(4) K-3 I Like to Read series. With each page turn, readers see what a boy observes outside. Brief, purposefully repetitive sentences pair with full-spread illustrations: "I see a bird," for example, accompanies a lifelike perched pigeon. There's no plot and little specificity (various vehicles are all "a truck"), but Lewin's sun-dappled, detail-rich art invites closer inspection, and the story's unexpected meta ending may spark conversations about artistic observation and inspiration.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(3) 4-6 Sharing small snippets from over forty years of their travels, the Lewins give readers glimpses of lion attacks, peculiarities of various outhouses, bargaining in a Moroccan bazaar, a roll call of the highly poisonous animals in Australia, and scary encounters with combatants in Africa. Armchair travelers will enjoy browsing through this compilation, generously illustrated with personal photographs and the Lewins' own sketches. Ind.

Reviewer: Betty Carter

(4) K-3 I Like to Read series. Very short sentences describe tasks of different working animals, including donkeys, oxen, and elephants. The lack of parallel structure and some uneven repetition is rather disorienting in an easy reader with so little text. Pencil and watercolor illustrations featuring many settings (world map appended) add a strong element of multiculturalism; final spreads show a boy and his friendly pet cat.

Reviewer: Miriam Steinberg-Egeth

(4) K-3 I Like to Read series. Lewin camouflages an animal for youngsters to find in each of eleven rainforest scenes. The language ("I am a reptile. Can you see me?") is largely, and appropriately, repetitive, but the challenge of decoding the key word before finding the animal in the illustration adds an extra burden to the target audience of beginning readers. A picture guide with species names is appended.

Reviewer: Betty Carter

(3) K-3 I Like to Read series. First shown a small snippet of an animal, young readers use their observation skills and knowledge to uncover the five animal and habitat pairs (e.g., a lion in the grassland) presented on the following pages. The short, simple question-and-answer sentences lend themselves to beginning readers trying to boost their skills. The pencil and watercolor illustrations are naturalistic and finely detailed.

Reviewer: Julie Bartynski-Fenner

(3) K-3 I Like to Read series. Lewin's trademark pencil and watercolor illustrations capture the realistic characteristics of African animals as a little boy imagines his toy animals are alive and on the move: "Look! An elephant eats. / Look! Giraffes drink." The engaging pictures paired with the sparse, repetitive text offer an accessible narrative for animal-loving kids brand-new to reading.

Reviewer: Sheila M. Geraty

(2) K-3 Fledgling puffins journeying from their nests to the sea are confused by nighttime lights from towns. In Iceland, on the island of Heimaey, children take part in a generations-old puffin search-and-rescue tradition. As they tour the island with researchers, then join a night patrol, the Lewins capture the beauty of the landscape and the awkwardly amusing appeal of the birds.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2012

(3) K-3 Using firmly drafted paintings with saturated colors and muted edges, Lewin pictures first the historical roots and then the present-day incarnation of a riding stable in Brooklyn. In natural and unobtrusive narration, he describes the equine and human characters inhabiting the stable and the special circumstances of city-dwelling horses. A final question looks to the future of this community landmark.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(2) K-3 In Mysore in southern India, elephants are featured in the annual Dasara festival procession. The Lewins describe Balarama's triumphant first appearance as procession leader. Pageantry and noble beasts alike are vividly realized in Ted Lewin's signature watercolors, while Betsy Lewin's agile drawings add deft characterizations, lively action, and humor. It's a gorgeous glimpse at a continuing custom. "Elephant Facts" are appended. Glos.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2010

(2) K-3 This book focuses on a horse race during the Naadam festival in Mongolia, in which boys gallop their stallions fourteen miles across the Gobi Desert. The text, accompanied by some nimbly sketched spot art, offers a vivid picture of this traditional culture. Watercolor expanses feature desert vistas, horses in action, and sympathetic portraits of the Mongolian people at home and work. Glos.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2008

(3) 4-6 This book focuses on the training of nine-year-old Sugar Boy Younan, 2006 National Silver Gloves Champion. Lewin's spare text re-creates the sounds, smells, and sights of Brooklyn's Gleason's Gym, where Muhammad Ali and Jake La Motta also trained. Bold, expansive illustrations alternate with tight, shadowy sketches, adding dimension and intensity to Sugar Boy's story and painting a dynamic picture of his surroundings. Glos.

Reviewer: Luther B. Clegg

(3) K-3 The celebrated husband and wife team is off on another adventure, this time to the wilder parts of Australia, where Ted's signature lush watercolors are paired with Betsy's quicker, sketchier paintings. The lively, sometimes funny, travel-journal text concentrates on the flora and fauna encountered by the two. Additional information on some of the animals is found at book's end.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(2) 4-6 Each of these fourteen tales about Lewin's suspenseful, often terrifying, and sometimes funny wild animal encounters is prefaced with a map and followed by a note with additional information. Watercolors and photos portray people, animals, geographical features, and modes of transport, enriching the travel-diary quality of the text. This is outstanding nature storytelling; it's even better when read aloud. Glos.

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

(2) K-3 Detailed watercolors follow the quest of archaeologist Hiram Bingham, who, in his 1911 search for the legendary Incan city of Vilcapampa, discovered "a place even more amazing"--Machu Picchu. Lewin draws on Bingham's journal for this account of the grueling expedition to the Andes. This evocative glimpse will complement other more substantive materials about Machu Picchu, its builders, and its inhabitants.

Reviewer: Margaret A. Bush | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2003

(3) K-3 The young narrator describes a typical Saturday at his father's Chinese takeout restaurant. The realistic watercolor illustrations, based on photos of this actual Brooklyn restaurant, offer an insider's view of the tasks performed by the narrator and his relatives. The book is well conceived and designed, from its reproduced-menu endpapers to the funny self-portraits of Lewin enjoying his favorite Chinese dish (recipe included).

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 After roll call and breakfast with other soldiers in his Union camp, nine-year-old Stephen drums his company into a battle. A stray bullet hits the drummer boy, and he dies on the battlefield. On the last page, Lewin reveals that Stephen is actually a contemporary boy participating in a Civil War reenactment with his father. Lewin's realistic watercolors add authenticity to this dramatic interpretation of historical events.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(2) K-3 In search of African elephants in Botswana, the Lewins provide careful observations of animals in their habitats that lend insight into animal behaviors and survival tactics. Throughout, a cheerful tone combines with reverence for the beauty and variety of nature. Betsy Lewin's humorous, emotive sketches and Ted Lewin's full-page paintings illustrate their encounters.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2001

(2) 4-6 The walk to view mountain gorillas in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest of Uganda is rigorous, to say the least. Through handsome paintings and carefully focused text, the Lewins recount their 1997 venture into Bwindi, offering intriguing glimpses of both the rarely seen animals and the ambiguities of ecotourism. Concluding pages offer quick facts on physical characteristics and behavior. Ind.

Reviewer: Margaret A. Bush | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 1999

(4) K-3 While walking with his grandfather through the markets of Fez, Morocco, Abdul notes how much better their own job is than the ones done by others. Mid-book, the two stop to set up shop--they earn their keep by storytelling. Watercolors capture the life of the city, but the travelogue-like text would have benefited greatly from a dose of the storyteller's magic.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.