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40 pp.
| Philomel
| July, 2012
|
TradeISBN 978-0-399-25417-8$17.99
(4)
K-3
Illustrated by
Ted Lewin.
This account of Zamba, the iconic MGM Studios lion, describes how the orphaned cub was rescued, sent from Africa to animal trainer and author Helfer's ranch in California, and then filmed and made famous in various movies and commercials. Lewin's handsome watercolors give Zamba and other animals an appropriately majestic look, but the overwrought story suffers from romanticizing.
178 pp.
| Houghton
| October, 2010
|
TradeISBN 978-0-547-42483-5$22.00 New ed. (1990)
(3)
4-6
Illustrated by
Ted Lewin.
The 1990 illustrated edition of the 1961 Newbery Medal winner features twelve full-page, full-color watercolors in purple and blue hues that are appropriate to the island setting. This handsome gift-edition version includes a new introduction by Lois Lowry to commemorate the book's fiftieth anniversary.
32 pp.
| Holiday
| September, 2009
|
TradeISBN 978-0-8234-2054-4$17.95
(3)
K-3
Illustrated by
Ted Lewin.
A crow, moose, and fox fail to rouse the sun to end the long winter night--something that only a small chickadee's song ("Dee-dee-dee") is able to do, as "Fingers of light / peel back the blanket of darkness." Bauer's poetic text is enhanced by Lewin's lush, textured illustrations, which bring to life the forest and its sun-seeking creatures.
40 pp.
| Peachtree
| September, 2007
|
TradeISBN 978-1-56145-422-8$16.95
(4)
K-3
Illustrated by
Ted Lewin.
With his dad overseas during World War II, a young boy works to overcome his fears, especially of the horses that pull the neighborhood delivery wagons. Large watercolor illustrations enhance the slight story and highlight the boy's efforts to make his father proud. An appended author's note describes life during the war years and includes archival photos.
32 pp.
| Philomel
| May, 2004
|
TradeISBN 0-399-23704-6$$16.99
(4)
K-3
Illustrated by
Ted Lewin.
Eight-year-old Harriet describes her 1905 trek up Colorado's Longs Peak--the mountain her mother dreamed of climbing before she died. The book is based on a true story, facts of which Barron at times clunkily relays ("Here I was, just eight years old, half the age of anyone who'd ever climbed it"). Regardless, the story is, like Lewin's watercolors, suspenseful and dramatic.
40 pp.
| Philomel
| April, 2003
|
TradeISBN 0-399-23649-X$$16.99
(3)
K-3
Illustrated by
Ted Lewin.
In Atlantic City in 1936, Ivy and her father, who is employed as a boardwalk photographer, take in the many sights, but Ivy's favorite is the horse who jumps off a high platform into a tank of water and the girl who rides him. At summer's end, Ivy gets a memorable ride on the diving horse. Lewin's picture-postcard-style watercolors add the right nostalgic feel to this gentle, historical story.
32 pp.
| Putnam
| June, 2002
|
TradeISBN 0-399-22659-1$$16.99
(4)
K-3
Illustrated by
Ted Lewin.
Johnston's leisurely text follows the long, slow journey of a family traveling to the Western frontier. Eventually joining a wagon train, they experience the usual hardships, finally reaching the sierra and the sunsets of the West. Unfortunately, the family members in Lewin's familiar watercolors appear clean and stiffly posed, looking more like reenactors than like real pioneers.
32 pp.
| Boyds
| September, 2001
|
TradeISBN 1-56397-472-X$$15.95
(4)
K-3
Illustrated by
Ted Lewin.
On a moonlit night, a boy goes out to his father's forge and watches him put shoes on the neighbor's horse. In a big moment for the boy, his father allows him to put a horseshoe on Shadow Horse for the first time by himself. Both the text and Lewin's glowing illustrations are a bit on the sentimental side, but the combination of the topic and the unique atmosphere stands out.
32 pp.
| Simon
| June, 2000
|
TradeISBN 0-689-80539-X$$16.00
(3)
K-3
Illustrated by
Ted Lewin.
For Carrie's birthday, her grandmother takes her to a "disappearing island" off Cape Cod. Now visible only at low tide, the island once had homes and a lighthouse, but over the years the sea has slowly swallowed it up. Lewin's exquisite watercolors bring the quiet tale to life: Carrie's daydreams of the long-gone island community are strikingly rendered in orange tones, suggesting sun-bleached sepia prints.
32 pp.
| Scholastic
| October, 1999
|
TradeISBN 0-590-45714-4$$15.95
(3)
K-3
Illustrated by
Ted Lewin.
In an unusual approach to celebrating the individuality of all humans and fostering understanding of a larger-than-life historical figure, a boy who shares Abraham Lincoln's birthday draws parallels between his own personality and abilities and that of the revered American president. Full-color paintings depict action in the present while charcoal sketches depict Mr. Lincoln himself.
33 pp.
| Boyds
| September, 1999
|
TradeISBN 1-56397-403-7$$15.95
(4)
K-3
Illustrated by
Ted Lewin.
A boy works with his father to salvage and recycle boards and rafters, doors and windows--everything possible from an old barn. High's language and use of similes is poetic, though it is unlikely that a child would speak the way the narrator does in this first-person story. Lewin's watercolors are rich and detailed with a strong sense of light and darkness.
(3)
K-3
Thirteen poems about the unusual forebears--the medieval Tamworth pig, the multi-horned Hebridean sheep introduced to Scotland by Viking raiders, the tiny prehistoric Exmoor pony--of some of today's domesticated animals reveal how the creatures still live, barely changed over thousands of years. Both witty and respectful, the poems convey a sense of history. Vivid watercolors capture the mystery and majesty of these "originals."