(4) K-3 Illustrated by Melissa Castrillón . This meticulously researched and dramatically narrated picture book tells the story of Portuguese diplomat Aristides de Sousa Mendes, who at great personal risk and sacrifice saved thousands of Jews fleeing Nazi-occupied southern France. In "what may have been the greatest individual act of rescue in all of World War II," he defied his government and in a twenty-three-day period in 1940 issued thousands of forbidden visas, ensuring safe passage into Portugal. The text is thoroughly informative as well as immediate and suspenseful; illustrations are eye-catching and lively (although the use of flags rather than names to identify countries on the maps seems less than ideal in such a location-dependent story). Unusually for a picture book, this is appended with an extensive bibliography and detailed source notes, plus an author's note and timeline.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Aimée Sicuro. Brown's debut picture-book biography of Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler (1928–2011) limns her creative childhood, dutiful art study, and early career in mid-twentieth-century NYC. Once Frankenthaler develops her trademark "soak-stain" technique, the rhythmic text mirrors that kinetic process: "Helen grabbed a bucket of crimson and...POURED...setting her colors FREE." Sicuro's watercolor, ink, and charcoal-pencil illustrations reinforce the ideas of movement and color saturation. An appended art project helps everything seep in. Timeline. Bib.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2019

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Harvey Stevenson & Harvey Stevenson. In poetic text, a girl describes a Christmas visit to her grandmother's house in Pennsylvania coal country. There is happiness in the visit as well as sadness: the girl's grandfather's empty rocker reminds her of "The lung sickness that comes to those / who go deep into the mines day after day...." Stevenson's muted acrylics evoke the wintertime warmth of family but also quietly capture a sometimes harsh way of life.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute