(4) K-3 American Girls Collection series. Filled with photographs and illustrations, this useful resource successfully combines folktales, history, and bits of cultural information on the northwestern Nez Perce tribe in the mid-eighteenth century. While the references to Kaya, a fictional American Girls character, are distracting, the presentation will attract browsers as well as those doing school reports. Glos.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee

(4) 4-6 American Girls Collection series. Filled with photos and drawings, this is a useful resource on America during the 1930s. Each chapter traces an aspect of life, from economics to the weather to popular culture. The link to Kit Kittredge, the American Girls character, is a bit tenuous, and the fictional asides seem forced, but readers will enjoy looking through the busy, oversize pages.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee

(4) 1-3 American Girls Collection series. Illustrated by Jean-Paul Tibbles & Susan McAliley. Warned to be on her best behavior when accompanying her rancher father to visit an elderly shepherd, Josefina nonetheless contradicts her father after he decides the shepherd must retire. An accident provides a chance for both Josefina and the shepherd to prove their trustworthiness. American Girls fans will best appreciate this formulaic short story set in 1824. A craft is appended. Glos.

Reviewer: Anne St. John

(4) 1-3 American Girls Collection series. Illustrated by Walter Rane & Susan McAliley. Living cheerfully through the Depression is the theme of these formulaic series entries. Kit runs off to experience hobo life in the rather unrealistic Saves. She uses her writing skills to bring attention to homeless children in Changes. In Birthday, everybody celebrates the old-fashioned way. The idealized paintings add to the glossy look at the era, but the appended historical sections add authenticity. [Review covers these American Girls Collection titles: Changes for Kit; Happy Birthday, Kit!; Kit Saves the Day.]

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) 1-3 American Girls Collection series. Illustrated by Walter Rane & Susan McAliley. Living cheerfully through the Depression is the theme of these formulaic series entries. Kit runs off to experience hobo life in the rather unrealistic Saves. She uses her writing skills to bring attention to homeless children in Changes. In Birthday, everybody celebrates the old-fashioned way. The idealized paintings add to the glossy look at the era, but the appended historical sections add authenticity. [Review covers these American Girls Collection titles: Changes for Kit; Happy Birthday, Kit!; Kit Saves the Day.]

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) 1-3 American Girls Collection series. Illustrated by Walter Rane & Susan McAliley. Living cheerfully through the Depression is the theme of these formulaic series entries. Kit runs off to experience hobo life in the rather unrealistic Saves. She uses her writing skills to bring attention to homeless children in Changes. In Birthday, everybody celebrates the old-fashioned way. The idealized paintings add to the glossy look at the era, but the appended historical sections add authenticity. [Review covers these American Girls Collection titles: Changes for Kit; Happy Birthday, Kit!; Kit Saves the Day.]

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) 1-3 American Girls Collection series. Illustrated by Walter Rane & Susan McAliley. It's 1932 and Kit's father has been forced to close his car dealership. In these formulaic but readable stories, Kit learns to adapt to her family's new economic status. In the historical sections at the end of each book, the Depression does take on more authentic dimensions, but Kit's problems never seem real. The idealized paintings add to the glossy surface look at the era.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) 1-3 American Girls Collection series. Illustrated by Walter Rane & Susan McAliley. It's 1932 and Kit's father has been forced to close his car dealership. In these formulaic but readable stories, Kit learns to adapt to her family's new economic status. In the historical sections at the end of each book, the Depression does take on more authentic dimensions, but Kit's problems never seem real. The idealized paintings add to the glossy surface look at the era.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) 1-3 American Girls Collection series. Illustrated by Walter Rane & Susan McAliley. It's 1932 and Kit's father has been forced to close his car dealership. In these formulaic but readable stories, Kit learns to adapt to her family's new economic status. In the historical sections at the end of each book, the Depression does take on more authentic dimensions, but Kit's problems never seem real. The idealized paintings add to the glossy surface look at the era.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) 4-6 American Girls Collection series. The popular dolls' fictional stories introduce each time period, but these large-size books are in fact lavishly illustrated accounts of life in the past. Most of the history is told through captioned photos of historical objects (toys, tools, clothing) and illustrations, though the lines between fact and the fictional characters are sometimes confusingly blurred. The topics will be of particular interest to the series' fans, but all ages will enjoy browsing.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee

(4) 4-6 American Girls Collection series. The popular dolls' fictional stories introduce each time period, but these large-size books are in fact lavishly illustrated accounts of life in the past. Most of the history is told through captioned photos of historical objects (toys, tools, clothing) and illustrations, though the lines between fact and the fictional characters are sometimes confusingly blurred. The topics will be of particular interest to the series' fans, but all ages will enjoy browsing.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee

(4) 4-6 American Girls Collection series. The popular dolls' fictional stories introduce each time period, but these large-size books are in fact lavishly illustrated accounts of life in the past. Most of the history is told through captioned photos of historical objects (toys, tools, clothing) and illustrations, though the lines between fact and the fictional characters are sometimes confusingly blurred. The topics will be of particular interest to the series' fans, but all ages will enjoy browsing.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee

(4) 4-6 American Girls Collection series. The popular dolls' fictional stories introduce each time period, but these large-size books are in fact lavishly illustrated accounts of life in the past. Most of the history is told through captioned photos of historical objects (toys, tools, clothing) and illustrations, though the lines between fact and the fictional characters are sometimes confusingly blurred. The topics will be of particular interest to the series' fans, but all ages will enjoy browsing.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee

(4) 4-6 American Girls Collection series. The popular dolls' fictional stories introduce each time period, but these large-size books are in fact lavishly illustrated accounts of life in the past. Most of the history is told through captioned photos of historical objects (toys, tools, clothing) and illustrations, though the lines between fact and the fictional characters are sometimes confusingly blurred. The topics will be of particular interest to the series' fans, but all ages will enjoy browsing.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee

(4) 4-6 American Girls Collection series. Illustrated by Jean-Paul Tibbles & Susan McAliley. Growing up in New Mexico in the mid-1820s, Josefina finds her vocation as a healer in Happy Birthday; prevents disaster when an American wagon train comes to Santa Fe in Saves the Day, and, in Changes, paves the way for her aunt to marry her widowed father. Despite occasional flaws (flat characters, some far-fetched plot elements), these accessible novels feature a likable heroine and an interesting setting.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(4) 4-6 American Girls Collection series. Illustrated by Jean-Paul Tibbles & Susan McAliley. Growing up in New Mexico in the mid-1820s, Josefina finds her vocation as a healer in Happy Birthday; prevents disaster when an American wagon train comes to Santa Fe in Saves the Day, and, in Changes, paves the way for her aunt to marry her widowed father. Despite occasional flaws (flat characters, some far-fetched plot elements), these accessible novels feature a likable heroine and an interesting setting.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(4) 4-6 American Girls Collection series. Illustrated by Jean-Paul Tibbles & Susan McAliley. Growing up in New Mexico in the mid-1820s, Josefina finds her vocation as a healer in Happy Birthday; prevents disaster when an American wagon train comes to Santa Fe in Saves the Day, and, in Changes, paves the way for her aunt to marry her widowed father. Despite occasional flaws (flat characters, some far-fetched plot elements), these accessible novels feature a likable heroine and an interesting setting.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert