Lane Smith is a great children’s book illustrator. He collaborates with Jon Scieszka quite a bit, but he’s written and illustrated some books of his own that are really clever.

Pinocchio the Boy picks up where the original story left off. The Blue Fairy grants Pinocchio’s wish while he sleeps, but he wakes up and has no idea he’s a boy. No one recognizes him, he can’t do the wooden things he used to do, and he doesn’t know why. This is a great looking book, and a very fun story.

I love John, Paul, George, & Ben. Riffing on the Beatles a little, Smith tells the story of some American Founding Fathers as kids. There are nods to Abbey Road in the illustrations, and the occasional Beatles line finds its way into the story. It is so clever and fun, and the illustrations are hysterical.