K-Gr 2- Mark asks to stay up for just five minutes more. Mom acquiesces, but when the time is up, he still isn't tired. The excuses he gives as he begs for extra time get more and more fantastical: five minutes to say goodnight to his pets, five to knit a scarf for his giraffe, five to go to the moon and tuck it in for the night. The boy finally falls asleep and when his alarm goes off the next morning, he's looking for "just five more minutes" sleep. In the second book, city girl Jessica goes to visit her aunt and uncle in Texas. She's afraid of horses until she meets a shy pony named Peanut. The horse and girl bond as each helps the other overcome a fear of trying new things. Both stories are part of a series in which the lengthier text is placed on the left-hand pages for adults to read and the simpler text, intended for a child, is on the right. The degree of difficulty on the child's pages is just right for the target audience-Five Minutes is level one and Pony is level two. Both books have colorful, if undistinguished, illustrations and are good additions to easy-reader shelves.-Kelly Roth, Bartow County Public Library, Cartersville, GA
