(3) K-3 Illustrated by Beckie Prange & Betsy Bowen. This Minnesota nature–centered counting book begins with one moose that "browses by a cobble beach / by one great lake / under one north star." Each spread continues adding numbers but changes creatures and scenery, with tongue-twisting, poetic phrases extended by the striking woodcut and watercolor illustrations. Detailed back matter about the natural environments, animals, and plants common in the "North Star State" is included.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Beckie Prange. As Sidman points out, "99 percent of all species that have ever existed are now extinct." In her fourteen poems, the survivors range from bacteria to us, from ancient (mollusks) to newcomers (crows). The pieces vary in tone and form; facts are supplemented in prose. In the entrancing illustrations, Prange's bold linocuts are drenched in vivid watercolor. Timeline, websites. Glos.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2010

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Beckie Prange. From a spring peeper's first call to a painted turtle's hibernation, these eleven poems celebrate the northern pond. An energetic black woodcut line bathed in subtly modulated watercolor evokes the pond's species. Sidebars add intriguing facts. With a humor born of skillful observation, and with light and color worthy of the Impressionists, Sidman and Prange capture this environment's essence. Glos.

Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2005