(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Bill Farnsworth. Disguised as a nurse, Irena Sendler covertly rescued nearly four hundred children from the Warsaw ghetto, smuggling them out in trucks, potato sacks, and coffins; teaching them Catholic prayers to disguise their origin; and finding them shelter in homes and convents. Farnsworth's dramatic oils convey the danger and urgency of Sendler's mission, which Rubin details with brisk clarity. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Bill Farnsworth. Holocaust survivor Wiesenthal dedicated his life to bringing Nazis to justice. Using extensive research, Rubin recounts Wiesenthal's story as well as his mission to prove to Holocaust deniers that Anne Frank existed. Farnsworth's darkly haunting illustrations (one shows a soldier holding a gun to a man's head, another depicts Frank, frightened, raising her hands in surrender) bring the text chillingly to life. Bib., glos., ind.

Reviewer: Chelsey Philpot

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Bill Farnsworth. Thirteen one-page vignettes introduce readers to select civil rights leaders, including both familiar figures (Ralph Abernathy, Rosa Parks) and those less well known (Andrew Goodman, James Earl Chaney). An appended chronology of events between 1953 and 1968 extends the brief sketches. Each profile is accompanied by a formal-looking portrait with embedded related scenes. Bib.

Reviewer: Henrietta M. Smith

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Bill Farnsworth. Based on the true story of a Salish Indian, this slightly romanticized telling explains how, in the 1870s, Walking Coyote raised orphaned buffalo calves, helping save the overhunted North American buffalo from possible extinction. Dramatic oil-paint illustrations capture the expanse of the western landscape. An afterword provides more information about Walking Coyote and about further efforts to protect buffalo.

Reviewer: Bridget McCaffrey

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Bill Farnsworth. After his family moves to bustling New York City, Ben longs for the home out West that they left behind. He forms a bond with the Tenth Avenue Cowboys, who gallop alongside the city's railroad tracks to warn of approaching trains. The text is straightforward, and the somber oil paintings capture the tone and spirit of New York in 1910. Glos.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Bill Farnsworth. Mary Ann's "best friend," a doll filled with wheat, is swept away by a sudden storm. Her desolation turns to delight when, come spring, a doll-shaped patch of wheat grass appears, which Mary Ann harvests to make a new doll. The cyclical concept of the story is appealing. Large impressionistic oils, while varying little in tone, impart the feeling of a vast frontier.

Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Bill Farnsworth. Readers will be drawn into this account of Benjamin Tallmadge's experience in battle during the U.S. Army's retreat from Brooklyn in 1776. Based on an event in Tallmadge's memoir, the story is told through detailed realistic paintings and gripping (although occasionally hard to follow) text. Castrovilla's research notes and information on Tallmadge's later life add context. Timeline. Bib.

Reviewer: Beth L. Meister

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Bill Farnsworth. This sobering story is about Eli, a young Jewish boy who learns how his great-grandmother's family, and thousands of others, were shot and killed by Nazis in Lithuanian forests during World War II. Farnsworth's somber oil paintings accompanying the text are notable for their depth of tone and realistic detail, though some of the scenes depicting people are static.

Reviewer: Amy Lois Cohn

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Bill Farnsworth. Soft oil paintings illustrate this story of a courageous young man who followed his dream to become a major-league baseball player. Sockalexis faced prejudice with dignity and determination; a successful face-off with a star pitcher validates Sockalexis as a ballplayer and a hero. An afterword relates his post-MLB life. Bib.

Reviewer: Juliet S. King

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Bill Farnsworth. Megan's birth mother, Kendra, planted a tree in honor of her birthday. Though she's happy in her adoptive family, Megan worries when Kendra moves to another town: without the birthday tree, will Kendra forget her? Though static, the realistic illustrations for this purposeful but reassuring story about open adoption include some nice portraits of the admirably determined protagonist.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Bill Farnsworth. This is the true story of the liberation of Mauthausen concentration camp by U.S. Army soldiers on May 6, 1945. In gratitude, the survivors sewed an American flag from scraps of sheets and jackets. The inspiring, though unfocused, text is effectively illustrated with somber paintings. Directory, reading list, sources, websites. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Ed Spicer

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Bill Farnsworth. Moody full-scale oil paintings placed on the right-hand pages of this brief picture book show the misery of soldiers encamped at Valley Forge in the winter of 1778. While the pictures do a good job of capturing specific moments, the choppy, dauntingly dense text doesn't provide readers with a complete account. Relevant sidebars appear occasionally. Timeline. Bib.

Reviewer: Jeannine M. Chapman

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Bill Farnsworth. This is the true story of John Muir, his friend Hall Young, their crew, and Young's dog, as they explore Alaska. Muir sets off with dog in tow in the numbing cold and snow to map glaciers and is surprised at the dog's courage. Dramatic landscapes and endearing images of the dog enhance a story that is more about man and dog than about Muir's extraordinary accomplishments.

Reviewer: Hilary Breed Van Dusen

(4) 1-3 Ready-for-Chapters: The Klondike Kid series. Illustrated by Bill Farnsworth. In Trail, orphan Davey and two adult friends fearlessly cross the Chilkoot Trail by sled; in Adventure, they continue on, sailing their handcrafted boat to gold-fever-mad Dawson, where Davey searches for his uncle. These books are marred by clichés but capably relate the agonies and thrills of Davey's journey. Farnsworth's black-and-white illustrations capture the 1897 setting. Review covers these Ready-for-Chapters: The Klondike Kid titles: Adventure in Gold Town and The Long Trail.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) 1-3 Ready-for-Chapters: The Klondike Kid series. Illustrated by Bill Farnsworth. In Trail, orphan Davey and two adult friends fearlessly cross the Chilkoot Trail by sled; in Adventure, they continue on, sailing their handcrafted boat to gold-fever-mad Dawson, where Davey searches for his uncle. These books are marred by clichés but capably relate the agonies and thrills of Davey's journey. Farnsworth's black-and-white illustrations capture the 1897 setting. Review covers these Ready-for-Chapters: The Klondike Kid titles: Adventure in Gold Town and The Long Trail.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) 1-3 Ready-for-Chapters: The Klondike Kid series. Illustrated by Bill Farnsworth. Eleven-year-old Davey, caught up in the 1897 Klondike gold rush and hoping to find Uncle Walt, his only living relative, stows away on an Alaska-bound ship in the Seattle harbor. Appealing black-and-white drawings place the story in its historical setting. This well-paced chapter book will appeal to historical fiction buffs and whet their appetites for further adventures in the proposed trilogy.

Reviewer: Pamela McCuen

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Bill Farnsworth & Bill Farnsworth. Anna, a small sled dog, learns how to lead the pack, and helps to rescue another member of the pack before she, in turn, falls through the ice and needs to be rescued herself. Based on Pam Flowers's sled dog expedition across the top of North America, the topic of the book is compelling, but the story, accompanied by realistic illustrations, is rendered in clichéd language.

Reviewer: Jim St. Claire

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Bill Farnsworth. This spare text introduces Korczak, a writer, radio broadcaster, medical doctor, and director of a Jewish orphans' home. When Germany invades Poland and the orphans are sent to a concentration camp, Korczak stoically accompanies them to Treblinka, promising that "no matter what happened, he would be with them." The narrative is moving, yet restrained; the shadowy oil on linen illustrations are appropriately sober. Bib.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Bill Farnsworth. Schmidt uses elegant language to retell Hawthorne's story about New Hampshire's Great Stone Face and Ethan, who grows to manhood and fulfills the prophecy associated with the granite outcropping--a local born in the area who resembles the face will be the noblest person of his time. Lush oil paintings, reminiscent of N. C. Wyeth's, beautifully capture the setting.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) 1-3 I Can Read Chapter Book series. Illustrated by Bill Farnsworth. Nine-year-old Noah, who loves life on the prairie, resists his aunt's efforts to teach him to read and write until Dora shows him how an education will help him better understand the natural world around him. Set in 1880 Colorado, the short chapter book has a large typeface, short sentences, and a reader-friendly layout. An emphasis on sepia tones in the full-color illustrations helps create an old-fashioned mood.

Reviewer: Anne St. John