As an elementary school teacher, if I could be rewarded with the privilege of spending a day of leisure with one children's book author, I would quickly choose Polly Horvath. Her manic imagination and wit and her outrageous humor is extraordinary and charming. It would be a frolic to relish and remember--she's a total "stitch!"

The Pepin family and "their very fine neighbor Mr. Bradshaw" are zany noodleheads creating and/or encountering the most improbable and hilarious experiences. Throughout the vignettes, Ms. Horvath adds flourish by cleverly engaging the the reader, as well as the characters, in asides from the commentary. It's novel and endearing.

Then there is Ms. Horvath's wordsmithery. The writing contains rich vocabulary that even an adult will find compelling. (My curiosity had me going to the dictionary on a couple of occasions!) The audience may be a tad older than 4th grade as suggested in the School Library Review; the most precocious 5th and 6th grade readers will truly reap the gifts Ms. Horvath bestows. Encountering enticing words makes Ms. Horvath as writer all the more memorable.

The experience of reading Polly Horvath for me has been something akin to making smores when you're camping and polishing them down with a glass of Pinot Noir!

Polly Horvath's Pepin Family is anything but a usual family group: they get stuck on their roof, searches for cheese in a cow which can only produce lemonade, hosts a 'neighbor-off' complete with dog throwers, and generally introduce a zany edge to living. Add Marilyn Hafner's fun black and white drawings and you have The Pepins And Their Problems, a fine middle grade reader kids will love.