(3) K-3 Food Heroes series. Illustrated by Christy Hale. A market’s diverse offerings motivate Eva Sommaripa to explore gardening, growing unusual herbs and experimenting with new methods of composting. Her unique approach soon brings quality herbs and other plants to Boston-area restaurants, enhancing local cuisine and demonstrating how her work inspires communal pride and fulfillment. Collage and print illustrations alternate between double-page spreads of idyllic farmyards and vignettes of helpful garden inhabitants. Back matter includes an afterword by Sommaripa, information on women farmers in the United States, “Eva’s Recipe for Growing Pea Shoots,” glossary, and resource list.

Reviewer: Russell Perry

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Christy Hale. This peppy picture-book biography describes how a trip to Yosemite Valley and the gift of a camera set "antsy" young Ansel Adams toward becoming the "photographic visionary" who documented America's remarkable landscapes. Hale's collages in an earthy palette make excellent use of textures in depicting the natural world. An author's note further discusses Adams's life and legacy. Reading list, websites.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2016

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Chris Soentpiet & Christy Hale. Each of fourteen poems centers on one particular location in the U.S. The focus is as much on people as on scenery, with many of the poems written in the first person. Soentpiet and Hale combine their talents to showcase the special elements of a place as well as the response of people to it. An impressively diverse, polished, and inspiring collection. Information about the sites is appended.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2016

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Christy Hale. Sama is hurt by a boy from the enemy village, but she decides to end the cycle of hate by building a "forgiveness garden" instead of retaliating. Hale's mixed-media collages in a limited palette of natural colors beautifully illustrate this gentle but profound parable. An afterword addresses the Garden of Forgiveness in Lebanon and the movement to spread its peaceful message.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) PS Illustrated by Christy Hale. A mother explains that even though she doesn't look like her adopted daughter, she's still her "real" mother. Pausing for a very fleeting mention of the birth mother, the two discuss the many, sometimes amusing, ways the mother nurtures and shows her love for her child. The figures in the illustrations for this well-meaning book are often awkward and inconsistent.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Christy Hale. John Cloud, a Mohawk boy, travels from the reservation in upstate New York to visit Papa, a steelworker on the Empire State Building. Rich, sunlit gouache illustrations establish the 1930s setting for this well-told story of a boy's pride in his father, his people, and--for his newfound ability to hear Father Sky and Mother Earth--himself. A historical note is appended.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Christy Hale. Pages full of cute rhymes, nonsense verse, rebuses, and clever inscriptions for autograph books fill this attractively packaged, lightweight gift volume; it's illustrated with humorous cartoons, slightly amateurish art, and flashy design elements. Most of the collected verses are old chestnuts, and some are sentimental, but readers, particularly autograph enthusiasts, will find irresistible new tidbits.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Christy Hale. This is a story at once universal and specific, set in a contemporary Tanzanian village. Elizabeti (Mama Elizabeti) is excited about going to school for the first time, but also a bit apprehensive. Details of the school day root the story in its place and bring Elizabeti's world to life. The message that home is "the best place to be" but that school has its uses, too, will resonate with anxious new pupils. The mixed-media illustrations are striking.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2002

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Christy Hale. The setting here is an apartment building, and the large cast of characters includes two babysitters, three kids, and someone claiming to be the janitor. The dialogue is apt and funny, sparkling with rhyming repartee. Dynamic cartoon-style illustrations pick up the story's humor and help keep characters straight with a creative assortment of full-page art, vignettes, and frame sequences.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2000

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Christy Hale. Billy and Emma, two macaws in a zoo, love doing "tricks for their snacks" until a robber steals Emma one night. Billy flies around the city and finds her caged in an apartment. With the help of a clever crow, Emma escapes and they all return happily to their other cage at the zoo. While illustrated with expressive artwork and appended with an author's note about bird behavior, the tone of the story is patronizing.

Reviewer: Bridget McCaffrey

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Christy Hale. This sequel to Elizabeti's Doll finds Elizabeti charged with the care of her younger brother. Right away she discovers the difference between caring for her cherished--and inert--rock doll and caring for a squirming toddler. The book shares with its predecessor a resolutely childlike point of view and a matter-of-fact but authentic presentation of another culture (that of rural Tanzania).

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2000

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Christy Hale. Elizabeti, a contemporary Tanzanian girl, adopts an oval-shaped rock as a doll and names it Eva. The story tells about Eva's temporary disappearance, but the heart of the story is Elizabeti's acceptance of Eva not just as a real doll, but as a real person. The straightforward telling is smooth and clean, and the illustrations, echoing Eva's shape and color, are often oval vignettes with softly speckled backgrounds.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 1998