(4) YA In this book based on true events, Samira and her family are Persian refugees during WWI. After her parents' death, Samira and her brother are shuffled among refugee camps. The novel effectively touches on issues of childhood and gender differences within the culture but is hampered by some stilted prose and flat characterizations.

Reviewer: Ashleigh Finn

(4) PS Illustrated by Karen Patkau. As Max and Josephine plant their garden, readers count to ten. At harvest time, readers count by tens. Simple rhythmic sentences describe each crop. This new edition includes synthetic-looking digital illustrations. Extra details (birds, mice, bugs, etc.) are used in a search-and-find at the end. Cross sections of the fruits and vegetables from the garden are also appended.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(1) 1-3 Illustrated by Elsa Myotte. Berta the dachshund lives with nine-year-old Marjory and her parents on their hobby farm. Told from Marjory's inquisitive, matter-of-fact viewpoint, and never resorting to anthropomorphism, the chapter book follows Berta as she helps the family care for a newborn lamb rejected by its mother. Grainy pencil drawings capture the purposefulness in Berta's expression as she nurtures her fleecy charge and, months later, a litter of her own.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2002