(4) K-3 Illustrated by John Beder. Some of the poems in this collection are overlong, but all are imaginative, kid-pleasing, and Prelutsky-esque in topic and level of humor ("I woke up in a muddle / In the middle of a puddle / Had the poodle made a piddle in the middle / Of the night?"). The typeface is too small and crowded, but the picture book layout works well, with large, vibrant illustrations set off nicely against plentiful white space.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(4) PS Illustrated by Sylvie Daigneault. All kinds of night noises, from a bird's twittering and a pipe's gurgling to a refrigerator's humming and a fox's yipping, keep a small boy awake in his grandparents' bed. The story is told in singsongy rhyming verse, and kids will probably enjoy joining in on the noisy refrains. Illustrations tinged with the blues, greens, and purples of night are just shy of being too sentimental.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(2) PS Illustrated by Pauline Paquin. This story traces an Inuit child's steps toward independence. "When Katie was a baby...she rode on Mama's back under her big, flowery parka." One day, Mama tells Katie that it's time for her to walk. Despite her protests, Katie does walk--farther and farther each time. The lyrical text is unsentimental, and the oil paintings imply the beauty of the Far North while keeping the focus on Katie's small journeys.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2002

(4) 4-6 With a distinctly Canadian viewpoint, this is an albumlike overview of the Great War both in the trenches and at home. Although each themed double-page spread contains intriguing reproductions of period photos, posters, and documents, the focus is simply too broad to be effective. Granfield's previous In Flanders Fields: The Story of the Poem by John McCrae is a better introduction. Ind.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Barbara Spurll. Her chicken coop becomes unusually cold one day, so Emma tries--unsuccessfully--to get warm by imitating the other barnyard animals. After the farm family finds her huddled outside their window, illuminated by the outdoor Christmas lights, the farmer suddenly remembers to turn on the heat lamps in her coop. The illustrations for this comical story reveal Emma to be one determined chicken.

Reviewer: Martha Sibert

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Robin Muller. This is a handsome edition of Wilde's original fairy tale of devotion, compassion, and self-sacrifice. The illustrator has chosen to emphasize the uplifting elements of the story, concentrating on the devoted swallow and suffusing all his pictures--even those supposedly depicting abject poverty--with the gold of the statue of the Happy Prince. A biographical note on Wilde is appended.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano