(4) K-3 Illustrated by Stephen Alcorn. In the manger on the first Christmas night, Mary describes the quiet she craves as she cradles her newborn baby and wonders "what will become of him." Alcorn includes classic Nativity elements in his muted, soft mixed-media illustrations. Hopkins's lyrical text lacks focus and presents an adult longing that is unlikely to speak to young children.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(3) K-3 Poem by Samantha Thornhill. Lyrical text follows the life of the African American singer, beginning with her humble Alabama childhood then describing her path toward becoming a folk music legend. Alcorn's beautifully swirling, vaguely psychedelic paintings in subdued hues are dynamic. An appended "Ode to Odetta" author's note tells more about the singer's lasting legacy. Recommended recordings are also included.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Stephen Alcorn. Alcorn's illustrations, filled with swirls and stars and sunbursts, create an ethereal and almost mythical landscape in this biography of the African American explorer who, along with Robert E. Peary, became "the first to stand at the top of the world." Hopkinson's writing is crisp and fluid, with quotes from Henson lending additional veracity. Back matter discusses how racial prejudice obscured Henson's achievement. Reading list, timeline, websites.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Stephen Alcorn. This collection features fifty-four classic and contemporary poems about different American-fought wars, focusing on the emotional impact of armed conflict. Each section opens with a quote by a notable figure and includes a brief description of the conflict. Dramatic watercolor illustrations capture the pain--and the hope--expressed in the poetry without dwelling excessively on the horror of violence. Ind.

Reviewer: Aishah Abdul-Musawwir

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Stephen Alcorn. Fluid narration introduces readers to the nineteenth-century crusader who used her talents as a writer and lecturer to fight for justice for fellow African Americans. Quiet yet powerful prose details Wells's work, focusing mainly on education, segregation, voting rights, and the travesty of lynching. Flowing illustrations in muted tones further illuminate the subject. Reading list, timeline. Bib.

Reviewer: Henrietta M. Smith

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Stephen Alcorn. A useful, attractive compendium of poetry and facts celebrating holidays, inventions, famous people, historical events, and, mostly, poets. Whatever the subject, Hopkins offers an appropriate poem--for Mother's Day, for instance, Langston Hughes's "Mother to Son"; for Edward Lear's birthday, two limericks. A spacious design accommodates the disparate elements; Alcorn's illustrations, though large and cheerful, don't overwhelm the poems. Ind.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(3) YA Illustrated by Stephen Alcorn. This welcome anthology contains twenty-five emblematic poems by well-known women writers, from the canonized (i.e., Emily Dickinson, Phillis Wheatley) through the modern masters (i.e., Sylvia Plath, Adrienne Rich). The poems are paired with handsome paintings of women often transcending their material worlds. As Clinton puts it, the biographies at book's end "comprise a particularly intriguing story of America."

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Stephen Alcorn & Stephen Alcorn. Each of twenty-four legendary rockers is profiled and captured in an interpretive color-relief-block-print portrait. Alcorn demonstrates an impressive range, and Krull, who occasionally lapses into sycophancy, is handy with tidbits: Who knew that the Pretenders' scowly Chrissie Hynde used to sell purses? But the book has such a dated look that it's unlikely that as-yet-unconverted kids will find it all that groovy. Reading list, websites.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Stephen Alcorn. These fourteen animal poems accent the creatures' physicality. On each double-page spread, a decorative frame encases a woodblock print of an animal, barely containing its aliveness. The changing typography's font size and shape further dramatize these beings. Despite the verbal muscularity of many of the contemporary poems, it is Alcorn's powerful visual imagery that binds together this striking tribute to the grandeur of nature's creatures.

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

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Stephen Alcorn. Fifteen poems have been created especially for this celebration of diverse home places. The poems range from the prairie to the sea, from the desert to the mountains, from a houseboat to an apartment. The verse forms are basic--couplets and quatrains predominate. The meanings of the easy-to-read-aloud poems are extended in Alcorn's bright, abstract, geometrically designed paintings.

Reviewer: Mary M. Burns | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2003

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Stephen Alcorn. Disconcertingly bouncy rhyming couplets describe the maturation of a Nez Perce boy from an eager child learning to hunt and fish to an anguished young man who has witnessed the decimation of his people and their way of life. The illustrations, polychromatic relief-block prints, provide a moving and memorable complement to the text.

Reviewer: Amy Lois Cohn

(3) YA Holocaust series. Illustrated by Stephen Alcorn. These are well-written historical surveys documented by excerpts from primary sources. Heroes focuses on the Jews and Gentiles who risked their lives to save others. Nazi Germany recounts the events that led to World War II and the Nazi conquest of Europe. Martyrs and Children focus on the victims. Stark black-and-white drawings and archival photos illustrate the texts. Bib., glos., ind.

Reviewer: Jack Forman

(3) YA Holocaust series. Illustrated by Stephen Alcorn. These are well-written historical surveys documented by excerpts from primary sources. Heroes focuses on the Jews and Gentiles who risked their lives to save others. Nazi Germany recounts the events that led to World War II and the Nazi conquest of Europe. Martyrs and Children focus on the victims. Stark black-and-white drawings and archival photos illustrate the texts. Bib., glos., ind.

Reviewer: Jack Forman

(3) YA Holocaust series. Illustrated by Stephen Alcorn. Similar in design and format to the four previous titles in this series, these two books cover postwar events. Deniers makes clear that the one common strain in all Holocaust revisionism is anti-Semitism and discusses the cases of David Irving, Willis Carto, and the far right in France and Austria. Displaced Persons dramatically illustrates the unjust treatment surviving Jews received at the hands of the Allies and, sketchily, the formation of Israel. Bib., glos., ind. [Review covers these Holocaust titles: Deniers of the Holocaust and Displaced Persons.]

Reviewer: Jack Forman

(3) YA Holocaust series. Illustrated by Stephen Alcorn. Similar in design and format to the four previous titles in this series, these two books cover postwar events. Deniers makes clear that the one common strain in all Holocaust revisionism is anti-Semitism and discusses the cases of David Irving, Willis Carto, and the far right in France and Austria. Displaced Persons dramatically illustrates the unjust treatment surviving Jews received at the hands of the Allies and, sketchily, the formation of Israel. Bib., glos., ind. [Review covers these Holocaust titles: Deniers of the Holocaust and Displaced Persons.]

Reviewer: Jack Forman

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Stephen Alcorn. Fifty-one poems, many by well-known poets, capture the uniqueness of different parts of the country. Organized into geographical regions, each of which is introduced with a map and a page of state facts, this book is less than comprehensive: some states are represented by more than one poem, others aren't mentioned at all. Nevertheless, this collection does reflect America's diversity. Textured paintings illustrate each poem. Ind.

Reviewer: Jane Lopez-Santillana

(3) YA Holocaust series. Illustrated by Stephen Alcorn. These are well-written historical surveys documented by excerpts from primary sources. Heroes focuses on the Jews and Gentiles who risked their lives to save others. Nazi Germany recounts the events that led to World War II and the Nazi conquest of Europe. Martyrs and Children focus on the victims. Stark black-and-white drawings and archival photos illustrate the texts. Bib., glos., ind.

Reviewer: Jack Forman

(3) YA Holocaust series. Illustrated by Stephen Alcorn. These are well-written historical surveys documented by excerpts from primary sources. Heroes focuses on the Jews and Gentiles who risked their lives to save others. Nazi Germany recounts the events that led to World War II and the Nazi conquest of Europe. Martyrs and Children focus on the victims. Stark black-and-white drawings and archival photos illustrate the texts. Bib., glos., ind.

Reviewer: Jack Forman

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Stephen Alcorn. Including "the tried-and-true sheroes of human equality" (Sojourner Truth, Rosa Parks), Pinkney states her intention "to introduce some of those... whose praises have not been sung loudly enough." In her passion to reveal the strength of these ten remarkable women, Pinkney rises to moments of linguistic power. Alcorn's extraordinary bold tableaux consistently declare their own individuality as well as that of their subjects. Bib.

Reviewer: Susan P. Bloom | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2000

(3) YA Illustrated by Stephen Alcorn. This chronological collection includes work by such poets as Phillis Wheatley, W. E. B. Du Bois, Arna Bontemps, Maya Angelou, Rita Dove, along with twenty others. The verses, introduced with biographical information, reflect the African-American struggle for equality from the early 1800s to the present. The textured illustrations, done in muted tones, capture the drama and strength of each poem.

Reviewer: Henrietta M. Smith