(2) K-3 Illustrated by Jeffrey Ebbeler. "There were always Scares in Toadsuck Swamp, but Curly Locks didn't pay 'em much mind." That is, until the Scares--shown as spiky black shadowy things--take up residence in the mayor's house. Neither the boastful, hammer-wielding blacksmith nor the overconfident, lasso-throwing chicken rancher succeeds in driving off the creatures. But Curly Locks, a young Black girl whose passion is cookery (batwing brownies, lizard skin lasagna), suspects the way to a Scare's heart is through its stomach. With a take-charge young protagonist; a tall-tale storyteller's cadence ("the most annoyin' thing about 'em was their hootin' and hollerin'"); and Ebbeler's (A Giant Mess, rev. 5/21) eye-catching mixed-media ­illustrations, this book is a storytime--if not a ­culinary--treat.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2021

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Shane W. Evans. Granna Rabbit is too sick to prepare the Karamu banquet for Kwanzaa. Li'l Rabbit gets a gentle lesson in the holiday's meaning as he searches for something to help his grandmother feel better. The plot is slight but enough to pull young listeners along; Evans's fanciful paintings feature a host of helpful animal characters, each imaginatively dressed and posed along Li'l Rabbit's route.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2010

(3) K-3 Illustrated by James Ransome. Concentrating on western and central Africa, and including various types of stories, such as a trickster story, a pourquoi tale, and a cautionary tale, the storyteller-author provides a rich experience that will be best enjoyed when the tales are read out loud. The oral nature of the stories is evident, but the expressive paintings provide details of life in different African countries. Reading list, source notes.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Jacqueline Rogers. Looking a little like John Henry, the big, strong man in this story fancies that he can do anything, but the catlike creatures in the "big, spooky house" get the best of him. Although this scary tale with its frequent refrain lends itself to storytelling, the text falls a bit flat in the end. The author's note doesn't state any particular origin for this traditional tale, but the detailed watercolors are peopled with nineteenth-century African Americans.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt