(3) 4-6 Adapting his adult memoir Hands of My Father, Uhlberg conversationally relates his Brooklyn childhood spent navigating between the hearing world and his deaf parents' world of silence. While he is clear about the challenges and occasional embarrassment he faced as his parents' hearing representative to often hostile outsiders, he is equally clear about the love, warmth, and hope in his family, especially in his father.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Ted Papoulas. A family savors a day at Coney Island: the thrill of the roller coaster, the ocean, fireworks. But only the boy can hear them--his parents are deaf. He struggles to describe sounds to his dad; afraid his words are inadequate, he goes to the library. Lush, realistic paintings evoke 1930s Brooklyn and this family's love. A personal author's note adds emotional resonance.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Colin Bootman. Ten-year-old Louis Daniel remembers to grab his brass cornet when his family flees after Hurricane Katrina. In the overcrowded Superdome, Daddy gets separated from the group; Louis plays his horn midfield, and the family is reunited before the book's hopeful ending. The text is stiff, but it uses some powerful imagery; somber oils (and an appended author's note) help convey the storm's devastation. Reading list, websites. Bib.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Colin Bootman. It's 1947, and a boy and his deaf father love going to Brooklyn's Ebbets Field to watch Jackie Robinson play. Bootman's watercolors keenly re-create the sights and sensibility of 1940s Brooklyn, and Uhlberg, who based this story on a real-life incident, wisely underplays the parallel he draws in his author's note between Dad and Robinson, both victims of prejudice.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Henri Sørensen & Henri Sørensen. A boy tells about his father, who is deaf and works in a printing plant; in the 1940s the noisy setting was seen as a perfect spot for deaf workers. Using sign language, his father saves the day when he spots flames inside the plant, communicating the danger to others in the factory. His heroism reinforces the love and respect his son feels for him. Handsome paintings convey the story's emotion.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Sonja Lamut. In a story inspired by the Yiddish tales about the foolish residents of the mythical eastern European village of Chelm, a man named Lemuel seeks to sail to a magical city beyond the horizon only to end up back on his own shores. He wonders, do all villages the world over look the same? The tale is told well, and the illustrations are drawn with energy and conviction.

Reviewer: Amy Lois Cohn

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Lydia Monks. A boy tries various schemes to escape the scary dog next door, including walking on stilts, sailing by with an umbrella, and using a cat for bait (humorous in context). Luckily, the cat makes friends with Mad Dog, leading the boy to try the friendly approach, too. Whimsical collage illustrations accompany the snappy first-person narrative.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert