(3) K-3 Small World series. Illustrated by Francesca D'Ottavi. "The little honeybee settles in the heart of a daisy's unfurling petals." In elegant text that verges on poetic, this is the story of a worker bee's life through the seasons, with information about queens, drones, diets, and structures along the way. The factually accurate narrative is illustrated with zoomed-in, neon-bright photorealistic illustrations; sidebar bubbles on each spread give additional information.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian

(4) K-3 Small World series. Illustrated by Francesca D'Ottavi. Behavior, defense mechanisms, and life stages--from egg through larva, pupa, and adult beetle--are accurately explained as readers follow a single ladybug. Though information is clear, the poetic narration personifies the insect ("the brave little beetle"), and almost always uses the diminutive "little" before the noun. Bright, zoomed-in digital illustrations of a small world in large scale follow the text closely.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian

(4) YA Art Masters series. Illustrated by Simone Boni & Francesca D'Ottavi. These revised large-format art books place their subjects in historical, social, cultural, and stylistic context. The pages are busy; each double-page spread addresses one aspect in a short main paragraph, then also includes sidebars, captions for the many color reproductions, and usually a central illustration. There's a lot of good information, but the books' organization is rather loose. Timeline, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Art Masters titles: The Art of the Renaissance, Van Gogh, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Leonardo da Vinci, and The Impressionists.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz