(3) K-3 Illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska. Tired of palace tea, a queen travels to Japan, India, and Turkey in search of the perfect cup; each of the three young tea makers she meets asks her to--gasp--help make it. This witty tale offers a lesson in collaboration and an introduction to the world's teas. Colored-pencil art adroitly chronicles the queen's transformation from shrew to sharer.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska. Mary Cassatt (1844–1926) was unconventional: "When Mary was a girl in Pennsylvania, she knew she'd be an artist one day." Her determination serves her well in Paris, where she works alongside Degas, eventually becoming a great painter. Brief, lyrical sentences capture Mary's connection to art and her significance in the art world. Textured mixed-media paintings echo Cassatt's own style. Bib.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2015

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska. Whimsical textual and visual touches elevate two stories about manners. In Papa, Alice learns when she asks for things with a "please," her parents respond positively. In Mama, her parents teach her to say "please" and "thank you" on a birthday trip to the zoo. Swiatkowska's occasionally surreal mixed-media illustrations feature characters in from a bygone era in old-fashioned attire. Review covers these two titles: Please, Papa and Thank You, Mama.

Reviewer: Sheila M. Geraty

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska. Whimsical textual and visual touches elevate two stories about manners. In Papa, Alice learns when she asks for things with a "please," her parents respond positively. In Mama, her parents teach her to say "please" and "thank you" on a birthday trip to the zoo. Swiatkowska's occasionally surreal mixed-media illustrations feature characters in from a bygone era in old-fashioned attire. Review covers these two titles: Please, Papa and Thank You, Mama.

Reviewer: Sheila M. Geraty

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska. Looking up at the stars, Uma feels "very, very small" and begins to think about infinity. She asks around and receives a potpourri of interpretations and explanations. Uma's musings are perfectly childlike, and she lands on her own practical understanding: "my love for [Grandma] was as big as infinity." Swiatkowska illustrates the text with appropriately disorienting details that combine to a visually stunning effect.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2013

(3) PS Illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska. A girl watches her pregnant mother knit a layette and wonders what the future will hold ("Will this baby like the stars?"). The art is as metaphorical as the text: in one typically lovely spread, the girl imagines that her new sibling balances on a strand of yarn that connects their mother's knitting needles with the moon.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska. A boy, confronted by the legendarily terrifying monster of the forest, won't be scared by something he knows is not real. His refusal to believe in the monster reduces it to a scruffy, unintimidating little cat. Swiatkowska's surreal illustrations support Williams's imaginative but meandering text, the logic of which may not resonate with children.

Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska. Inspired by the 2003 Iranian earthquake and poet Rumi, Napoli tells the poignant, thought-provoking story of young Parisa, who is the lone human survivor of an earthquake. The animals refuse to accept her until she draws them in by doing "what humans do"--dancing, laughing, caring for flowers, and sharing food. Bold-hued, close-up illustrations with thickly applied paint command readers' attention.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska. Although Yoon's immigrant parents frown upon her participating in the Yuletide activities she's learning about in her American school, she succeeds in celebrating both Christmas and the Korean New Year in this wordy story. The beautiful impressionistic paintings are rich in texture, and the use of red unifies the holiday themes.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska. This book begins with a poem celebrating the nights of summer; individual lines are then illustrated on double-page spreads. The mostly surrealistic art may be off-putting to young readers, but the comforting text ("Smell of the water / on pots of geraniums. / Lovely the lateness / in summertime dark") is appealing.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska. Based on the true story of a red-tailed hawk that lived in the wild for eight weeks with a poacher's arrow lodged in its thigh and tail, this remarkable survival tale gives the raptor's perspective of its ordeal and rehabilitation without undue anthropomorphism. Though striking, the accompanying paintings often use a soft-focus technique that makes the hawk look like a different bird from one illustration to the next.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska. Adjusting to a new country isn't easy for Yoon, who has recently arrived in America from Korea. In protest, she refuses to print her name in English at school, writing a variety of other words instead. Once she makes a friend and realizes that her teacher likes her, she triumphantly prints her name. Muted paintings with an almost surrealistic quality dramatically heighten the poignant story.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska. A snowstorm prevents Mary, the librarian who drives the bookmobile, from taking her niece Hannah home on Christmas Eve. The older vehicle can't get up the lane to Hannah's house, so Hannah and her aunt happily decide to spend the night in the bookmobile, sustained by many food gifts from their patrons. Acrylic illustrations thoughtfully convey the context of this warmly told, although somewhat contrived, story.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian