, from the top of your head to your adorable tummy, there are so many reasons to love your self, and so many reasons to be loved. Join a group of endearing forest creatures as they bake and eat cranberry-butter-pie muffins, sing silly songs at bath-time and stop to smell the chestnut-nettle roses, all the while exploring their individuality. This joyously affirming picture book from the inimitable Esmé Shapiro encourages the youngest readers to get to know and love and be kind to their wonderful selves and the equally wonderful selves around them. 

Recommended for ages 3-7. Alma lives happily in her hairy world, where she can braid the trees, comb the grass, pet the roof and feed her plumpooshkie butterfly. Until one day . . . a hairless, button-nosed beast appears in the garden! At first Alma is scared but when she realizes the beast is lost and misses her hairless home, Alma offers to help her find her way back. As the two take a fantastical journey through the red-headed woods and the bearded mushroom glen to the beast's bald abode, they discover that they are much more alike than different. This quirky and charming story about friendship, tolerance and perspective invites readers into a surreal, fantastical world that evokes Alice in Wonderland, Where the Wild Things Are and The Lorax.

Recommended for ages 4 to 8. Sometimes the unlikeliest friends form the greatest friendships. A funny, charming picture book from a dynamic duo. Friends Yak and Dove are complete opposites. Yak is large and Dove is small. Yak has fur and Dove has feathers. Yak is polite. Dove is ill-mannered. Yak likes quiet. Dove likes noise. One day as Yak and Dove list their differences they come to the conclusion that maybe they aren't meant to be friends. In the hope of finding a new best friend, Yak holds auditions. But when a small feathered contestant sings Yak's favorite song, the two begin to think that maybe they are alike after all . . . Yak and Dove whimsically captures the highs and lows of friendship through the three interconnected tales of two very different friends.

Recommended for ages 3 to 7. Ooko has everything a fox could want: a stick, a leaf and a rock. Well, almost everything . . . Ooko wants someone to play with! The foxes in town always seem to be playing with their two-legged friends, the Debbies. Maybe if he tries to look like the other foxes, one of the Debbies will play with him, too. But when Ooko finally finds his very own Debbie, things don't turn out quite as he had expected! Esmé Shapiro’s bright and arresting visual style has garnered her a number of awards. In 2015, she was the recipient of the Nancy Lee Rhodes Roberts Scholarship from The Society of Illustrators and The Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles West 53 Gold Award/Phillip Hayes Scholarship. In her first picture book, Esmé combines her quirky illustrations with a funny, exuberant text that is a joy to read-aloud. Children will giggle as Ooko does his best to impersonate a dog, and will cheer when he finally discovers the perfect friend.