(4) K-3 Illustrated by Sheila Moxley. Skipping over most of Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, this is not a very international collection. The poems include some old favorites, such as "The Swing" by Robert Louis Stevenson, and a contemporary poem on the same subject by Valerie Bloom, a Jamaican living in England. Fresh, naively styled paintings make this an attractive collection. "About the poets" supplies some minimal information.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Sheila Moxley. Sating Ravi's curiosity about India, Grandfather describes his homeland using rich metaphors that evoke native Indian elements such as tigers, saris, saffron, and the Himalayas. Bright illustrations expertly mingle Ravi's western world with grandfather's India, but the plot is not firmly rooted in either land, making the story less cohesive. Endnotes further explain India's geography, culture, and animals.

Reviewer: Lauren Maggio

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Sheila Moxley. Rock begins her brief essay about death by explaining that some separations are temporary but that others, like death, last forever. She describes heaven as a place "beyond what we can fully understand," where we can be together with loved ones for eternity. The illustrations are calming and adults may find the material helpful, but the tone of the writing is distancing.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(4) 1-3 Illustrated by Sheila Moxley. This freely fictionalized account tells about the girl who was responsible for the excavation of a fossilized ichthyosaur from a seaside location in England in the early 1800s. A short note adds that during her lifetime, Anning made a number of other significant fossil discoveries. The illustrations, in rich shades of blue, blue-green, and purple, feature some interesting compositions. Unfortunately, no sources are provided.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Sheila Moxley. Folk-art-style illustrations in vivid gold, purple, and green tones add life to this collection of five mostly unfamiliar Christmas stories from Syria, Malta, Mexico, Ghana, and Russia. The tone of the writing is informal and at times distractingly contemporary: referring to soldiers who are chasing them, Mary says, "we gave them the slip." The author lists one or two sources--some of them oral--for each piece.

Reviewer: Anne St. John