How to Be by Lisa Brown Preschool-Grade 2 32 pages HarperCollins May 2006 Hardcover     Lisa Brown's How To Be provides fun interaction for groups. The book opens and closes with vibrant brick red flyleaf pages. Perfect for age groups between preschool and grade three, this book will also appeal to toddlers. Simplistic imagery in a blend of stick figures and watercolor art depicts two children enjoying a fun day. The boy and a girl pretend to be various animals, mimicking their antics. The mischievous children eventually end up discovering how to be themselves - which is a nice moral ending, but not a strong one. The relationship between the two characters is not defined, nor their ages. The impression is that they are siblings and that the girl is older than the boy. Each animal’s section opens with a title page of entertaining images of the animal in question and common children’s playthings. Everyone, from groups to pairs, can act like a big, brave bear, a funny monkey, a slow turtle, a slithering snake, a friendly dog or a creative spider. Humor is laced through the imagery, complementing the simple text. Lisa Brown is best known for her previous four-book series, Baby, Be of Use. She lives in California with her son and husband, who is also an author. She illustrates How To Be with images that often use two pages, perfect when holding the book up for the children in larger groups to see.   web reviews   Lillian Brummet/2006 for curled up with a good kid's book   For grown-up fiction, nonfiction and speculative fiction book reviews, visit our sister site Curled Up With a Good Book (www.curledup.com)