(4) K-3 Illustrated by JoEllen McAllister Stammen. The true story of a Swaziland baby rhino, who was orphaned by poachers but survived by being adopted by an older female rhino, forms the basis of this somewhat sentimental book. The free verse narration suffers from a self-conscious weightiness ("Passing elephants, / their long, heavy trunks / sweeping the earth, / brought the sunrise"), but the dry pastel illustrations glow with rich savanna colors.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(3) K-3 Illustrated by JoEllen McAllister Stammen. Onomatopoeic refrains, set in distinctive typefaces, re-create the sounds and pastel illustrations provide a look at a mother crocodile's life along the banks of the Nile. Ranging from the mother's patient watch over a sandy nest to her babies' first swim in the river, this is a solid, atmospheric introduction to the Nile crocodile and its nesting habits.

Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden

(4) PS Illustrated by JoEllen McAllister Stammen. Sleep is personified as animals--spinning a cradling web, creeping "on velvet paws"--while luminous illustrations start at dusk and end with starlight. The text turns urgent ("Please . . . Let [sleep] come!"), and the narrator is revealed as a father coaxing his child to sleep; a prosaic picture of dad reading this very book breaks up the rhythm and seems an odd match for the lyrical text.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander