Sugar Lump, the Orphan Calf

"...unpretentious book that children will enjoy and learn something in the process. Mrs. Simmons has stated that this book grew out of a desire to write wholesome fiction for children. If that is her main objective, she has succeeded well."
- Steve Powers, Denton Record-Chronicle

"...an upbeat, positive story that shows how love, encouragement, and hard work can make a difference. Parents will love the message found in Sugar Lump's story, and children will love to hear and read it again (and again.)"
- Carol Watkins, The North Texas Parent

"The book, illustrated by Denton artist Lin Hampton, is getting thumbs-up reviews."
Fort Worth Star-Telegram

"It's kind of a cow-version of Charlotte's Web. The chapters are funny, well paced, with good illustrations and honest storytelling throughout."
- Gwynne Spencer, The Albuquerque Tribune

"This was a good story. There was information on raising a calf, even little tricks on feeding. The little girl had patience and perseverance. This would be a good story for reluctant readers."
- Kathy Smith, Library Director, Lindale Library - Lindale, Texas

Bo, the Famous Retriever

"Simmons' latest children's book, Bo, the Famous Retriever features characters and settings inspired by her hometown of Argyle. In fact, the mystery-comedy story is loosely based on actual events in her life."
Fort Worth Star-Telegram

"This is not exclusively a children's book. While it may have some semblance of one, it is also a mystery that would be of interest to anyone of any age. It is filled with humor as it chronicles Bo's activities."
Denton County Express

"The delightful book is an easy read and is quite hard to put down."
The Lake Cities Sun

"The book is humorous and uplifting."
The North Texas Parent

"'Bo, the Famous Retriever' a book worth fetching."
Times Record News, Wichita Falls, Texas

"Author Lynn Sheffield Simmons exhibits a style of writing that keeps the attention of her younger reading audience, while capturing the imagination and often fond memories of her older readers as well."
The Seguin Gazette-Enterprise

"Although the book is written for children, it is an entertaining and enjoyable read for the entire family."
Waxahachie Daily Light

"This also was a good story. It was informative and "cute" as one of our young patrons said. This book is a fun mystery for all ages."
- Kathy Smith, Library Director, Lindale Library - Lindale, Texas

Jack Crow Said Hello

"Jack Crow Said Hello ($10.95, Argyle Books, 109 pages) is a fun-filled book about a boy named Josh and the bird he named Jack Crow when he received it as a flightless fledging from his grandfather. The deal is that when Jack is able to fly, he will be taken back to the farm.

Josh keeps the bird in his screened-in porch and while taking care of him manages to teach him to say "hello." A baseball team is organized in the neighborhood and it is named the Crows. Friendships grow during the summer months and Jack Crow provides Josh, his family and the whole neighborhood with one hilarious misadventure after another."
- Larry Lawrence, Abilene Reporter News -Sunday, May 27, 2001

"Young readers should learn some things about birds: that they require lots of attention that they love to play in water and take sunbaths. They'll learn some of the quirky things crows do, like hiding shiny, metallic objects. The author stays true to her teacher's background. The book's heart lies with the children who learn from one another and from their unusual winged playmate."
- Lucinda Breeding, Denton Record-Chronicle

"Simmons is determined for her books to be wholesome and especially because they're exposed to so much technology, to have children use their imagination."
- Jessica DeLeon, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

"The book contains 109 pages with illustrations throughout. There are fourteen chapters and provides easy read for school age children or a perfect book to read to preschool children. Illustrations, including the color cover, are by Willie Lopez. Lopez's work is dotted throughout the book and provides just enough visual effect to allow a child's imagination to take over."
- Book Review by The Argyle Sun

"The plot is engaging and fun, and the end is done with truth but not so much sentimentality as to make the reader cry. It's not as formulaic as a lot of children's books I've read and it actually has factual information about crows in it."
- Robin Blackburn-Jerkins, Seguin Gazette-Enterprise

"Lynn Sheffield Simmons of Argyle is a writer with a mission. Her stories are written to encourage youngsters to be kind to animals because it's the right thing to do - and also because it's rewarding in terms of the pleasure involved in living with pets. For good measure, the Texas author of two other children's books also loads her story with other reader benefits in the form of enlarging the cultural horizons of her human characters."
- Mary Kate Tripp, Amarillo Globe-News

"In caring for Jack, Josh, who recently has moved from the country to the city, gets both a lesson in responsibility and a little bit of the country he left behind. Far from a sad ending, "Jack Crow Said Hello" shows that all is right when people have enough respect for wild animals to let them remain wild. "
- Diane Murray, San Angelo Standard Times

Bo and the Missing Dogs

"Lynn Sheffield Simmons is at it again. The Argyle Children's author has brought back an incorrigible Labrador retriever to run amuck in her fourth title, Bo and the Missing Dogs.

Bo and the Missing Dogs is a short, readable tale that has the canine protagonist hot on the trail of another mystery. His beleaguered owner, Mrs. Barnett, is dismayed when he comes home with another Labrador retriever and her six puppies. Soon P. J. Brown and his friends Claire Simmons and Juan Garcia, realize that Bo might be sniffing out nefarious criminals."
- Lucinda Breeding, Arts & Entertainment Editor, Denton Record-Chronicle, December 20, 2001

"Bo continues his humorous antics in his newest adventure. Bo is a good dog. After all, he loves to fetch the newspaper for his owner, Mrs. Barnett. It's just that he doesn't know that he's not supposed to fetch all the neighbor's newspapers too!

Bo and the Missing Dogs is a book for children of all ages. Parents will easily keep the attention of younger ones as they read this story, perhaps a chapter per night as a bedtime story. Youngsters who read will find the book interesting and not too difficult."
- Terry Lantrip, The Lake Cities Sun and The Argyle Sun,December 5, 2001

"For children's author Lynn Sheffield Simmons the recipe for success is one part "there's no place like home," one part "truth is stranger than fiction" and one part imagination.

The result is her fourth children's book, Bo, and the Missing Dogs."
- C. Heath Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, December 23, 2001