(2) K-3 In this inviting very-first look at Gutenberg's transformative invention and the intricate craft of early printing, Rumford vivifies the ways and means of medieval innovation with intriguing details, focusing on highlights. An epilogue elucidates and extends the occasionally too-truncated information, as does handsome watercolor and gouache art that recalls illuminated manuscripts while revealing additional tasks, hazards, and sources of inspiration.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2012

(3) K-3 In a small village in Chad, students and their teacher build their classroom from mud, grass, and saplings. After the school year is over, seasonal rains wash the classroom away, but the children will be ready to build again next year. Rumford's energetic art, with its vibrant textured surfaces and deft black line, helps convey his characters' enthusiasm for learning.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(2) K-3 Told in a voice that keeps the telling intimate, Rumford's original story describes how an argument over a flower results in an unlikely friendship. Tiger and Turtle are illustrated with only a few broad brushstrokes; intricately patterned backgrounds, inspired by Indian and Pakistani decorations, pair well with the subjects, the orange-toned pages a vivid accent for the green turtle and yellow tiger.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2010

(2) K-3 Ali, a boy in contemporary Baghdad, loves to create the letters of Arabic calligraphy. When he has no trouble writing harb, the word for war, but struggles to draw the word for peace, readers will feel Ali's pain for his country. Rumford's mixed-media illustrations echo the collage work of Ezra Jack Keats and Patricia Polacco while still showcasing the calligraphy.

Reviewer: Robin L. Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2008

(3) K-3 Though little is known about the African giraffe presented to the emperor of China in the fifteenth century, Rumford has created a fascinating fictionalized tale, complete with descriptions of the animal's capture and voyage. Striking illustrations incorporate elements of three different cultures, reflecting the giraffe's remarkable journey from Malindi (now Kenya) to Bengal (now Bangladesh) to China. A historical note is appended. Timeline.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(2) K-3 In this economically told fable set in the Wild West, Sheriff John has always attributed his talent for keeping the peace to his ten-gallon beauty. But one night, he unknowingly dons one of his wife Lil's hats. Readers will laugh to see the manly sheriff fighting crime while sporting a fancy straw bonnet. Rumford's congenial, color-saturated paintings show our smiling hero.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2007

(2) K-3 Five Polynesian brothers sail to the Hawaiian Islands "some two thousand years ago." This sequel to The Island-below-the-Star recounts the friendship between the youngest brother and a seal. Watercolor scenes meld colors beautifully to suggest sea and sky and the island terrain, while humans and animals are broadly drawn and energetic. Appended is the text in Hawaiian.

Reviewer: Margaret A. Bush | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2004

(1) K-3 This bilingual picture book tells how Sequoyah, a Cherokee, developed a syllabic system of writing for his nation. The simple story is a quick sketch, and Rumford clearly indicates the speculative nature of what is actually known. Textured full-page mixed-media illustrations feature strong figures and spare scenes. The handsome book concludes with the full syllabary, an author's note, and a timeline.

Reviewer: Margaret A. Bush | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2004

(2) PS Calabash Cat "set off down the road to see where the world ended." Different animals are convinced that their limited terrain is the entire world until an eagle provides the cat with a bird's-eye view. Rumford uses folk-art patterns from Chad to decorate each animal. Arabic text parallels the English, adding to the message that different parts of the world tend to see things from their own perspectives, but that the only way to see clearly is to rise above it all.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2003

(2) K-3 In a humorously illustrated fable and number lesson set in India, the young raja-king invites his animal friends to a party. The animals each think that he or she is bringing "the perfect birthday gift" but eventually learn to swallow their pride and that their friendship is all the raja-king wants. The dexterous tale counts down the gifts, and the author's note explains that it was Indians "who invented the ten curious-looking signs we use to count with."

Reviewer: Susan P. Bloom | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2003

(2) 4-6 Battuta, a Moroccan boy, became a legendary traveler, journeying some seventy-five thousand miles by foot, camel, and ship. Rumford incorporates Battuta's own words, set down for him by a scribe, and condenses the adventure into a multilayered picture book. The sumptuous paintings add absorbing detail. This blend of romantic adventure/biography/history is a fine account of wanderlust, offering tantalizing glimpses of the medieval world. Glos.

Reviewer: Margaret A. Bush | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2002

(4) K-3 Jean-François Champollion's lifelong fascination with Egyptian hieroglyphs--and eventual deciphering of their meaning--is simplified for young children. Dark watercolor illustrations convey Champollion's determination to crack the hieroglyph code. Though including hieroglyphs within the body of the text may have seemed clever, it undermines the mystery and nearly always breaks the narrative flow.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(4) K-3 Five brothers in ancient Polynesia set sail in a canoe to find an island they believe lies beneath a faraway bright star. This fictional account, told in the style of a folktale and illustrated with attractive watercolors, is somewhat nebulous, revealing only in concluding notes that it is a speculation of how Hawaii might have been discovered.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.