(3) 4-6 Sterling Biographies series. Each title opens with an introduction that arouses compassion and interest for the featured subject. Succeeding chapters present chronological biographies, with vivid portrayals of daily life, culture, and the impact an expanding America had on the individual and his or her people. Paintings, drawings, and occasional photographs combine with detail-rich sidebars and maps to provide a cumulatively engaging, accessible history lesson. Timeline, websites. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these Sterling Biographies titles: Sacagawea, Chief Joseph,Pocahontas, Sitting Bull, Geronimo, and Tecumseh.

Reviewer: Tamara DePasquale

(4) 4-6 Woodrow befriends his new next-door neighbor Senator Crawford, hoping to find a father figure. The boy quickly learns that friendship comes with a price--membership in the Ku Klux Klan. The story's resolution is too abrupt, but the hold the Klan had on a small 1920s Oklahoma town is described in a terrifying and historically accurate narrative.

Reviewer: Lauren Aimonette LIang

(3) 4-6 Sterling Biographies series. Attractive layouts and numerous images of photos, paintings, documents, etc., (e.g., Armstrong's high school yearbook entry) make for engaging, easy-to-approach biographies. Each volume begins by detailing a significant moment (Alamo for Crockett, moon landing for Armstrong, underwater anniversary party for Cousteau) then backtracks to the subject's birth to continue the detail-rich narrative. Sidebars flesh out historical contexts and important contemporaries. Source notes. Timeline. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these Sterling Biographies titles: Neil Armstrong, Jacques Cousteau, and Davy Crockett.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(4) K-3 Stepping Stone True Stories series. Illustrated by Michael Langham Rowe. Short chapters with average illustrations focus on wild horses such as the Assateague ponies, the brumbies of Australia, British Exmoors, and Mongolian wild horses. The examples jump from country to country and from era to era with neither maps nor timelines to offer context, but the simple, repetitive sentence structures support young readers.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(4) 1-3 Stepping Stone series. Illustrated by Jared Lee. When Stevie arrives for his first summer at Camp Viper, he's in for a horrible surprise: it's not a Viper computer software camp, it's a snake camp! Quick thinking allows him to pass off an imaginary snake pal for a while, until a friendly Smooth Green Snake changes his attitude. The plot is thin, but in general the short chapters, illustrated with Lee's well-matched humorous cartoons, are funny.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(4) 1-3 Stepping Stone series. Illustrated by Guy Francis. Adam Sharp, a grade-school secret agent, investigates why cargo ships are mysteriously sinking all over the world. He discovers they're being attacked by mechanical sharks controlled by General Menace. Cartoony art, with Adam always wearing a tuxedo--even while scuba diving--and a glib prose style make this a fast read, but most early readers won't know the James Bond genre being spoofed.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(4) K-3 Road to Reading series. Illustrated by Michael Langham Rowe. Short chapters with average illustrations describe and picture horses living wild such as the Assateague ponies, the brumbies of Australia, British Exmoors, and the Mongolian wild horses. The examples jump from country to country and from era to era with neither maps nor time lines to offer context, but the simple, repetitive sentence structures support young readers.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(4) 1-3 Road to Reading series. Illustrated by Jared Lee. When Stevie arrives for his first summer at Camp Viper, he's in for a horrible surprise: it's not a Viper computer software camp, it's a snake camp! Quick thinking allows him to pass off an imaginary snake pal for a while, until a friendly Smooth Green Snake changes his attitude. The plot is somewhat thin, but in general the short chapters, illustrated with Lee's well-matched humorous cartoons, are funny.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam