(4) K-3 In this appreciation of John Muir, advocate of wilderness preservation and founder of the Sierra Club, a brief text touches on biographical highlights and serves to caption Locker's lush romantic landscape paintings. Each double-page spread includes a quotation from Muir; additional excerpts from his writings are appended on the final page. This is a thin but adequate introduction to Muir's contributions to nature conservation.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo

(4) K-3 A mood poem describing a trek through the wilderness by Thoreau and the appreciation he felt for nature is accompanied by Locker's signature lush landscapes. The book concludes with a page of quotations by Thoreau. This elegantly designed volume will probably appeal mostly to contemplative adults; for children, D. B. Johnson's Henry Hikes to Fitchburg may serve as a better introduction to Thoreau.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(3) K-3 Accompanied by luminous oil paintings of majestic landscapes, Locker's spare, poetic text describes various kinds of mountains and the geological phenomena that created them and continue to shape them. While not an introduction (some knowledge of basic geology is needed), this book will perhaps inspire readers to learn more. Additional scientific information about each type of mountain pictured is appended.

Reviewer: Emma Loy-Santelli

(3) K-3 Locker's painterly style is particularly suited to a picture book about clouds. On each spread, an oil painting shows an expanse of sky, while a brief, poetic text describes the clouds in different seasons or at different times of day: "Soft, rosy spring clouds / flow / in the dawn light. / Veils of mist / rise / in warm sunlight." Factual information about the types of clouds and the way they are formed concludes the attractive volume.

Reviewer: Anne St. John

(3) K-3 Meet the Author series. Photographs by Tim Holmstrom. These autobiographies place special emphasis on motivation: Adler's own interests and those of his family provide the creative spark for his fiction and nonfiction; Bruchac's pride in his Native American heritage informs his writing; and painter/author Locker's respect for nature inspires his stories. Recent and archival photographs and simple but artful prose convey everything from these writers' childhood dilemmas to their artistic frustrations.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Thomas Locker. Thirteen authors, including John Muir, Willa Cather, Joseph Bruchac, and Eloise Greenfield, describe in prose and poetry the landscape of different parts of the country and how it affects their vision of "home." Locker's lush oil paintings capture a sense of each place, from the Pacific Ocean and the southwest to the prairies and New England.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley