(3) K-3 Illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger. Antisocial Estie, overwhelmed by people, would rather imitate animals. As a result, everyone tells her to "be a mensch" ("that means be a person, Es"). During a trip to the zoo, Estie makes a friend by acting like a mensch (in this sense, a kind and selfless person). Colorful round-edged illustrations showing the feisty green-eyed redhead reflect Estie's personal growth.

Reviewer: Amy Kellman

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger. In this story set in Japan "long, long ago," Yohei, his father sick, must sell enough fish to keep them both alive. Nevertheless, when a hungry cat appears, Yohei shares his food. People then begin coming to the house, saying the cat "waved her paw as if to say, 'Come here.'" To accompany Nishizuka's sweetly uncomplicated tale, Litzinger combines several media but keeps the pictures simple.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2009

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger. All of Snail's friends are going to bed, so he's off to wish them good night. Of course at his speed, the sun is coming up before he can finish the job. The mild twist ending will be a funny surprise for some readers. Hip, expansive watercolor, gouache, and colored-pencil pictures of a snail with a little boy's face illustrate the story.

Reviewer: Becky Levine

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger. Originally published as part of his Rootabaga Stories collection, Sandburg's text is a quirky, rhythmic recounting by a father to his daughter about the Dancing Slipper Moon. Litzinger's contribution of rounded country-dwelling characters and swirling nightscapes in watercolor, colored pencil, ink, and gouache makes the deliciously meandering story easier to follow (though some of the nonsense phrasing may still confuse readers).

Reviewer: Hannah Rodgers Barnaby

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger. In Silverman's sprightly new take on an old rhyme, the "wee woman who lived in a shoe" bundles up her many children and pets to search for a more spacious abode. After a perilous journey, they meet a young girl who asks them to live in her dollhouse. Litzinger's eye-catching compositions invite inspection but also encourage readers to turn the pages.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger. Stewig cleverly incorporates an animal alphabet into this Noah's Ark retelling in which biblical details abound. A repetitive pattern adds a pleasing cadence to the text. Litzinger's forms bespeak the heroic with their bulk, the simplicity of their rendering, and their placement close to the picture plane. The story's creative telling and attractive format recommend it to a wide audience.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2007

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger. In this Jewish version of "The Gingerbread Man," a lonely bubbe makes a matzo ball boy in her soup so he can join her for the Passover Seder. But the matzo ball boy runs away--from the bubbe, from the rabbi, etc. The expressive pictures and light, folksy telling strike just the right tone for the story's sly humor.

Reviewer: Lauren Adams | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2005

(4) PS Illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger & Rosanne Litzinger. While a young girl plays, a storm starts with the "pitter, pitter / Plam, plam" of raindrops on the window, building to "rolling, rolling / Bam, bam." The worried child takes refuge in her bed until Mom's reassuring arms calm her. The story is slight, but soft hues of watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil make a soothing home environment while thunder crashes outside.

Reviewer: Hilary Breed Van Dusen

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger & Rosanne Litzinger. In a rhyming text, a small boy is scared of the sounds and shadows in his dark bedroom. He tries hiding from such things as "a creepy monster on the walls" but finally calls for his mother. Mama reveals the true nature of the unnerving images (the monster is really his teddy bear). This well-worn subject will be familiar to many; the outcome will be comforting to some. The richly colored illustrations show not-too-scary creepy things.

Reviewer: Jim St. Claire

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger. When Rudie's babysitter, the "Chicken Soup Queen," gets the flu, he makes her the soup that so often cured him. He makes sure to include her secret ingredient, which is stirring in three very nice stories about the "soon-to-be soup eater." This loving relationship is told in lively prose accompanied by colorful cartoon-style illustrations. Recipes for chicken soup are found at the end of the book.

Reviewer: Amy Kellman

(2) 1-3 Illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger. Little did eleven-year-old Lily know that one pleasant encounter with a mean neighbor would leave her responsible for four yowly cats. After Mr. Freeman dies, Lily has three days to find homes for the cats. Lily is the only one in her building who cares about the mangy lot; but, with the appealing directness that marks her narrative, she sets out to change that. Characters are affectionately sketched, both in the text and the black-and-white artwork.

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

(4) PS Illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger. After attending a birthday party, a toddler and his mother celebrate the world around them by singing "happy to you" to the people, animals, and things they encounter. Daniel wants to say "no" to naptime, but says, "happy to you, naptime" instead. Rounded watercolor illustrations enhance this somewhat sentimental account of a young child's day.

Reviewer: Jim St. Claire

(3) PS Harper Growing Tree series. Illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger. A brief, evocative poem describes the wind one blustery day: "The wind that whirled your hat away / furled a flag / filled a sail / raced a boat / tugged a kite / tweaked its tail...." Like the text, the artwork encourages page-turning; after pursuing her hat across the carefree, summery illustrations, a smiling girl holds the hat on her head on the last page.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger. In this Hungarian version of "The Golden Goose," a flute-playing shepherd boy wins the hand of an ailing princess who must laugh to be cured. The sight of the boy leading a risible procession of serving maid, baker woman, and priest, all of whom are stuck to his little golden lamb, does the trick. Greene's storytelling style is at once classic and relaxed, and the illustrations, in a soft, springtime palette, are fittingly buoyant.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2000

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger. When an old woman knocks on her door looking for a place to sleep, cantankerous Griselda reluctantly allows her in. In return, the woman gives Griselda a kerchief, which she claims brings riches. And Griselda soon finds herself overcome, not by money, but by her own generous behavior. Both the good-natured story and the pastel-colored art incorporate traditional fairy tale elements.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2000

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger. In this adaptation of a southern African tale, a magical song bird helps young Mariamu steal back her village's cattle from the cruel monster Makucha. The flat perspectives and rainbow palette of the watercolor and colored pencil illustrations are a pleasing match for this traditional tale. Music for the Tanzanian tune used in the story and a glossary of Swahili words are provided.

Reviewer: Pamela McCuen

(2) K-3 Good-hearted Donald O'Dell rescues a drowning leprechaun and is offered a gift of gold. When Donald refuses, the leprechaun leads him (via a stray cow) to the cottage where lovely, lonely, golden-haired Maureen lives. "There's more than one kind of gold in the world," says the leprechaun. The full-sized illustrations--with their uncluttered compositions and slightly bug-eyed characters--will show up well at story hours.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger. Rupa and the villagers believe that it is her act of tromping around the morning fire with her rooster crying "Ki-ki-ri-ki" that raises the sun. So the morning Rupa wakes with a blister on her toe and asks for a vacation, the village elders must hold tryouts to find someone new to raise the sun. Younger children may enjoy the silliness of these obviously misguided characters and their puppet-like faces drawn with sunny opaque watercolors.

Reviewer: Jennifer Polshek

(4) PS Harper Growing Tree series. A slight but rhythmic text captures the fun of a classic toddler chasing-and-hiding game. Big, whimsical illustrations on sturdy pages add to the appeal. The ending--in which the young child is finally caught (in a big hug by mom) is nice in concept but weak in execution, with the shift in scene feeling slightly illogical.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.