Reviews
Monkey with a Tool Belt and the Noisy Problem
“Monroe’s imaginative illustrations play with composition as well as perspective, offering detail-minded readers endless surprises. The goofball text unfolds with tongue firmly in cheek. . . A winner.” —Kirkus Reviews View →
Apple Cider Making Days
“Friar’s drawings perfectly fit the topic. Details are rich and the colors are just right for autrum apple-picking days. . . A great new addition to an overstuffed field.” —Kirkus Reviews View →
Nachshon, Who Was Afraid to Swim: A Passover Story
“Jago’s stylized art supplies his characters with Egyptian profiles atop slender bodies; the predominant oranges, yellows and browns, then blues and greens, befit the desert and watery settings, respectively.” —Kirkus Reviews View →
The Daring Escape of Ellen Craft
“New readers will appreciate the fast-paced adventure, simple language, large typeface with plenty of space for detailed illustrations, and a relatively obscure story set in a familiar historical time.” —Kirkus Reviews View →
"Told in a style as rollicking and rowdy as the opening sequence to Monday Night Football, this entry into the tall-tale tradition will leave readers breathless and happily exhausted." —Kirkus Reviews View →
Nature's Paintbox: A Seasonal Gallery of Art and Verse
“There is a strikingly rare synergy between the poetry and the illustrations in this truly remarkable addition to the pantheon of books on the four seasons for school-aged children.” —Kirkus Reviews View →
Benjamin and the Silver Goblet
“Well paced and well told, this familiar story makes itself fresh with a folkloric feel and a satisfying ending. Ugliano’s heavily textured, colorful pastel illustrations ably support and extend the text.” —Kirkus Reviews View →
"Listeners will delight in the gruesome details of both the illustrations and the rhymed text . . . school-aged audiences will eat this up . . . a great, gross addition to Halloween collections of all sizes." —Kirkus Reviews View →
Sports Shorts
“The stories are simply written and chatty and make good models for young writers with sports memories to embellish. Accessible to a wide range of sports enthusiasts, and appealing to older, struggling readers.” —Kirkus Reviews View →
The Babka Sisters
“Newman’s little culinary romp is infectiously happy and fun to read aloud. Detailed instructions for baking a babka are included. The steps are many; the results are delicious. Entertaining, lighthearted, and yummy.”―Kirkus Reviews View →
“A delightfully delivered message appears on every page of this bright, appealing art book: Read! An eclectic selection of paintings in which the subject is reading and a melodic text makes a winning combination.” —Kirkus Reviews View →
Between the Dragon and the Eagle
“The backbone of this engaging and informative first novel . . . is the journey, 2000 years ago, of a single bolt of blue silk from China to Rome. . . this is history brought to joyful life.” —Pointer, Kirkus Reviews View →
Pablo Picasso
“. . .valuable addition to the On My Own Biography series. . . renders an intriguing and lucid portrait. . . In pleasing textures of oil on canvas and warm hues, Porter’s accompanying illustrations quite nicely echo the art of its subject.” … View →
Allen Jay and the Underground Railroad
“Brill does a good job of incorporating basics about the Underground Railroad into her narrative and bringing it out in suspense. . . The art, in a sturdy style rendered in muted pastels, quietly accentuates the drama. A solid contribution.” — Kirkus View →
It's Winter!
“. . . The descriptions of the natural world are enhanced by the use of multi-layered, hand-painted, cut-paper collages. Adding visual depth to each page, they invite readers to come in for a closer look. . .” —Kirkus Review View →
Boker Tov!: Good Morning!
“Brown’s deeply colored acrylic paintings offer secular scenes of a multicultural and multiracial neighborhood full of cookie-cutter, round-faced, wide-grinned children all expressing carefree anticipation of the new day’s wonderful possibilities.”… View →
Menorah Under the Sea
“Clear, colorful photographs accompany the direct narrative that incorporates research with David’s special way of remembering the significance of Hanukkah by paralleling the survival of the sea urchins with the Jewish people’s own strength and determination.”… View →
The Art of Freedom: How Artists See America
“Paintings, sculpture and photographs depicting American scenes and people and representing artists and styles from the 18th century to the present are the focus of Raczka’s latest lesson in exposing young minds to viewing and understanding art.”… View →
Rescue on the Outer Banks
“This exciting and fast-paced tale will inspire its young readers and the large typeface and illustrations make the story easy to follow. The watercolors are detailed enough to show the characters’ emotions and reflect the tale’s drama perfectly.” … View →
Circle the Truth
“This rhapsody on faith, acceptance, patience and the relationship between ‘truth’ and ‘reality’ is an unusual and valuable addition to the pantheon of literature for youth, particularly since faith is so seldom addressed with such neutrality in books for… View →
Sarah Laughs
“Mellifluous full-page spreads in tones of green and blue pastel/crayon media depict the lyrically told story of this Jewish matriarch who believed her childbearing years had passed. An accessible rendition of the ancient biblical text for young religiously oriented… View →