Carrie Hane Hung (Children's Literature)
Inspired by the Lost Treasure of Frogsbottom map, Russell the sheep creates his treasure-seeking device and hunts all over the grounds to reveal the treasure. Frankie the frog quietly accompanies Russell through the whole adventure. Due to the futile efforts of the high and low, over and under search, Russell discards the treasure-seeking contraption by sending it down the hill. Suddenly, the machine sends out a signal as it rests at the base of a tree. Filled with renewed hope and energy, the sheep and frog tunnel underground and bring out the treasure chest. With a turn of the convenient key already in the lock, they find a collection of old odds and ends. Although a bit disappointed with the lackluster treasure, Russell uses the old camera that was nestled in the chest and takes lots of pictures of his family and friend. As the twosome look through the photos that Russell organized in an album, Russell discovers his true and precious treasure. Along with his endearing, comical expressions and spirit of making the best of a situation, Russell has a sweet charm that Scotton portrays in the pleasantly colored illustrations. 2006, HarperCollins Children’s Books, $15.99. Ages 3 to 7.

Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature)
When Russell, the delightful hero of Russell the Sheep acquires a treasure map, he determines to find the Lost Treasure of Frogsbottom. Constructing a Super-Duper Treasure Seeker in his workshop, he begins to search everywhere, but at first finds nothing. After digging a deep tunnel and finally finding a treasure chest, he is disappointed at first to discover nothing but an old camera. It actually works, however, so he begins to photograph his family and friends. Everyone has fun posing for glamour, action, or just plain humorous shots. When he has put them all into an album, Russell decides that perhaps he found a treasure after all. Not much story, but Russell, with his ping pong-ball eyes and striped stocking cap with the long tail and pompom, is as humorously charming as ever, as are his frog friends. Close-ups fill the pages of them in action. What little text there is occurs outside the scenes almost like captions. Naturalistic backgrounds enhance the many comic effects of the activities of the far-from-naturalistic characters. 2006, HarperCollins Publishers, $15.99 and $16.89. Ages 3 to 7.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 2006 (Vol. 74, No. 7))
The woolly with the big personality and the extremely long nightcap (Russell the Sheep, 2005) finds a buried chest filled with-well, not the "treasure" he's expecting. Inspired by a glimpse of the tattered map in a passing crow's mouth, Russell sets to in his lab (doesn't every sheep have one?), constructs a treasure detector that resembles a robotic hockey stick and unearths a trunk. Though all he finds inside is miscellaneous junk, his disappointment doesn't last long; picking up a ratty old flash camera, he's soon happily taking snaps of his flock, friends and everything else. Scotton's scenes of popeyed livestock mugging for the camera capture the profound flakiness of the entire episode, and the final view of an ovine audience poring over the resulting photo album will have young viewers agreeing with Russell that he has found "The best treasure ever." Place this take on the value of family pictures alongside the similarly themed likes of Amy Hest's Guess Who, Baby Duck (2004) and Deborah Blumenthal's Aunt Claire's Yellow Beehive Hair, illus by Mary GrandPrT (2001). 2006, HarperCollins, 32p, $15.99. Category: Picture book. Ages 6 to 8. © 2006 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Fall 2006)
Russell the Sheep's guileless protagonist returns to search for the Lost Treasure of Frogsbottom. We're to overlook implausibility (the old camera Russell finds in the treasure chest is loaded and works) for comedy's sake. Readers who aren't sticklers for sense may enjoy the doings of Russell, the goggle-eyed sheep with the uselessly long hat. Category: Preschool. 2006, HarperCollins, 32pp, 15.99, 16.89. Ages 2 to 5. Rating: 4: Recommended, with minor flaws.

Lisa Nuss (The Kutztown University Book Review, Spring 2007)
Russell the Sheep is back with a new goal – to find the lost treasure of Frogsbottom. Russell and his faithful froggy sidekick devise a plan and discover the treasure, which turns out to be a lot of what he considers “useless stuff.” But they decide to have some fun with the stuff anyway and end up with a family photo album, which ends up being the real treasure. Russell learns a valuable lesson about what is really treasure in this sequel to Russell the Sheep. Those who loved the first book will also enjoy this newest edition. The wonderfully hilarious illustrations really enhance the humorous aspects of the story. Kids will love the goofy expressions on the characters’ faces. A great book to teach the importance of family and also just to have a good laugh! Category: Picture Book.. 2006, HarperCollins, $15.99. Ages 3 to 9.

Maria Medina (The Lorgnette-Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 19, No. 4))
Russell the sheep with his very long hat wants to find a treasure after coming across a treasure map. He invents a super-duper treasure seeker to help in his pursuit. He is frustrated and throws the invention, which begins to beep. He finds the chest, but everything in it is useless or so he thinks. Among the items is an old camera which becomes a treasure due to the many pictures he takes of his family and friends. He puts all the pictures in a scrapbook, and when he admires the pictures, he realizes what a treasure all the photos have become for him. The last illustration has Russell sharing the photo album. The book makes a great read-aloud. Fiction. Grades K-3. 2006, HarperCollins, Unpaged., $15.99.