Thirteen prominent American men and women are briefly profiled in this collection. Read full book review >

Imagine finding an old journal in the attic, a journal with pages worn and brown with age and written by Abraham Lincoln. Read full book review >

When a small village has a meager harvest with not enough olives for oil to light the Chanukah menorahs, Hayim, the poorest, sends an appealing letter to the Almighty so the holiday may still be traditionally celebrated. Read full book review >

In 1951, it was common to see Willie Mays playing in the streets of Harlem with the neighborhood stickball teams. Read full book review >

Brimner gives the early history of public transportation a quick once-over, focusing particularly on the building of subway systems in London and New York, but adding side glances toward such related topics as the evolution of the steam engine and the digging of the Channel Tunnel. Read full book review >

Waldman (Too Young For Yiddish, p. 106, etc) begins by asking why of all the ancient cultures and religions of the Mediterranean only the Jews have survived. Read full book review >

Waldman's (The Wisdom Bird, 2000, etc.) account of the massacre at Wounded Knee is accessible to young readers, but troubling in its lack of documentation. Read full book review >

This is a sweet story about a language that, like the Jews themselves, manages to survive despite the effects of extermination and assimilation. Read full book review >

In a riddle tale based on several African and Middle Eastern antecedents, the wisest man in the world meets the wisest woman. Read full book review >

Patent (Children Save the Rain Forest, p. 903, etc.) selects stories from the Mayan and Aztec tradition regarding the quetzal—a striking, vividly plumed bird of the rain forest—for this title in the Sacred Animal series. In a thoughtful introduction on Mesoamerica, Patent describes how scientists rely on sparse evidence to understand early beliefs. Read full book review >

A princess of light, a vampire demon, peasants, and proud kings appear in these 11 tales of miracles, wisdom, and kindness, adapted by one of the creators of Sabbath Lion (1992). Read full book review >

A sentimental account of Jewish history, seen through the lens of Jerusalem. Read full book review >

A Louisiana lullaby, set to honeyed Cajun verse. Appelt (Elephants Aloft, Harcourt, 1993) creates a gentle and comforting work: creatures of the swamp snooze under the moon, both father and mother spend hushed moments readying the child for bed, fireflies flicker through the dark. Read full book review >

A lovely book that's intended as a companion to, rather than a substitute for, a Passover Haggadah. Read full book review >

The illustrator's daughter, 13, stays close to the text as it appears in Genesis, varying repetitions a bit (``It was all very good'') and ad-libbing some embellishments (``the softer light of the moon would shine through the nights, with the help of twinkling stars''); she also adds a ``Storyteller's Note'' on the creation story as a reminder ``to take care of our beautiful planet.'' The text, white on black in an elegant face, makes a stylish foil for art in luminous stained-glass hues, artfully composed of mosaic-like passages of dabs of color, larger areas in solid tones, decorative grace notes, and stylized figures- -e.g., an extraordinary portrait of Adam and Eve, where Waldman's freewheelingly unrealistic use of brilliant color is particularly striking. Read full book review >

Luenn's poetic text explores the title's image—``Mountains her bones/ Trees and plants her living hair/...Frogs and snakes are her sense of smell/ Insects her thoughts''—the metaphor is intriguingly applied, though it seems overextended. Read full book review >

In an original tale that draws on the folklore of the Pacific Northwest Indians, a boy whose assigned task is making spoons outwits a supernatural visitor disguised as a majestically tall stranger. Read full book review >