(3) K-3 Illustrated by Jos. A. Smith. The story credits Monet's young son's enthusiasm for steam trains as inspiration for the artist's series of paintings done at the Gare Saint-Lazare in Paris. Maltbie's text (with invented dialogue) gives background on Impressionism while Smith's textured paintings effectively depict the setting. Author's and illustrator's notes and a list of museums that house Monet's works are appended. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Jos. A. Smith. This Halloween tale is not for the faint of heart. A scary witch has everything she wants--except a child. She fashions herself a daughter out of straw, but the girl doesn't come to life until a real child is in danger. Smith's dark, moody paintings set the scene in the present day, making the eerie story even scarier for its immediacy.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Jos A. Smith. This thoughtful biography covers Mendel's early pursuits through his time as a friar at the Czech Abbey of St. Thomas in Brno. There his early experiments with plant genetics in peas were encouraged and respected, though not recognized by the larger scientific community until 1900. Smith's detailed watercolor-style illustrations ably illustrate Bardoe's lucid text. Bib.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Jos. A. Smith. Focusing on an eight-year period in Audubon's life, this book underscores his passion for painting detailed, life-size bird portraits. The text creates excitement in some extraordinary moments, such as Audubon's watching trumpeter swans scare away predatory wolves. Smith's illustrations extend the narrative, as when they show Audubon inside a hollow sycamore tree with roosting swifts or painting enthusiastically with both hands.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Jos. A. Smith. Any child whose parents have explained away noises in the night will enjoy this rhyming tale that reveals (finally) the causes: "The grown-ups blame the wind, a cat. / The children know it's more than that." The nighttime-hued illustrations show two small monsters shaking the house, scratching windows, and howling until the children finally turn the tables. This is probably better as a story-hour read-aloud than as a bedtime tale.

Reviewer: Jeannine M. Chapman

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Jos. A. Smith. This picture-book biography focuses on the turbulent two months van Gogh and Gauguin lived and painted together in Arles, exploring the ways the artists influenced and appreciated each other and noting their differences. Smith's sunny paintings add period domestic detail, and the reproductions of the artists' work augment the text (though captions would have made identification easier). Final biographical pages provide context. Bib.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Jos. A. Smith. Quiet drama and a childlike view characterize this fourth book about Nora and her farmer grandparents, which finds them in a race to get the hay in before the rain falls. Smith's pictures work beautifully with the simple but evocative text, increasing the tension with a sky that gets progressively blacker and more threatening until the final illustration of the hard workers inside the safety of the barn, watching the now-benign rain come down.

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

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Jos. A. Smith. When Elwood the pig unknowingly picks up a witch's broom, it carries him protesting into the sky. Furious, the witch flings spells at the helpless pig, but one spell hits the moon, turning it into a colossal bee who sternly brings the witch to her senses. The illustrations match the whimsical text, creating quirky, expressive characters against a luminous nighttime backdrop.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Jos. A. Smith. Technically, this alphabet feast moves from A to Z and back to A, as each ogre presented devours a dish beginning with the subsequent letter of the alphabet (e.g., "Coralee consumes cartons of dumplings"). Still, the alliterative descriptions of how the various homely but cheerful basement-dwelling beasts relish their food roll nicely off the tongue, and the energetic illustrations match the text's gusto.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Jos. A. Smith. Ben finds an unusual lizardlike animal that he is pretty certain is some sort of exotic primeval creature and talks his friends Kate and Foster into helping him find out what it is. The plot is low-key but believable, and the main characters are more fully fleshed out than they were in this book's predecessor, Starshine and Sunglow. The novel's brevity and its enticing title and jacket art are all elements that should help it reach its target audience.

Reviewer: Nancy Vasilakis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 1999

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Jos. A. Smith. Orphaned Annyrose Smith, twelve when she is left with a heartless swindler during the California gold rush, manages to escape, only to be gathered up by infamous outlaw Joaqu_n Murieta. The characters of Joaqu_n, a Mexican Robin Hood, and Annyrose, spunky but thoughtful, clothe issues of loyalty and honesty in a roaring adventure story, smartly written and chock full of humor and derring-do.

Reviewer: Ann A. Flowers | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 1998

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Jos. A. Smith. Using a Halloween motif, rhymed couplets enumerate the numbers from one tall scarecrow to ten tiny mice--then back down from ten to one as the spooky creatures disperse. The eerie illustrations are rendered primarily in black, making the few splashes of color in yellow jack-o'-lantern faces and bloodshot ghost eyes all the more startling.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta