K-Gr 2-Two easy-to-read selections. Spirn's book is classic second-grade fare. When Mark gets the part of the turkey in the Thanksgiving play, his older brother teases him, telling him that he will be eaten at the end. The day of the performance, Mark plans to save himself from embarrassment by hiding behind the other children, but ends up saving the day. Colorful artwork captures the action and provides visual clues. There is nothing new to this plot but youngsters always enjoy holiday stories, and stage fright is something everyone can relate to. In Baa-Choo, funny illustrations feature Sam the lamb (there is lots of good rhyming in the text). He has a cold and cannot sneeze. He goes to several barnyard residents for help and each animal offers assistance-tickling him with a feather, sprinkling pepper-until a goat kicks up enough dust to result in a successful outcome. So successful, in fact, that the creatures are blown away with the sneeze. This story will appeal to children who are not quite ready for longer sentences and more difficult vocabulary.-Susan Lissim, Dwight School, New York City Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

A sniffly sheep develops a tantalizing " Baa . . . ahhh . . . ," but the " choo" proves elusive in this rhymed barnyard caper. Wearing a garishly striped shirt and an expression of extreme misery, Sam the lamb seeks aid and finds it. But it takes the combination of a tickly feather from Gwen the hen, pepper from Sig the pig, and a cloud of dust kicked up by Franny Nannygoat to do the deed at last. Sam's mighty blast blows all of his helpers almost out of the picture, though not so far away that they can't all offer a secular "Bless you!" at the end. A juicy addition to such explosive classics as Ruth Brown's Big Sneeze (1985) and Patricia Thomas's "Stand Back," Said the Elephant, "I'm Going to Sneeze!" ( 1971). (Easy reader. 5-7)

Like Lola Schaefer's Loose Tooth on p.1944, this book in the An I Can Read Book series plays as much with the sounds of words as with common physical experience. Sam the lamb has a cold, but he can't sneeze. He's on the verge; he's got the ahhh. But he can't do the choo. The rhyming nonsense words and colorful, comical barnyard pictures show various animals trying to help Sam end his sneeze, which he finally does in a rip-roaring sneezy climax that raised the roof and shook the trees. Now that's power. Then there's the joke on the last page, when Sam thanks his friends: Bless you!

Sam the lamb is stuck right in the middle of a sneeze ("I've got the ahhh / but not the choo"). The other farm animals join forces, and after much nose-tickling, pepper-sprinkling, and dust-stirring, Sam finally finishes his sneeze. Week's text is lively and fast paced, incorporating repetition (a helpful aid to beginning independent readers) and suspense-heightening page turns; lighthearted watercolors add to the humor.