(3) 4-6 Using traditional legends, the limited historical facts available, and quotations from Confucius's own writing, Demi has created a readable picture-book biography that emphasizes the sage's philosophy and educational teachings--ideas that still live on twenty-five hundred years later. Demi's signature paint and ink illustrations--with their diminutive figures, intricate detail, and gold borders--are full of action. Bib.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(2) K-3 Demi brings her inimitable style to the life of legendary scientist Marie Curie (1867–1934), from Curie's early years in a scholarly Polish family through her education in France and her work on radioactivity with husband Pierre. In a clear, matter-of-fact text, Demi describes Curie's remarkable accomplishments. Accompanying gold-tinged illustrations are flat in aspect and, like the text, serious, yet they add texture and detail. Reading list, timeline. Glos.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2018

(3) K-3 In this unsourced Chinese folktale (companion to Demi's The Empty Pot), rich, selfish Tan Tan sells poor Ping his tree's shade. But Ping follows the shade into Tan Tan's home and brings friends; enraged Tan Tan moves to "another house, where there...were no friends." When Tan Tan returns, Ping is compassionate. Demi's signature watercolor and mixed-media illustrations in neat circular frames complement the straightforward telling.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) K-3 A straightforward text of declarative sentences describes Florence Nightingale's childhood, training, service in Crimean War hospitals, and lifelong crusade to reform nursing and health care. The true draw of this clear picture book biography, however, is Demi's simple line-drawn illustrations with collage elements: close reader attention will reveal rats, chamber pots, leaky roofs, and other engrossing details. Reading list, timeline.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(3) K-3 Demi retells the story of the Hindu figure Krishna, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu sent to Earth to overpower demon kings. Mixed-media illustrations, saturated with gold and jewel tones and surrounded by intricate frames, are the highlight here. The measured text is less colorful although still engaging and faithful to its source material.

Reviewer: Norah Piehl

(4) 4-6 Demi tells the influential Catholic saint's story with her signature paintings featuring elaborate borders and gold accents. The somewhat wordy text makes this picture book most appropriate for older readers. Without a bibliography or source notes, lines such as "now that he owned nothing, he felt richer" are difficult to attribute.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(3) 4-6 Columbus was a gifted navigator, but his mistreatment of Native peoples and his obsession with a western trade route to Asia and the riches and notoriety it would bring became his downfall. Highly detailed illustrations rendered in ink on marble papers with gold overlay and decorative borders provide a majestic backdrop for this lengthy but thoughtful picture-book biography.

Reviewer: Tamara DePasquale

(4) 4-6 Demi brings her signature gilded iconography to the story of Joan of Arc, from her childhood in Domrémy to her execution in Rouen at the age of nineteen. Accepting Joan's version of herself and with many (unsourced) quotes from the saint, the book is a good introduction. The pictures are reverent but small and static, only occasionally surprising the eye.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton

(3) 4-6 Demi provides basic information about the life of Alexander the Great, from his boyhood and adolescent learning (Aristotle was his tutor), through his exploits as a leader and warrior, to his death surrounded by soldiers; some mythology (e.g., the oracle at Delphi: "You are invincible!") is also incorporated. The text is accompanied by vivid, lavish illustrations in Demi's recognizable style.

Reviewer: Antonio Trujillo

(3) 4-6 After providing some context-setting ancient Egyptian history, the text gives basic information about the boy king's family and brief reign. In her lavish accompanying illustrations, Demi uses richly colored Egyptian and Chinese inks to re-create Egyptian-style art, echoing the life and times of King Tut to good effect.

Reviewer: Antonio Trujillo

(2) K-3 In this book (originally titled Chingis Khan), Demi freely adapts from folklore and history to provide a terse but colorful sketch of the Mongol chieftain and his exploits. Small figures in tightly structured scenes and rich color tones set against ample white space--Demi's hallmarks--are used with added energy here, while lavish employ of gold paint lends opulence.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc. | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 1991

(3) 4-6 Demi tells of the great mystical poet Jalaluddin Rumi. Born in Afghanistan in 1207, he traveled throughout Asia Minor and settled in what is now Turkey. The text intersperses verses of Rumi's poetry with his life story. Each page includes luminous illustrations, dominated by golds, blues, and reds, which were inspired by thirteenth-century Asian artwork.

Reviewer: Antonio Trujillo

(4) K-3 Feng Huang wants to draw a phoenix, but she can't capture the essence of the mythical bird until she discovers "the phoenix powers of Wisdom, Clear Sight, Equality, Generosity, and Right Judgment." Demi's dramatic illustrations, with their signature touches of gold, help illuminate the concepts introduced, but the purposeful story remains rather abstract.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(3) 4-6 Demi first sets the scene of thirteenth-century Italy, then chronicles Marco Polo's journey to China and back. The explorer's own perspectives on everything from asbestos to rhinoceroses are woven into the narrative. Demi's trademark illustrations in Chinese inks and gold overlays are contained within rich silk fabric borders. A map showing Polo's route is appended. Bib.

Reviewer: Lisa Catherine Findlay

(2) K-3 Ping longs to have "money, power, fame, and everything life can offer." Sleeping on a magic pillow, his dream reveals: "Fame lasted no longer than a bubble in a stream." Demi encloses each meticulous illustration in a gold circle set upon a plain cloth background. Her author's note adds historical details about the short story on which the tale is based.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2008

(4) K-3 Ping paints dragons everywhere, though he's secretly afraid of them. After a visit with the Heavenly Dragon, he's bestowed with four kinds of wisdom–-goodness, purity, acceptance, and clarity--from dragons representing water, fire, earth, and wind. The lengthy, abstract tale isn't especially compelling. However, the elegant paint and ink with Chinese silk brocade illustrations, featuring fold-out pages and gold-painted dragons, are beautiful.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(2) 4-6 Demi presents the legendary figure "who may or may not have been born; who may or may not have founded Taoism." Elegant, minimally limned figures and gold-colored text, all set on circles of lightly clouded blue sky, make a sumptuous package. Twenty verses from the Tao Te Ching are included. Many Taoist symbols (including the familiar yin/yang) are shown and defined.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2007

(4) 4-6 Most children won't be drawn immediately to Demi's book about Mary, the mother of Jesus, portrayed here as a healer and visionary. The text is a series of quotes from the New Testament and other sources. Demi's characteristically detailed and majestic paintings don't personalize Mary, but they do give the book weight and solemnity.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(3) 4-6 This handsome volume introduces Su Dongpo (1036–1101), an intriguing figure in Chinese history who will likely be unknown to many readers. Offering examples of his writing and calling his accomplishments "almost superhuman," Demi describes him as "a statesman, philosopher, poet, painter, engineer, architect, and humanitarian." The striking illustrations combine small, meticulous figures with spacious, misty backgrounds and touches of gold.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(2) 4-6 Demi's biography is distinguished by its attention, in both words and pictures, to Mother Teresa's faith. Quotes from the Bible and from Mother Teresa's prayers effectively complement the generally chronological text. Demi's miniaturist style is also, for the most part, effective in capturing Teresa's life among the "poorest of the poor." A list of awards and honors, a map, and text references are appended.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2005