(2) K-3 Adapted from Farewell to the Farivox by Harry Hartwick. In this story set in 1916 Iowa, ten-year-old Tom is entranced by the rare "farivox" he glimpses inside a stranger's wagon. Impelled by the strange creature's plaintive plea for him to "hurry," Tom races home for money to buy the animal--but in the end he's too late. Masterfully composed watercolors accompany this mystery and parable about environmental concerns.

Reviewer: Mary M. Burns | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2000

(4) 1-3 Illustrated by Diane Kidd. Sam's uncle buys a cafe in rural Nevada, hoping for some peace and quiet. Instead, the cafe is visited by a series of unusual customers, including Santa Claus, Elvis, and Bigfoot, with a frustrated news crew pursuing each guest into the restaurant. Sam's deadpan narration and the comic illustrations are amusing, but with every chapter following the same format, the one-joke premise wears a little thin.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Elsa Warnick. This loosely organized, text-heavy book looks at the migration patterns of various animals, focusing on caribou, lemmings, polar bears, elephants, bison, and nomadic humans. The profiles often explain general life cycle information in greater detail than migration habits. Warnick's soft watercolor illustrations decorate the discussion and add some sense of progression to the narrative.

Reviewer: Emma Loy-Santelli

(1) PS Frazee has set her spirited, highly original version of the timeless lullaby in Appalachia, supplying as protagonist a little girl who has the bright idea of acquiring items from a traveling tinker to distract her howling infant sibling. The strong story line matches the vigorous, muscular layout and robust illustrations perfectly. The sweetest--and definitely savviest--little version of this particular lullaby to date.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 1999

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully. They may have been pirates before, but the two owners of the café called the Spinach Main are peace-loving rabbits now. When a hungry fox threatens their lives, they cook up a clever way to send him packing--without fighting. In her watercolor illustrations, McCully is equally adept at showing the fox's nighttime skullduggery and the sun-splashed scenery of southern France.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Max Grover. As colorful as a box of crayons, Grover's illustrations set Moore's classic Christmas poem in a working class neighborhood. The staid Santa in the pictures doesn't match the "right jolly old elf" of the poem, but the bold, eye-catching palette and chunky, toy-like people and objects will draw readers in.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Michael Steirnagle. Fourteen narrative poems recount the courage of girls--some who grew up to be famous, some who remained unknown--who performed acts of daring, whether saving a train from imminent disaster or simply learning to read. Amelia Earhart, Sacajawea, Rachel Carson, Wilma Rudolph, and Golda Meir are some of the verses' celebrity heroes. Handsome oil paintings rendered in rich colors illustrate the inspiring collection. Bib.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(4) K-3 Several of Aesop's fables are spliced together in a narrative that follows Fox throughout a day as he encounters a variety of animals including Rooster, Boar, Leopard, Lion, and Donkey. The cut-paper illustrations, augmented with airbrushed areas and watercolors, offer an interesting mix of forms and textures. However, the whole is not more than the sum of the parts. The individual fables have a quick one-two punch that's missing in this attempt to connect them.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt