(3) K-3 Holiday House Readers: Nonfiction series. Illustrated by Diane Dawson Hearn. This book explores the plant and animal life in the world's rainforests, breaking them down into specific forest layers. The easy-reader text uses vocabulary that is basic enough for beginning readers while also incorporating content-area words (understory, epiphytes). Acrylics-painted illustrations show dozens of plants and animals. Two pages comparing and contrasting tropic and temperate rainforests are appended.

Reviewer: Becky Levine

(3) K-3 Holiday House Readers series. Illustrated by Jacqueline Rogers. Lighthearted, realistic illustrations enliven this easy-to-read history of automobiles, from horseless carriages to gas-powered motorcars to today's fuel efficient hybrid cars. Levinson includes discussion of famous inventors, such as Gottlieb Daimler and Henry Ford, as well as how cars have changed and improved daily life. Timeline. Glos.

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(3) K-3 I Can Read Book series. Illustrated by Stacey Schuett. Betsy is thrilled to learn that a family new to the Nebraska prairie includes a girl her age. She feels rebuffed when Emmeline is unenthusiastic about the cornhusk doll that she has made for her, but by the end of the day, during which the girls hunt for berries, play tag, and get lost, they are fast friends. With its short chapters and engaging color art, this book is a fine introduction to frontier life for beginning readers.

Reviewer: Anne St. John

(2) K-3 Holiday House Readers series. Illustrated by Diane Dawson Hearn. Climates, inhabitants, and weather at the Poles are ably conveyed through straightforward text and pleasantly cool-toned illustrations. Levinson uses the beginning reader format to great advantage with simple sentence structures that nevertheless convey solid information. Labels set within the illustrations identify cold weather animals and add even more reason to scrutinize the pictures. A list of facts is appended.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2003

(2) 4-6 A businesslike biography of the great explorer, navigator, and adventurer presents him as a man of action who overcame political, social, and financial obstacles to sail around the globe. Levinson draws on a plethora of primary and secondary sources; the clarity with which she presents the facts is one of the book's strengths. Charts, maps, reproductions, and photos illustrate the book. Appended are a chronology and source notes. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Mary M. Burns | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2002

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Diane Dawson Hearn. Newly independent readers will appreciate the simple text of this nonfiction easy reader, which provides a good introduction to the terrain and to the wildlife and plants that thrive in Death Valley. The illustrations are clear and attractive, and plants and animals are labeled; unfortunately, the artwork makes many of the labels difficult to read.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee