(2) K-3 Illustrated by Wendell Minor. The author asks readers to extrapolate from the life cycle of a single female Galápagos tortoise, Giantess George, to the development of the species as a whole. She and other tortoises are swept away to different islands in a storm; over thousands of years, they evolve into different subspecies. Minor's painterly illustrations showcase the changing setting and the magnificence of the tortoises. Reading list, timeline, websites. Glos.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2014

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by John Hendrix. In 1858, Yup'ik Eskimo Toozak unwittingly tells American whalers where they can spear bowhead whales, bringing down a curse on his family and forcing Toozak and his progeny to protect one whale throughout its approximately two-hundred-year lifespan. George blends the whale's sea life with Toozak's descendants' lives on land. Coincidences mar the account, but the resurrection of the whale population is nicely told.

Reviewer: Betty Carter

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Wendell Minor. Glorious paintings illustrate this satisfying story of the attempts to save the American bald eagle from extinction. George provides a short history of the species and the threat to its existence from DDT pesticide. A young boy who watches over an experiment where two eagles in Yellowstone adopt a healthy egg imported from Alaska provides structure and personalizes the account.

Reviewer: Betty Carter

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Steve Johnson & Lou Fancher. Hunter collects a pile of stones--a gift for Grammy. "What do I do with a pile of stones?" she wonders. Over the next few days, everyone who visits Grammy has a use for them: paperweight, directional signal, necklace, skipping stone. Warm acrylic, pencil, and collage illustrations reflect Hunter and Grammy's loving relationship and enhance this sweet story.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Wendell Minor. In George's compact ecodrama, we first see the buffalo slaughtered to decimate the Indians and open the prairie to settlers. Moving to the somber Dust Bowl migrants, we then turn to the reversal: the discovery, instigated by President Theodore Roosevelt, of three hundred remaining wild buffalo. With illustrations that both document and dramatize, it's another small triumph from a seasoned team. Websites. Bib.

Reviewer: Barbara Bader | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2010

(3) 4-6 With Twig C. George, John C. George, and T. Luke George. Based on George's classic novel My Side of the Mountain, this nonfiction paperback guide includes sections on camping, animal tracks, edible plants, and birdsongs. Sketches and quotes from the novel are sprinkled throughout, but the bulk of the guide consists of clear, simple information that forms a thorough introduction to life in the outdoors. Perfect for intrepid explorers, from backyard to backwoods. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Hannah Rodgers Barnaby

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Wendell Minor. Nanuq, an adult polar bear, visits an Arctic village. Young Tigluk hears her call to follow, so he and his grandmother travel to rescue Nanuq's cub from a shrinking ice floe. George, rather manipulatively, pulls out all the stops here, making it impossible not to feel an emotional response to devastating effects of global warming. Minor's illustrations portray an irresistibly adorable cub doomed by the effects of climate change.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Tom Pohrt. Abandoned feline Rachet adapts to the feral cats of Roxville Station--and cautiously bonds with Mike, an orphan boy. After clawing her way to top-cat rank at the station, Rachet becomes Mike's "outside pet." Meanwhile, in George's practiced manner, the other cats go their various ways, all easily followed in Pohrt's bird's-eye view of the town and seen close-up in his drawings.

Reviewer: Barbara Bader | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2009

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Wendell Minor. George presents the results of the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone's ecosystem through the eyes of a wolf pup as he encounters the park's diverse flora and fauna. Minor's illustrations capture the joy of springtime promise, putting readers at eye level with our wolf pup as he traverses the lushly green environment and interacts with other park life. Websites. Bib.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2008

(3) K-3 I Can Read Book series. Illustrated by Priscilla Lamont. A boy finds an egg, and the goose that hatches thinks the boy is its mother. Then the goose finds a duck who thinks the goose is its mother. The three do everything together until nature takes its course and the birds return to their flocks ("That's how it is with birds"). Warm illustrations echo the story's affection.

Reviewer: Susan Halperin

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Daniel San Souci. In this second picture book spin-off of My Side of the Mountain, weasel Baron tries to steal Oksi's babies for his own youngsters' meal. Sam Gribley helps protect the falcons, though he doesn't stop being friends with Baron. Although the text meanders, the shades-of-gray message is refreshing. San Souci's illustrations add beauty and dimension to the woodland scenes.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg

(4) 4-6 Inspired by a legend that ravens can cure illness, Charlie captures a baby raven and brings it to his ailing grandfather, a retired naturalist. Grandfather and grandson study Blue Sky's often mysterious behavior in a novel whose plot is overwhelmed by its detailed accounting of raven life. Still, George's clear prose and simple line drawings should appeal to young nature lovers.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(4) K-3 Outdoor Adventures series. Illustrated by Wendell Minor. A new snowfall has Axel eager to go snowboarding, but not until he, his father (a snow patrol officer), and their dog assess the potential for avalanches. Kelly, Axel's snowboarding rival, triggers an avalanche but is saved by a warning from the dog. The physics of snow stability are awkwardly explained in the story. The versatile and realistic illustrations show action and landscape.

Reviewer: Hilary Breed Van Dusen

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Wendell Minor. In this edge-of-your-seat adventure, Axel and his dog, alone in a kayak, follow his aunt and uncle's raft through the treacherous waters of Salmon River's Middle Fork in Idaho. They survive a majestic but harrowing encounter with a raging forest fire (artfully interpreted by Minor), and the grownups comfort Axel with a promise to return next summer to see the forest undergoing regeneration.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Daniel San Souci. Frightful, the falcon who appeared in the author's My Side of the Mountain trilogy, returns in a picture book. Now the focus is on her hatchling, Oksi, who "did things her own way" and ends up wintering in the north with young Sam Gribley. Though well illustrated, the text is wordy and overwritten, suggesting that Oksi's story would also be better suited for a novel than a picture book.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Ted Rand. In this picture book, adapted from a sequel to Julie of the Wolves, Julie's brother Amaroq raises a wolf pup, Nutik, and his heart is broken when Nutik must return to the pack. Rand's realistic illustrations depict native Alaskan life and Amaroq's growing relationship with the wolf pup; they show as well Amaroq's joy when Nutik chooses to stay with his human family instead.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Ted Rand. When Amaroq, a young Eskimo boy, follows Nutik, his pet wolf pup, out onto the tundra in search of his football taken by the village pranksters, he gets lost. But Nutik's good nose finds not only the ball but the way home again. The intense colors in the pastel and painted illustrations depict the northern Alaskan summer in this story featuring characters from the Julie of the Wolves books.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Sue Truesdell. These informative, good-natured guides to pet behavior emphasize the importance of learning the ways in which pets communicate emotions through their actions, facial expressions, and body positions. The combination of photos of the author and cartoony illustrations of animals works against the factual insistence of the texts; however, the illustrations are for the most part skillful at capturing familiar animal expressions.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2000

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Paul Meisel. These informative, good-natured guides to pet behavior emphasize the importance of learning the ways in which pets communicate emotions through their actions, facial expressions, and body positions. The combination of photos of the author and cartoony illustrations of animals works against the factual insistence of the texts; however, the illustrations are for the most part skillful at capturing familiar animal expressions.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2000

(3) 4-6 My Side of the Mountain (1959), On the Far Side of the Mountain (1990), and Frightful's Mountain (1999)--the three novels about Sam Gribley and his survival in the wilderness--are collected here in one volume. Though somewhat unwieldly, the book will be appreciated by fans of the trilogy. Reviews 10/59, 7/90.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander