(2) YA Bryan was a nineteen-year-old art student when he was drafted into a segregated army unit of stevedores, where he used every opportunity to sketch and record his experiences, from training to D-Day and its aftermath. Bryan's present-day text serves as a kind of voice-over to the scores of images included: original paintings and drawings, letters, journal passages, photos, maps, and army posters. The dynamic book design and lavish production choices make this a fully immersive experience. Ind.

Reviewer: Lolly Robinson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2019

(1) 4-6 Bryan restores humanity to ten real-life slaves listed for sale on an 1828 document (plus one fictional slave), giving them ages, African names, relationships, talents, and dreams. Each individual receives two spreads of poetry: the first serves as introduction (accompanied by a wood carving–like portrait, suggesting the mask each wears for day-to-day life on the plantation); the second (illustrated in brilliant colors) is devoted to his or her dreams.

Reviewer: Eboni Njoku | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2016

(2) K-3 Photographs by Ken Hannon. Photographs edited by Rich Entel. Bryan presents photos and poems for a selection of the puppets he has made from found materials (driftwood, cloth, bones) for nearly sixty years. Each poem is told in the first person and titled with the puppet's name (drawn from various African cultures). Bryan's strong storytelling voice sometimes gives way to tacked-on lessons, but the puppets' artistry is enough to forgive small flaws.

Reviewer: Lolly Robinson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2014

(2) K-3 In this sprightly rhymed retelling, a little boy who "knew no fear" scoffs at his grandma's warnings about a two-headed giant. But then he's captured by an even fiercer three-headed giant. The boy uses his wits--and musical ability--to escape with a new understanding of the difference between bravery and daring. Rainbow-colored tempera and watercolor illustrations effectively portray a truly scary giant.

Reviewer: Kathleen T. Horning | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2013

(2) PS Bryan's child-centered verse involves readers from the very start as it tells the Nativity story from the point of view of the young shepherd/carpenter's apprentice who built that iconic stable. Lush illustrations offer a controlled tumult of verdant flora and fauna. The book ends with the boy welcoming Mary and Joseph to his stable and then communing with Baby Jesus.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2012

(3) PS Bryan's arresting cut-paper collages beautifully illuminate the text based on verses from the title hymn. The pictures celebrate people of different ethnicities as well as a broad spectrum of creatures from the animal kingdom. Back matter includes biographical notes about the hymn's writer, Cecil Frances Alexander, and musical notation.

Reviewer: Sheila M. Geraty

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Ashley Bryan. Photographs by Bill McGuinness. With vintage and contemporary photographs, original artwork and illustration, and lyrical evocations of Maine's landscape, this book explores Bryan's creative life. Readers will learn of his setbacks, tenaciousness, and artistic and philosophical prowess. The volume's scattered format doesn't do Bryan's books justice. However, the expansiveness and exuberance of the artist and his work carry the day.

Reviewer: Barbara Bader | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2009

(1) K-3 Here's a life-enhancing folktale from Zambia--how birds got their black markings--and a simple, scissors-and-brush way of using collage. Silhouetted birds, in shades of violet, yellow, green, blue, are oddly drab without markings. Ringdove asks Blackbird, the most beautiful, to paint him a necklace of black; Blackbird complies, then promises the others touches of black, too. In sum, we can all partake of the beauty of black.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2003

(4) K-3 "No one knows the story of tomorrow's dawn." Energetic and vibrant illustrations capture the varying moods (from jovial to witty to serious) of these twenty-six proverbs from various African tribes, including Ashanti, Zulu, and Maasai. Some insight into a few of the more obscure sayings would have made this collection accessible to a wider range of readers. An author's note provides additional information.

Reviewer: Henrietta M. Smith

(2) 4-6 The Ox of the Wonderful Horns (1971), Beat the Story Drum, Pum-pum (1980), and Lion and the Ostrich Chicks (1986) have been collected in one volume. Told with Bryan's distinctive rhythmic word patterns and filled with humor, life-lessons, and the antics of trickster Ananse, these stories are a welcome reissue. Quality reproductions of the original woodcuts enrich this handsome volume, uh-huh. Reviews 4/72, 4/81, 3/87.

Reviewer: Henrietta M. Smith