(3) 4-6 Without sugarcoating the subjects, Bial tackles big topics of animal abuse and overpopulation, the creation of animal welfare organizations, and a typical day in the life of an animal shelter operation and the people who work there. The true-life stories and photographs are, by turns, inspiring and heartbreaking for dog lovers. Reading list, websites. Ind.

Reviewer: Cindy Lombardo

(3) 4-6 This is a well-researched and clearly written look at the iconic New York City immigration station. After explaining how it became a symbol for European immigration to America, the author provides a chronological overview of the island from the 1700s to the present. Moving stories, intriguing details, fascinating primary source images, and copious photographs make for a handsome volume. Reading list.

Reviewer: Monica Edinger

(3) 4-6 Bial describes the wondrous properties of soybeans, justifying their classification as "super food." He also explains how they can be used to make ink, plastics (Henry Ford commissioned a "soybean car"), and biodiesel. The book's clean layout includes many clear, bright photographs. It's a specialized subject, but interested readers will find that the book provides much to chew on. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(3) 4-6 This book chronicles the settling and development of the historic eastern Illinois Mormon community of Nauvoo in the 1840s. The murder of Mormon leader Joseph Smith and the group's continued persecution, which forced it to flee Nauvoo, are detailed, along with the group's resettlement in Utah. Numerous contemporary and historic photographs along with maps, charts, and diagrams enhance the text. Bib.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg

(3) 4-6 This useful and well-told photo-biography of George Washington is illustrated with material that focuses on the geographical locations associated with Washington's life. Bial's striking photographs give readers a strong sense of time and place, and he augments the narrative with reproductions of paintings and engravings. Directory, reading list. Ind.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(3) 4-6 Lifeways series. Each book in this handsome and useful series gives both historical background and thoughtful discussion of the Native American tribe in contemporary times. The books are heavily illustrated with clear photographs and art reproductions, and the text in each is respectful and informative. Backmatter includes brief biographies of notable people. Directory, reading list, timeline, websites. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these Lifeways titles: The Arapaho, The Chumash, The Shawnee, and The Wampanoag.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(3) 4-6 Lifeways series. Each book in this handsome and useful series gives both historical background and thoughtful discussion of the Native American tribe in contemporary times. The books are heavily illustrated with clear photographs and art reproductions, and the text in each is respectful and informative. Backmatter includes brief biographies of notable people. Directory, reading list, timeline, websites. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these Lifeways titles: The Arapaho, The Chumash, The Shawnee, and The Wampanoag.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(3) 4-6 Lifeways series. Each book in this handsome and useful series gives both historical background and thoughtful discussion of the Native American tribe in contemporary times. The books are heavily illustrated with clear photographs and art reproductions, and the text in each is respectful and informative. Backmatter includes brief biographies of notable people. Directory, reading list, timeline, websites. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these Lifeways titles: The Arapaho, The Chumash, The Shawnee, and The Wampanoag.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(3) 4-6 Lifeways series. Each book in this handsome and useful series gives both historical background and thoughtful discussion of the Native American tribe in contemporary times. The books are heavily illustrated with clear photographs and art reproductions, and the text in each is respectful and informative. Backmatter includes brief biographies of notable people. Directory, reading list, timeline, websites. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these Lifeways titles: The Arapaho, The Chumash, The Shawnee, and The Wampanoag.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(3) 4-6 Lifeways series. Overloaded with historical background about the Navajo and their beliefs and customs, this volume gets off to a slow start. Strangely, the information about the three-hundred-mile march endured by over eight thousand Native Americans and their incarceration at Fort Sumner, New Mexico--ostensibly the book's focus--is rushed and insubstantial. The blandly written text is illustrated with maps, photos, and reproductions. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) 4-6 Lifeways series. Overloaded with historical background about the Navajo and their beliefs and customs, this volume gets off to a slow start. Strangely, the information about the three-hundred-mile march endured by over eight thousand Native Americans and their incarceration at Fort Sumner, New Mexico--ostensibly the book's focus--is rushed and insubstantial. The blandly written text is illustrated with maps, photos, and reproductions. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) 4-6 Lifeways series. Each book in this series is teeming with information. Bial discusses each featured nation's origin, traditional lifestyle, beliefs, and modern-day challenges, offsetting his prose with stunning color and black-and-white reproductions of photos, paintings, and drawings. Each title includes a recipe, timeline, language lesson, and annotated list of notable people of the profiled nation. Bib., glos., ind. [Review covers these Lifeways titles: The Blackfeet, The Choctaw, The Mandan, and The Tlingit.]

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) 4-6 Lifeways series. Overloaded with historical background about the Navajo and their beliefs and customs, this volume gets off to a slow start. Strangely, the information about the three-hundred-mile march endured by over eight thousand Native Americans and their incarceration at Fort Sumner, New Mexico--ostensibly the book's focus--is rushed and insubstantial. The blandly written text is illustrated with maps, photos, and reproductions. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(2) 4-6 Opening with optimistic rhetoric about the immigrant experience, Bial quickly moves to his subject: the pessimistic reality of immigrants living in tenements on New York's Lower East Side. Relying heavily on reformer Jacob Riis's words and photos, Bial documents the rise of the tenement and the appalling conditions under which those tenements "prospered." Bial's own photos have a compelling clarity and composition. Bib.

Reviewer: Susan P. Bloom | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2002

(2) 4-6 Bial's stark, artfully composed photos perfectly frame this broad overview of abandoned sites of the past. Buildings, landscapes, and artifacts, primarily from restored towns, appear as silent sentinels to long-deserted places. The text explores the inhabitants of nineteenth-century Western towns that sprang up during westward expansion and then were abandoned as various ventures petered out. Bib.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2001

(3) 4-6 Lifeways series. Each well-researched title in this series offers an extensive historical overview of a Native American tribe and explores its people's modern-day struggles. These books feature reproductions of contemporary and historical photographs and of artwork reflecting each nation's unique traditions. Each title includes a recipe, time line, language lesson, and annotated list of notable people of the profiled nation. Bib., glos., ind. [Review covers these Lifeways titles: The Inuit, The Nez Perce, The Powhatan, The Shoshone.]

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) 4-6 Lifeways series. Each well-researched title in this series offers an extensive historical overview of a Native American tribe and explores its people's modern-day struggles. These books feature reproductions of contemporary and historical photographs and of artwork reflecting each nation's unique traditions. Each title includes a recipe, time line, language lesson, and annotated list of notable people of the profiled nation. Bib., glos., ind. [Review covers these Lifeways titles: The Inuit, The Nez Perce, The Powhatan, The Shoshone.]

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) 4-6 Lifeways series. Each well-researched title in this series offers an extensive historical overview of a Native American tribe and explores its people's modern-day struggles. These books feature reproductions of contemporary and historical photographs and of artwork reflecting each nation's unique traditions. Each title includes a recipe, time line, language lesson, and annotated list of notable people of the profiled nation. Bib., glos., ind. [Review covers these Lifeways titles: The Inuit, The Nez Perce, The Powhatan, The Shoshone.]

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) 4-6 Lifeways series. Each well-researched title in this series offers an extensive historical overview of a Native American tribe and explores its people's modern-day struggles. These books feature reproductions of contemporary and historical photographs and of artwork reflecting each nation's unique traditions. Each title includes a recipe, time line, language lesson, and annotated list of notable people of the profiled nation. Bib., glos., ind. [Review covers these Lifeways titles: The Inuit, The Nez Perce, The Powhatan, The Shoshone.]

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) 4-6 Building America series. With detailed, clear writing, including occasional quotes from primary sources, each book in this series takes a historical look at early American buildings and related industry. The arrangement of information reveals much about colonial and frontier life. Illustrations consist of photos of preserved sites, period paintings, sketches, and archival reproductions. Each book includes a list of suggested websites. Bib., glos., ind. [Review covers these Building America titles: The Canals, The Farms, The Forts, The Houses, The Mills.]

Reviewer: Lauren Aimonette LIang