(2) 4-6 Adapted by Jack Zipes. Translated by Jack Zipes. Sculptures and photographs by Shaun Tan. In a book-lover's book with riveting art and tantalizing story-bites, each of seventy-five double-page spreads includes, on the verso, a quote from one of the Grimms' tales, translated by Zipes; and, on the recto, a full-page photograph by Tan of a sculpture he has created to power-drive the story. An afterword on Tan's medium and process completes this thoughtful compendium. Reading list.

Reviewer: Betsy Hearne | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2016

(2) K-3 With dramatic images and minimal narrative, Evans projects a "we-are-there" experience of escaping slaves. White stars stand out against a richly textured midnight blue, as do the triangular whites of the fugitives' eyes and the bold white typeface itself; a golden sun rises on the final view of freedom. Adults discussing black history with five- and six-year-olds can use this visually intense evocation.

Reviewer: Betsy Hearne | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2011

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Sean Qualls. In alternating chapters, three preadolescent African American narrators--Hibernia, Otis, and Willie--reveal their deep private pain. As their lives intersect during the year before Joe Louis wins his heavyweight championship fight, the three young people prove resilient and receptive to friendship. Despite its serious issues, a humorous tone ripples throughout this well-researched, well-voiced historical novel. Reading list.

Reviewer: Betsy Hearne | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2011

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Jill Pinkwater. Beautiful blue-eyed chicken Yetta, being trucked to slaughter, escapes her fate and lands in Brooklyn. After saving a wild parrot, she's adopted by its Spanish-speaking green-feathered colony. Jill Pinkwater's hues squawk off the pages with riotous energy. In addition to straightforward lines of text, the narrative plays out with ballooned dialogue in English and Yiddish (later, English and Spanish), with phonetic pronunciations.

Reviewer: Betsy Hearne | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2010

(2) YA In 1981, eighteen-year-old Fergus finds a body of a girl from the Iron Age in the bog between Northern Ireland and the Republic. He dreams about her while struggling to focus on exams as his brother, a political prisoner, begins a hunger strike. Parallel themes of sacrifice and resurrection dominate the book's imagery, and the suspense sustains momentum. An author's note gives background.

Reviewer: Betsy Hearne | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2008

(2) 4-6 With Marc Aronson. Nelson follows clues, from song lyrics to census data, engineering reports, and prison records, tracking a folk hero who originated in the reality of 1870s racial injustice. Sepia historical photographs on buff paper, with scarlet captions and occasional overlays, depict the setting and cast for this gripping, meticulously documented saga. Reading list, websites. Ind.

Reviewer: Betsy Hearne | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2008

(2) 4-6 In these nine anecdotes, Siegal recalls summers on her grandmother's Ukrainian farm. Her experiences include cooking (recipes are appended), mushroom hunting, and feather plucking. Though the setting is pre-Holocaust, there's already tension between Christians and Jews; the book's last paragraph tells Babi's fate. Siegal is notably able to project characters vividly, to write simply without condescension, and to interweave themes without preaching.

Reviewer: Betsy Hearne | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2008

(1) 4-6 J.J. Liddy (The New Policeman), now grown up, is the guardian of a changeling named Jenny. Jenny, J.J.'s son, and an aged neighbor work to protect the world from a púka (mythical goat). Thompson's rich portrayal of family benefits from folkloric play on trickster motifs and otherworld creatures. Resonantly Irish, Thompson's storytelling still easily leaps geographical and cultural boundaries. Glos.

Reviewer: Betsy Hearne | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2008

(3) 4-6 In this picaresque fantasy set after civilization has self-destructed and partially recovered, a traveling circus tries to procure a converter for the city of Solis, which is running out of power. Mahy juggles an ambitiously large number of characters, settings, crises, lucky escapes, and imaginative marvels (though there are some occasional contradictory details). The journey's extended tension will lure action fans.

Reviewer: Betsy Hearne | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2007

(1) 4-6 Time is leaking out of the human world and into the timeless land of Tír na n'Óg. The book's complex plot features alternating narratives, enigmatic subplots, and a large cast. The story sometimes gets a bit crowded but winds into a suspenseful climax. For those who appreciate an original twist on authentic lore, this will be spellbinding. Glos.

Reviewer: Betsy Hearne | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2007

(2) YA Reef explores the interaction of events and poetry to portray a man whose story would not be complete without an understanding of both. She makes clear that the king of experimental poetry was deeply grounded in the very structure he subverted. Black-and-white photographs vivify the facts, while the spacious format gives Cummings's words room to spread out. List of major works, source notes. Bib., glos., ind.

Reviewer: Betsy Hearne | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2006

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Barry Moser. This story incorporates some authentically scary motifs from African-American oral tradition. The plot pits a capriciously vituperative witch, Wee Winnie, against Uncle Big Anthony, who's considerably diminished in the process. Moser's fierce illustrations reflect a reality of historical suffering. Give this book to kids who beg to be chilled and thrilled--but be sure they mean it.

Reviewer: Betsy Hearne | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2004

(2) YA Illustrated by Philippe Lardy. Nelson represents the story of Emmett Till's brutal murder in 1955 in a complex heroic crown of sonnets, a sequence of fifteen interlinked sonnets. The elegant formality of the text, with its subtle power of tone and diction, is accentuated by Lardy's stylized, symbolically abstracted illustrations.

Reviewer: Betsy Hearne | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2005

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Maurice Sendak. After the opera by Hans Krása and Adolf Hoffmeister. This collaboration re-creates the story line of a Czech opera written by a concentration camp inmate and performed there by children whom the Nazis later murdered. The text is bursting with sound effects, including libretto verse and surprise narrative rhyming. Viewers familiar with the artist's work will recognize pieces of Sendakian iconography and stagecraft throughout. At whatever level it's absorbed, this publishing event emanates a unique magnetic quality.

Reviewer: Betsy Hearne | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2004