(2) K-3 Illustrated by Stefano Vitale. With accumulating prose, Franco guides readers through a pond ecosystem's food chain: "This is the nymph / the mayfly nymph / that nibbled the algae / that grew in the water / that filled the pond..." In creative and highly effective oil painting on wood illustrations, Vitale, using blues, greens, and purples, transforms the wood grain into pond ripples and floating clouds.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2009

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Stefano Vitale. In 1879, a little girl discovered Stone Age cave paintings in Spain. This book, based on the artwork she found, starts off as a rhyming creation story set to the rhythm of "There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly." It's not a natural fit, though the cumulative aspect is effective. Stunning mixed-media illustrations feature fluid shapes and vivid hues.

Reviewer: Miriam Steinberg-Egeth

(4) 4-6 Folktales of the World series. Illustrated by Stefano Vitale. This collection is divided into major culture zones. A prefatory note describes the people and ways of life of each area. Three or four tales follow, with brief introductions; some of the stories' plots are heavily Europeanized. The book is illustrated with fanciful adaptations of Native American styles and motifs, deftly done (if hardly genuine). Source notes.

Reviewer: Barbara Bader | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2009

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Stefano Vitale. Walker's ceaseless rhythm echoes the inexorable march of war. Poignancy is sustained in gentle images until war flaunts its power. With a creative economy of words, Walker offers a challenge: Will war continue as humanity's legacy? From Vitale's palette come illustrations that show, through color and light, the striking contrast between peace and safety and the devastation of war.

Reviewer: Henrietta M. Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2008

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Stefano Vitale. Carefully selected and enhanced with robustly elegant illustrations, these fifteen tales, arranged in groups of three, serve as an introduction to comparative literature and to different cultures. The titles for the groups reflect their general themes and identify each group as a set of variations on a familiar tale. This is an outstanding example of what folklore collections for children can and should be. With substantial notes on each tale. Bib.

Reviewer: Mary M. Burns | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2003

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Stefano Vitale. This gentle book begins with the question of a young girl whose father has been away for a long time: "How do you know if someone far away is loving you?" Her mother explains how to listen inside yourself: "If you listen hard you'll feel someone far away sending love to you." This edition has glowing illustrations and is a welcome addition to the shelf of books dealing with loss and separation.

Reviewer: Terri Schmitz

(3) PS Illustrated by Stefano Vitale. This reillustrated edition of a bedtime book pairs Zolotow's evocative word pictures with Vitale's luxuriously colored illustrations to explore the different ways animals sleep ("the snowy / crane / sleeps / standing / on one long / leg / like / a flower / on its / stem"). Preschoolers will be entranced by the simple yet informative text and by Vitale's glowing paintings on wood.

Reviewer: Susan Halperin | Horn Book Magazine Issue: April, 1959

(2) PS Illustrated by Stefano Vitale. In this small picture book, text and illustrations are synchronized in an imaginative lullaby. A mother urges her child to "listen, my love, / and I'll sing you a song. / I'll sing you a song of the sea." The song tells the story of a journey, of a sailor wending his way to "a snug little country house"--where the mother and child are waiting. Vitale's visuals, employing oils on wood, are rich and mysterious, like night itself.

Reviewer: Mary M. Burns | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 1999

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Stefano Vitale. This collection of narrative poems is based on Inuit myths about creation, a time when "words were like magic." Fields has attempted to capture the ancient Inuit voices as he describes the evolution of sun and moon, heaven and hell, thunder and lightning, and the animals that roam the far north. Vitale's oil paintings done on bark, wood, and stone faithfully recall Native art.

Reviewer: Aishah Abdul-Musawwir