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32 pp.
| Houghton
| May, 2007
|
TradeISBN 978-0-618-49642-6$17.00
(4)
K-3
Illustrated by
Bonnie Christensen.
As a young apprentice in a medieval monastery's scriptorium, Simon yearns to add his own pictures to the margins of books. Father Anselm gives him a puzzle that both challenges his wit and polishes his artistic skills. Though Christensen's large panel illustrations look awkward and blockish, the authentic egg tempera colors and quill pen techniques work well in the delicate details.
32 pp.
| Hyperion/Jump
| September, 2004
|
TradeISBN 0-7868-1952-9$15.99
(3)
PS
Illustrated by
Ken Wilson-Max.
A boy makes his handprint with paint, then creates four colorful turkey collages. When the turkeys come alive, he saves them from Foxy the fox by setting them free but then must lure them back to their Popsicle-stick pen. The whimsical illustrations for this clever, imaginative book feature handprint turkeys scurrying around on legs made of toothpicks.
32 pp.
| Lee
| October, 2004
|
TradeISBN 1-58430-163-5$16.95
(3)
K-3
Illustrated by
Felipe Galindo.
Simple rhyming text and cheery mixed-media illustrations follow a teacher as she helps her students conceptualize twenty-six occupations from A (astronaut) to Z (zillionaire). The message that teachers can encourage children to be whatever they want to be may not be subtle, but it's effective.
32 pp.
| Holiday
| September, 2002
|
TradeISBN 0-8234-1627-5$$16.95
(3)
PS
Illustrated by
Jill Weber.
The repetition-heavy verses of this Nativity story-song ("Behold the joy of Bethlehem, / Bethlehem, Bethlehem. / Behold the joy of Bethlehem / on this first Christmas morn") have tight, musical rhythms and will make for uplifting holiday reading. The meticulously detailed acrylic and watercolor paintings feature a smiling Christ child and beaming animals, but they in no way trivialize the event.
32 pp.
| Lee
| May, 2002
|
TradeISBN 1-58430-034-5$$16.95
(4)
PS
Illustrated by
Don Tate.
An African-American boy rises early in the morning and goes through an idyllic farming day, his eyes on the position of the sun. The rhyming text is a little singsongy ("Pa by the shed / rollin' out wire. / Summer sun's climbin' / higher and higher"), but the rich, restful illustrations of the farm and the stylized, geometrically planed depictions of the family provide texture and movement.
24 pp.
| Lee
| May, 2001
|
TradeISBN 1-58430-028-0$$6.95 1997
(4)
PS
This board book edition is illustrated with ten of the fourteen illustrations from the original picture book, and the text--a poem about the diversity of the United States--includes a Spanish translation. The text is no less self-conscious than the original, but the variety of art is striking and the bilingual text broadens the audience.
32 pp.
| Atheneum
| October, 2000
|
TradeISBN 0-689-81673-1$$16.00
(4)
K-3
Illustrated by
Synthia Saint James.
"A sprinkle of stars, / A plume of smoke, / A plum-purple sky, / And a black baby Jesus-- / Hallelujah!" Nikola-Lisa describes different colors, repeating the rather bald "black baby Jesus" refrain, while Saint-James's simple color-block paintings show scenes from the Nativity. Combining an ethnically-specific Jesus with the color-concept element is odd, but many will welcome the book's inclusive intentions.
32 pp.
| Lee
| September, 2000
|
TradeISBN 1-880000-99-7$$15.95
(4)
K-3
Illustrated by
Hector Viveros Lee.
Kids on the playground try to top one another by describing animals with increasing appendages: "A snake with three tongues--I got a bird with four wings! Can you top that?" A kid with a real (toy) elephant calls all their bluffs by demanding to see the fanciful creatures. The imaginative element is straitjacketed into dullness by the counting-book framework, but the colorful gouache illustrations in a faux woodcut style are eye-catching.
32 pp.
| Holt
| August, 2000
|
TradeISBN 0-8050-6243-2$$20.00
(4)
K-3
Thirteen of Grandma Moses's detailed folk-art paintings, depicting rural activities such as field plowing, grain threshing, and sleigh rides, are paired with excerpts of her writing about life in upstate New York. Nikola-Lisa has added simple text describing and attempting to unify the appealing illustrations, but the package as a whole feels disjointed. An author's note about Grandma Moses is included.