(4) K-3 Illustrated by Benjamin Hummel. In 1891, during Benjamin Harrison's presidency, the President's House (later renamed the White House) was wired for electricity by Thomas Edison's nineteen-year-old apprentice Ike Hoover, who ultimately stayed on the job for forty-two years. Rather than a biography, this is informative but pedestrian historical fiction, with invented dialogue and caricaturish sepia illustrations. End matter includes notes on the historical characters. Reading list, websites. Glos.

Reviewer:

(2) 4-6 Pizzoli recounts the mysterious tale of Percy Fawcett, the early-twentieth-century British adventurer who disappeared in the rainforests of Brazil while searching for a lost ancient city he called "Z." The straightforward, chronological story is supplemented with maps, logbook-style illustrations, and sidebars; dialogue inside speech bubbles is more casual in tone. The artist's unique mix of techniques gives images a thick, textured feel. Bib., glos.

Reviewer: Elisa Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2017

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Wes Lowe. Galat clearly explains the basics of how early navigation worked, the limitations of sailing with just latitude as a marker, and how one man solved the longitude puzzle. Lowe's paintings help set time and place, but human figures are stiff. The complex concepts are best suited for older readers beyond the traditional picture-book age with understanding of math, science, and geography. Timeline.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(1) 4-6 Illustrated by Erik Blegvad. Spare prose outlines John Harrison's forty-year quest to determine longitude on a moving ship. Although the emphasis is on Harrison's doggedness, Borden presents the scientific problem deftly. Blegvad decorates the pages with both general scenes of the times (early eighteenth century) and specific incidents from the narrative. An afterword tells the fates of the principal players.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2004

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Kevin Hawkes. This picture book biography focuses on self-taught obsessive clock maker John Harrison, who, in the 1700s, became fascinated with solving the problem of determining longitude at sea. Lasky carefully distinguishes fact from conjecture yet makes the whole story lively and compelling, as do Hawkes's informative, often humorous, illustrations. Bib.

Reviewer: Susan P. Bloom | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2003

(2) 4-6 Illustrated by Dusan Petricic. The spirit of inventiveness pervades this drama of John Harrison, eighteenth-century maker of clocks and watches, who spent his life building a timepiece accurate enough to determine longitude at sea. The comic art serves a dual purpose: it leavens the scientific weightiness and reinforces the imaginative spirit of Harrison as he struggles for forty years to assemble his creation. Bib., glos., ind.

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

(4) K-3 United States Presidents series. Each of these ten books includes brief biographical information, a list of stats about the individual (place of birth, parents' names, religion, etc.), a time line of the president's life and achievements, and two pages explaining the role of the president and the other two branches of government. Report writers will find the basic facts but will need to look elsewhere for substantive information. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: Barbara Barstow