K-Gr 3-The hero of Ben Rides On (Roaring Brook, 2013) is back, and though he still rides his beloved bicycle, it turns out that his other passion is drawing. Ben constantly doodles in his special sketchbook, even in math class. His interests are typical for most third graders-dinosaurs, monsters, motorcycles, dragons, and spaceships-he especially enjoys sketching his teachers and fellow students. Inevitably, Ben loses the sketchbook, and his classmates get their hands on it. Fortunately for Ben, his teacher recognizes Ben's talent, and in a neat little plot twist, asks for his help making sets for the school play instead of taking him to the principal's office. Davies's signature cartoon style is as hilarious as ever, though it does make figuring out whether Ben's own drawings are realistic or caricature somewhat challenging. This wonderful follow-up will especially appeal to young artists and fans of Ben's previous adventure, but it's a fun choice for everyone.-Yelena Alekseyeva-Popova, formerly at Chappaqua Library, NY (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Ben Lukin, the bike-loving boy from Ben Rides On (2013), loses something of special significance: his sketchbook.Ben loves drawing: "He loved to draw in writing class / and also in math class." He draws everything, including peoplehere, his sketchbook opens to two full pages of caricatures of his schoolmates. Davies' cartoon line hums with energy. Ben's eyebrows hover animatedly above his toothy grin; every page seems to tilt with the forward motion of the story. After an exhilarating bike ride home "the long way," flying over hills and dales (his hair flowing free, though a sign for Acme helmets peeks cheekily out from the edge of town), Ben realizes he's lost his sketchbook. That moment of loss is nicely doneBen reaches into his backpack and comes back empty-handed; fireworks of dismay hit him. Attentive readers may notice its fall; here, an inset box shows a hand reaching to pick it up. The following double-page spread shows Ben's search up and down the hills: Where could he have lost it? Readers may worry about Ben when he walks into his classroom and realizes that everyone is examining his drawingsof them. Yet when Mr. Upright picks up the sketchbook, "thoughtfully placed on his desk," and leads Ben out of the classroom, the outcome turns into a moment of victory for the young artist. Funny and exuberantly sweet. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

THE TROUBLE WITH DRAWING ÍS that it's fun. Almost too much fun. Drawing can become uncontrollable, a force you can barely handle. Children know this and give in; adults knew it once, but forget. For children a notebook for math class can easily transform into a sketchbook for art. Lines, shapes and colors become little masterpieces at the margins of the page. How can one stop? Why should one stop? There's seemingly no choice in the matter. The drawing has to come out. This is the case for a young boy named Ben in "Ben Draws Trouble," the latest picture book by the Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Matt Davies. In this delightful book, Ben goes through the kind of ordeal many grown artists will remember from their own childhoods. He loves to draw everything, everywhere, all the time. He fills up his sketchbook with drawings of bicycles, boats, whales and dinosaurs. It's all very nice, except that Ben does this during class. His teachers are not amused. But like any dedicated artist, Ben can't hold back. We learn that Ben especially loves drawing people, including his teachers and classmates. Yet he keeps their faces hidden in his private sketchbook. No one is allowed to see them. But one day, on his way home, "the unthinkable happened": Ben loses his precious sketchbook. It falls into the hands of the crowd he tried to keep his artwork from. Even his teacher sees it. Is Ben in trouble now? Are his classmates angry? Or will Ben's talents prove to be his path to redemption and recognition? Davies's hilarious cartoon style will please the eye and is bound to put a smile on every reader's face. so will the perfectly rendered childlike drawings in "How to Draw a Dragon," by Douglas Florian. It's not easy for adults to draw just like a child, but Florian does it right, and young artists will relate. We're talking dragons here, and as his pictures show, they come in various shapes and colors. Blue ones, red ones, yellow ones and green ones, large and grumpy ones - what's not to like? Florian assures us that dragons aren't hard to draw, and a child will surely find this out. The instructions explain that dragons' heads can be "rather bumpy," and that they have "pointed spines," which must be drawn with "jagged lines." Some have "spiky tails" or "shiny scales" and "sharpened teeth." We learn that you can draw a dragon while it's playing the violin, or while it's taking you for a ride on a bike, or while you toast marshmallows with its fiery breath. "How to Draw a Dragon" is written in rhymes, which wasn't exactly necessary. Its visual energy will help you free your thoughts and put them down on paper. If you want to find a dragon to draw, this book will have one for you. Better still, you'll learn to draw your own. in "MY PEN," Christopher Myers also encourages the young to let their thoughts roam. Myers, illustrator of several books including the Caldecott Honor book "Harlem," written by his father, Walter Dean Myers, describes that perfect drawing instrument as if it were a magic wand that makes a wondrous world leap from the mind to the page. Myers says he developed the concept for this book after speaking with young people at a juvenile detention center. It's possible they felt trapped or stuck for good. But with imagination and a pen, Myers shows, you can travel to many worlds. The book is narrated by a boy who tells us that he feels "small" when he thinks of rich and famous people, who have much more than he thinks he will ever have. Then the boy remembers something: "I have my pen." And we see what he can do. His pen draws an old man as a giant, then puts him in the "sweet hands of the smallest girl." Thanks to his pen, the boy tap dances in the sky, rides with dinosaurs, hides an elephant in a teacup. These adventures are exquisitely visualized by Myers in black and white. Pen and ink was, of course, the proper medium for this project. Most young readers will understand the concept of this book, though I'm not sure that the very young will grasp some of Myers's jabberwocky, like the touch of the surreal in a two-page spread that has images of the boy catching snowflakes on his tongue and then lacing up sneakers with protruding electronics, with text that reads, "My pen is smart as a snowflake and wears satellite sneakers with computer laces." But in the end Myers's beautiful drawings make their case, and the book will set children's imaginations free. In this day of pixels and sound bites, videos and screens, it's nice to think that children can still enjoy an activity as simple as marking a surface, getting their hands full of ink, putting together a concept or two using old-school materials. Let them draw, even if it's trouble. It's always fun. And that goes for you too, forgetful grown-ups! RAÚL COLÓN has illustrated more than 30 books for children, including "Mama Had a Dancing Heart" and "Draw!,"both of which received New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books Awards.

The star of Ben Rides On loves to draw, including not-always-flattering likenesses of his classmates. Unfortunately, his private sketchbook falls into their hands, but Davies cleverly subverts reader expectations of Ben's doom. There's a universality to Ben's plight: what grade-schooler isn't afraid that something private will be made public? The illustrations are artfully exaggerated, making Ben's caricatures all the funnier. (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Ben draws during art class, but also during writing and math. His teachers don't always appreciate his off-topic pictures of sharks, spaceships, and dinosaurs. One afternoon, he loses his sketchbook. Distraught, Ben arrives at school the next morning and finds his classmates looking at his drawings. His teacher leafs through the book, lingering over an exaggerated portrait of himself. Next, he silently leads the boy to the auditorium, where he asks him to design the sets for the school play. The concluding illustration shows Ben smiling as his 20-foot-tall sharks steal the show. Through the succinct text and emotionally charged illustrations, children will feel Ben's panic and anguish over losing his sketchbook, his fear of punishment for the caricatures, and his satisfaction at the happy ending. The ink drawings, washed with gentle colors, are full of energy and expression. Davies, a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist, also wrote and illustrated Ben Rides On (2013), which features the same lovably scruffy character.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2015 Booklist