(3) K-3 Illustrated by Giovanni Manna. Selected by Laura Manaresi. Relaxing watercolor illustrations accompany excerpts from Walden, arranged as a condensed year-in-the-life snapshot of Thoreau. Single- and double-page spreads depict the peaceful Walden Pond setting and Thoreau's small cabin both inside and out. The text is often set apart on a white background, embellished with an occasional leaf or woodland creature. An introduction provides context for the selected excerpts.

Reviewer: Renée Wheeler

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Giovanni Manna. Kipling's famous 1909 poem, an inspirational address to his young son (who would soon die in WWI), is given picture-book packaging. It's a mature work--tonally, conceptually, linguistically--and kids may struggle further with line breaks and page turns, but Manna's imposing watercolor scenes of a little boy cloud-gazing, scaling a cliff, and planting a tree in a barren wasteland are inspiration enough.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(3) PS Illustrated by Giovanni Manna. This enjoyable rhyme, which highlights opposites, follows the daily routine of a family, beginning with waking up in the morning and ending at bedtime with "Pull up the covers, / roll down the sheet. / The moon is awake, / but the house is asleep." The richly colored illustrations expand a great deal on the story outlined in the rhyme.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Giovanni Manna. Nervous about becoming a page in a castle, Tom is cheered by stories about the deeds of famous knights from around the world. Tom's story merely frames the seven legends, which introduce mostly unfamiliar knights, including Gushtasp of Persia, Yogodayu of Japan, and Perronik of Brittany. The retellings are a little flat, but the puffy shapes and light colors used in the watercolors give the volume a spirited look.

Reviewer: Anne St. John

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Giovanni Manna. These poems, accompanied by comfortable watercolor illustrations, present an interesting array of perspectives on time, although some fit more neatly into the theme than others. Pat Moon's "Earth's Clock" compares the earth's history to a twenty-four-hour time span, while Derek Walcott remembers warm August days of his youth in "Midsummer, Tobago," and Jack Prelutsky humorously plays with traveling backward in time in "Today I'm Going Yesterday."

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(4) PS Illustrated by Giovanni Manna. Beginning with "I'm a circle, you're a square," a boy and girl imagine each other as wild and tame, young and old, tree and flower, etc. (not all are opposites). Surrealistic watercolor illustrations depict the children "morphing" into different objects; each image is framed with smaller images to create a fine graphic presentation. However, the back-and-forth switch between who is "me" and who is "you" is jarring.

Reviewer: CHristine Sarrazin