(3) K-3 Illustrated by Kristina Swarner. A Jewish midrash, or Rabbinic legend, is recast as a bedtime story offering an explanation of the indentation above a child's lip and an imaginative description of a guardian angel, who whispers the world's secrets to each new child. Mixed-media illustrations, with objects floating in a Chagallian landscape, serve as an intermediary between the sometime high-flown language and child readers.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Stephen Fieser. In nine tales, divided into three sections--the Kingdoms of Angels, Spirits, and Demons--Schwartz uses spare and rhythmic language to create a haunting and haunted mood that unsettles here, calms there. He frequents ancient and modern cultures in his search for "the best supernatural tales." The illustrations capture dramatic moments in the lives of the mortals with whom the otherworldly creatures interact.

Reviewer: Susan P. Bloom | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2002