(2) K-3 Illustrated by Bert Kitchen. Bert Kitchen's acclaimed animal studies are showcased in this large-format collection of mostly familiar fables. Orgel's retellings, pithy and distinctively voiced, lack the concluding proverbs, which may worry those who prefer a moral tacked on to the end but which allows young listeners to come to their own conclusions. Each double-page spread is accompanied by a (frequently irrelevant) boxed fact about Aesop.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2001

(3) PS This sweet story, told through cheery watercolor, ink, and pastel illustrations with just enough text to hold them together, follows four animal friends as they venture out for a hike on a rainy day. The going gets a little rough at times--"We can always go back home again!"--but the friends persevere and are eventually rewarded with sunshine, wild blackberries, and a spectacular view before they return to the comfort of home.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann

(1) YA This vividly, even horrifically, evoked novel tells of the genocide carried out against Armenians in Turkey during World War I. Like narrator Vahan Kenderian, who is twelve when the novel begins, a reader can't really prepare for this relentless tragedy before it unfolds. That the book is based on Bagdasarian's great-uncle's experiences gives it further gravity.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2000

(2) 4-6 Twelve-year-old Tree leaves the St. Paul Orphanage to stay with a North Dakota farm couple, the Gundersons, but because they only want one boy, Tree's younger brother is left behind. The only light in Tree's life is Jake, Mr. Gunderson's brother, who finds ways to intervene on Tree's behalf. The characters are all memorable in this compelling first-person novel set in 1926.

Reviewer: Mary M. Burns | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2000

(2) YA Sixteen-year-old Laker, a Tennessee Williams fan, comes to know firsthand the kindness of strangers. Kicked out by his mother, Laker lives on the street until an elderly man takes him in and gives him work. The novel's theme is evident throughout: life is a mystery, "often bittersweet, but a constant marvel." Brooks is a master at conveying the complexity of relationships and how these are affected by forces beyond our comprehension.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2000

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Nick Maland. After discovering that he can fly, a peasant boy leaves his family's cottage, only to crash in a blizzard. He is rescued by a showman, who costumes the boy in elaborate wings and adds him to his troupe as the Eagle. When the appeal of show business yields to a longing for home, the Eagle sets himself free by trickery. There are some gaps in the narrative; however, the delicately colored crosshatched illustrations enhance this home-is-best tale.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian

(2) K-3 Minnie and Moo are back in two noodlehead stories beefed up with appropriately grandiose exaggeration. In Thanksgiving, the cow "girls" help all the edible domestic animals hide from the farmer. The more convoluted Zorro relies on the illustrations to carry the action. Without an ounce of condescension toward his audience, Cazet delivers his slapstick in eight rapid-fire chapters filled with verbal wordplay.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2000

(2) K-3 Minnie and Moo are back in two noodlehead stories beefed up with appropriately grandiose exaggeration. In Thanksgiving, the cow "girls" help all the edible domestic animals hide from the farmer. The more convoluted Zorro relies on the illustrations to carry the action. Without an ounce of condescension toward his audience, Cazet delivers his slapstick in eight rapid-fire chapters filled with verbal wordplay.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2000

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Wendy Anderson Halperin. Separated from his master, Jean Claude, whose new school doesn't allow dogs, Bonaparte determines to gain entrance. Each day he appears at school in a different disguise, only to discover on Saturday that Jean Claude is missing. Wily readers will know instantly what's up, but that only adds to the pleasure of this lighthearted story. Halperin's detailed illustrations re-create the French setting. Bonaparte est charmant.

Reviewer: Susan P. Bloom | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2000

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Kathryn Brown. Raney and her pokey horse Thunder have never won a ribbon at the Washita County Fair, but not from lack of trying. This year spunky Raney is sure she's "got it in the bag and sewed shut" with her Sooner Biscuits--until a tornado stirs things up. The entertaining pace and folksy dialogue make this a natural choice for reading aloud. Energetic illustrations extend the tongue-in-cheek humor and are as clever as the homespun tale.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2000

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Robert Andrew Parker. A wandering bagpiper tugs a handsome pair of boots off a corpse only to find the feet still in them. Willie uses the feet to play a trick on an uncharitable farmer and sees the worm turn when a foot-loose--er, -less--man comes to reclaim his standing. The twists from ghoulish to slapstick to spooky step lightly, and Parker's paintings have a rustic elegance that helps the story keep its shape.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2000

(3) PS Lizzy is afraid of many things, but she gets up the nerve to try them whenever she is holding her skunk puppet. When she loses her puppet, she finds that she can be brave enough to find Skunk on her own. Small watercolor illustrations show Lizzy when she's afraid; large pictures show her full of confidence. Lizzy's emotions ring true in the simple, appealing story.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(2) K-3 Floca's spirited, fictionalized account of the American Museum of Natural History's expeditions into Mongolia in the 1920s provides welcome historical perspective for children who already know loads of facts about dinosaurs. The upbeat dialogue feels historically appropriate, a tone that is reflected in the illustrations' careful attention to period details, and the attention to scientific detail is also excellent.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2000

(2) YA This first novel traces the lives of eleven narrators over seven years. The characters, most of whom attend a high school in Brooklyn, are from various racial and socioeconomic backgrounds, and their language and dialogue sound true to life. Though their experiences unrealistically run the gamut of problem-novel topics, Frank succeeds most of all in showing how lives are shaped over years by the people kids run into, away from, and with.

Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2000

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Holly Meade. This picture-book biography of the country's first female steamboat captain portrays the river-loving Blanche first as a child and then as a young woman whose husband, a steamboat captain, teaches her the mysterious, unpredictable ways of the Mississippi. Exuberantly colored cut-paper art effectively realizes the three central characters of the story: Blanche, the river, and the romantic steamboat itself.

Reviewer: Susan P. Bloom | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2000

(4) PS Computer-enhanced photos of one boy with a teddy bear, two girls with bows in their hair, etc., illustrate this colorful but not particularly innovative counting book. Feminist-minded adult readers will notice that the boys are usually shown doing something active, like building with blocks, while the girls tend to hang around modeling clothing and accessories. Seek-and-find number searches on every page extend the book's usefulness.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann

(4) PS Illustrated by Nick Sharratt. Daisy hates peas, so her mom tries to bribe her into eating them. But no matter how elaborate the bribes become, Daisy won't be swayed and eventually triumphs in this battle of wills. Bold cartoon illustrations enhance the tension: Daisy grows larger and angrier while her mother grows smaller and more desperate. Though the resolution is too easy, the story is funny.

Reviewer: Mark Adam

(2) YA The team that created Chuck Close, Up Close has turned its attention to Gehry, an architect who has created buildings that are arguably the most daring and playful to date. Liberally illustrated with photos and with Gehry's wildly loose sketches, the book provides an overview of architecture in general and an exploration of the artistic voice in particular. Bib., glos.

Reviewer: Lolly Robinson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2000

(3) 4-6 Stuck in a tiny apartment, Emerald dreams of the day her actor parents will make it. Instead of writing an essay for the citywide My New York contest, the fourth grader decides to make a shoebox model of her apartment--and discovers she likes her New York and her neighbors. With convincing characters, Greenwald tells a different kind of new-kid-on-the-block story.

Reviewer: Jeannine M. Chapman

(3) PS Illustrated by Shane W. Evans. This book reflects the importance of family and memories in the African-American community. Uncles and aunts who raised the young narrator's father are the centerpieces of this story that takes the reader from the kitchen table to a dip into the lake fully clothed. Evans's bright, stylized illustrations add to the joy of a visit with the "Old Ones."

Reviewer: Deborah L. Thompson