Mustache Baby is due in bookstores in May 2013 (Houghton Mifflin, illustrated by Joy Ang). When Baby Billy is born with a mustache, his family (shown here,) must wait to see if it is a good guy mustache or a bad guy mustache.

What to Expect When You're Expecting Larvae: A Guide for Insect Parents (and Curious Kids), by Bridget Heos, illustrated by Stephane Jorisch, Lerner/Millbrook, Spring 2011.

Grades 2-5

Reviews:

Kirkus

 "A spoof on the popular parenting books, this answers the burning questions of insect parents-to-be and is chock full of fascinating (and sometimes disgusting) facts that are sure to grab human readers' interest. From where to lay the eggs and how many there will be, to what the larvae will eat, what will eat them and how they will stay safe, this covers it all for butterflies, bees, moths, flies, beetles and mosquitoes. Folding in facts comes easily to Heos, for whom this is her first picture book. She manages to pack in explanations of survival, the food chain, camouflage, disguise and metamorphosis. There's even a little history lesson involving beetles and book glue. Throughout, the tongue-in-cheek humor will keep readers engaged, while the facts and vocabulary will please educators. What Jorisch's brilliantly colored insects lack in realism, they more than make up for in personality. The anthropomorphized bugs add to the tongue-in-cheek parody and also provide some great mnemonics for remembering the information presented. Backmatter includes a glossary, selected bibliography and a list of resources for further reading. Lumping together the many insects whose life cycles include the larval stage makes this more of an overview/introduction rather than a resource, but it is a humorous one certain to entertain and maybe even spark some interest." --Kirkus Reviews

Booklist

"'You must be so excited,' Heos writes—and why wouldn't you be? You're about to give birth to larvae! This consistently amusing entry in the Expecting Animal Babies series presents itself as a reassuring guide for new insect parents and is arranged around Q&As. For example: 'Q. What will my babies look like? Will they resemble their mother or father? A. Surprise! Neither! They will look like worms.' The font size is needlessly small, but Heos' humor conquers all, whether discussing a place to lay eggs ('the dog doo of my dreams!'); urging patience ('You did the same thing when you were young'); and dispensing tough love ('Sorry, fly mommies and daddies. People think your maggots are yucky'). The format makes this more for pleasure than for study, though Heos works in plenty of facts (a sphinx moth multiplies its weight 10,000 times in 16 days!). Jorisch's spindly illustrations feel a bit low-key for such hilarity, but they capably portray the tough but rewarding (?) job of bringing cute little dung-eaters into the world." --Booklist

What to Expect When You're Expecting Joeys: A Guide for Marsupial Parents (and Curious Kids,) by Bridget Heos, illustrated by Stephane Jorisch, Lerner/Millbrook, Fall 2011.

Grades 2-5

Starred Review:

Kirkus 

"Directed at marsupial parents of all kinds, from kangaroos and koalas to possums and bandicoots, this tongue-in-cheek guide to joey development takes it step by step, from the birth of your pinkie to where your baby goes after it leaves the pouch. Never once dropping the pretense that this is written for pouched mammals, this manages to be both entertaining and informative, defining marsupial and covering gestation periods, size and number of young, the pinkie's trip from cloaca to pouch or pouch substitute, feeding and further development. Heos' question-and-answer text also weaves in information about where animals live and what they eat, but informally—just enough to whet curiosity and to send readers to the solid suggestions for further reading and websites. She uses appropriate vocabulary, making meanings clear in context and also providing a glossary. Jorisch's painted pen-and-ink sketches show lively, lightly anthropomorphized animals and add considerably to the humor. How can readers resist the wombat checking out her pouch or the honey-possum love fest? Both parents and offspring have personality. This companion to What to Expect When You're Expecting Larvae (2011) is enormously appealing, an offbeat approach to learning about the natural world that targets exactly the stage young readers most want to know about." --Kirkus Reviews

All Reviews:

School Library Journal

"If marsupial mamas-to-be were literate, they'd appreciate this guide to the birth and care of their joeys, called 'pinkies' when they're first born. Though the author has written the book as if she were talking to them, the real intended audience is children, who will delight in the humor contained in the text as well as in the colorful illustrations of animals with animated facial expressions. Presented in a question-and-answer format, the book addresses such questions as, 'What if I don't have a pouch? Help! I've looked everywhere!' or, 'Should I make the pouch with paper or cloth?' Each question is answered with a blend of humor and factual information, and children will be able to discern, then empathize with, the mother's concern about her offspring. Heos explains vocabulary terms specific to marsupials, such as 'cloaca,' 'joey,' and 'mob,' and includes a glossary that defines these and other terms associated with marsupials. Teachers using this book have the opportunity to explain what anthropomorphism means and show how it applies to the critters in this book, then distinguish between which aspects of it are true to a marsupial's nature and which ones are human attributes." --School Library Journal

What to Expect When You're Expecting Crocs and Gators: A Guide for Crocodilian Parents (and Curious Kids,) by Bridget Heos, illustrated by Stephane Jorisch, Lerner/Millbrook, Spring 2012.

     Butterflies. It's always the butterflies. I, Fly, about a fly who wishes second graders would study him instead of those fancy-schmancy butterflies, sold to Sally Doherty at Holt. Release date TBA. Shown here: my dad getting in the spirit...dressed as a fly with maggots in a front pack!