(2) K-3 Illustrated by Steven Salerno. Born Velma Bronn Johnston, "Wild Horse Annie" grows up watching her father tame mustangs. In 1971, adult Annie, with help from schoolchildren petitioning legislators, wins federal protection for wild horses. The text makes good use of anecdotes and quotes to capture Annie's personality and convey her personal challenges (including polio). Fluid, cartoonlike illustrations depict Annie's energy and subtly suggest her lifelong disability. Bib.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2019

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Boris Kulikov. Fern shares with readers the life of archaeologist Carter--his boyhood fascination with all things Egyptian, his dreams of one day finding a mummy (he eventually discovered Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922), and his dedicated self-study of Egyptology--emphasizing his painstaking attention to detail throughout. Kulikov's mixed-media illustrations, which reflect the hues of the Egyptian desert, beautifully complement and extend the text, incorporating occasional comedic touches. Bib.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2018

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Boris Kulikov. This breezy picture-book biography introduces readers to Webster. A smart and serious student, he could also be a bit highfalutin ("Noah called goofing around 'playing roguish tricks.' This is an example of Noah talking big"), which Fern emphasizes using a lighthearted repeated rhetorical pattern. Kulikov's energetic illustrations put Webster at the center of every spread by making him larger or brighter than his surroundings. Bib.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2015

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully. Ellen Prentiss learned navigation on her father's trading schooner. When she and her husband took command of a new clipper ship, heading from New York to the California Gold Rush, Ellen smashed the record for shortest voyage around Cape Horn. Fern's nautically infused text rolls with the waves, while McCully's ink and watercolor illustrations reflect the resplendent blues and greens of vast oceans. Glos.

Reviewer: Pam Yosca | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2014

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Boris Kulikov. Barnum Brown was an eccentric dinosaur hunter who, at and around the turn of the last century, amassed a peerless collection of fossilized skeletons for the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The colorful narrative bubbles with Barnum's irrepressible fervor; bright, saturated paintings bring the landscapes of the cultured city and Wild West to vivid life. Bib.

Reviewer: Thom Barthelmess | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2012

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Pau Estrada. When eccentric Florentine goldsmith Filippo "Pippo" Brunelleschi wins a contest to design a dome for the city's cathedral, he gets stuck working with the self-important sculptor Lorenzo. Based on a real fifteenth-century event, the story, played here as gentle farce, doesn't justify the lengthy text. The handsome art, like the writing, is unstinting with architectural details. Bib.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Lauren Castillo. After herds of buffalo are hunted to the brink of extinction during the late 1800s, Molly begins to raise orphaned buffalo on her own. This quiet fictional story is based on fact and the soft illustrations in muted colors will transport readers back in time to the open fields of Texas. An author's note offers more information about the real Molly. Reading list.

Reviewer: Marika Jeffrey