(2) K-3 Lonnie (Dinner at Aunt Connie's House) and Uncle Bates take a trip back in time to the height of the Harlem Renaissance. The pair visits landmarks in search of writer Langston Hughes--meeting greats such as W. E. B. Du Bois and Madam C. J. Walker along the way. More history lesson than story, the book is also a vehicle for Ringgold's accomplished acrylic paintings. Glos.

Reviewer: Kathleen T. Horning | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2015

(1) PS In a companion volume to My Car, Joe drives Bus #123 across a bold-hued landscape populated with feline and canine passengers. The book ingeniously and subtly introduces the basic concepts of cardinal and ordinal numbers, addition, subtraction, and sets. Illustrated in Barton's signature style, with bold, flat colors and with only the most important visual details included, there are sure to be re-readings.

Reviewer: Kathleen T. Horning | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2014

(2) YA After her southern Sudan village is bombed, Poni arrives at a Kenyan refugee camp, where conditions are brutal. Poni wants to finish her education, and she has a chance to do so when she escapes the refugee camp. Poni is a fully realized and sympathetic character. This fast-paced novel covers a lot of ground and incorporates a good deal of historical background.

Reviewer: Kathleen T. Horning | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2014

(1) YA Exquisitely crafted poems make up this verse novel set in 1981, during the Guatemalan Civil War. Wracked with survivor's guilt after his village is massacred, Carlos begins to walk--caminar--to his grandmother's village to warn of attack. The poems, all written from Carlos's point of view and all accessible to readers, are emotional, visceral, and lyrical. Glos.

Reviewer: Kathleen T. Horning | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2014

(2) K-3 Joe lost the invitation--with the address--to his friend Tom's party. As Joe and his mom walk down Tom's street, each window they pass shows a silhouette of something seemingly ordinary inside. A page turn, however, brings into focus the surreal, sometimes nightmarish scenes that are actually taking place. With its sophisticated visual humor, this is Browne at his artistically weird and psychologically complex best.

Reviewer: Kathleen T. Horning | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2014

(2) K-3 Illustrated by James E. Ransome. Goodman grew up in Chicago, a working-class Jewish boy; Wilson lived in Tuskegee, Alabama, a middle-class African American boy. The story of how the two jazz musicians met and formed the Benny Goodman Trio (the "first interracial band to perform publicly") is recounted in short bursts of text, almost like jazz riffs, accompanied by pencil and watercolor illustrations that capture distinctive moments. Timeline.

Reviewer: Kathleen T. Horning | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2014

(2) PS It's all in the perspective when it comes to size, as demonstrated in this clever picture book. The first page opens on a hugely magnified ladybug, labeled "Big bug." Our view pulls back so we see the now-little ladybug resting on a "big leaf," all part of an ever-widening rural scene. Minimal text and richly colored illustrations add to the fun.

Reviewer: Kathleen T. Horning | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2014

(1) K-3 A young artist, inspired by his books about African animals, is transported to an imaginary safari in this dreamy wordless book. Armed only with his pencil, sketch pad, and easel, he finds his models in the African landscape--elephant, zebras, etc. The story line is engaging and easy to follow, and Colón's pen-and-ink, watercolor, colored-pencil, and lithograph-pencil pictures are nicely textured.

Reviewer: Kathleen T. Horning | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2014

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Christopher Myers. In an imagined dialogue, American Ballet Theatre soloist Copeland reassures a disheartened African American ballet student that she also had self-doubts: "darling child, don't you know / you're just where I started." Richly hued collages make the dancers on stage seem to fly. An author's note says that Copeland never saw herself in ballet books; this book encourages aspiring dancers of all colors.

Reviewer: Kathleen T. Horning | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2014

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Laura Carlin. "When I was young, I lived in a city that was mean and hard and ugly," begins the narrator of this book about the healing power of nature. She tries to steal the bag of a woman who tells her she can have it if she promises to plant what's inside. The illustrations begin as harsh cityscapes, gradually softening with bursts of color.

Reviewer: Kathleen T. Horning | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2014

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Susan Guevara. Little Red rides an ATV to deliver la canasta (basket) to her abuela in this hip version of the traditional tale. Liberally sprinkled with Spanish words and phrases, the rhyming text is fresh and funny. Just as clever as the quirky text are the watercolor, ink, and gouache illustrations that contain plenty of humor and multiple layers of meaning. Glos.

Reviewer: Kathleen T. Horning | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2014

(2) YA In melodic verses, Engle offers the voices of the dark-skinned workers (known as the "silver people"), whose backbreaking labor helped build the Panama Canal, along with the perspective of a local girl. Interspersed are occasional echoes from flora and fauna as well as cameo appearances by historical figures. Together, they provide an illuminating picture of the project's ecological sacrifices and human costs. Bib.

Reviewer: Kathleen T. Horning | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2014

(2) 4-6 African American Octobia May lives with her boardinghouse-owner auntie Shuma. Octobia May is convinced boarder Mr. Davenport is a vampire, but no one believes her. Unstoppable indeed is the dogged, imaginative protagonist of this fast-paced mystery set in 1953. Once Octobia May gets an idea into her head, she follows it as far as it will take her, defying gender norms and racial prejudice.

Reviewer: Kathleen T. Horning | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2014

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Evan Turk. Mahatma Gandhi's grandson, Arun, who angers easily, feels he will never live up to the Gandhi name. Gandhi explains that he, too, feels anger but has learned to channel it for good. Unusual for its child-centered portrait of Gandhi, the graceful narrative is matched by vivid mixed-media illustrations, rendered in watercolor, paper collage, cotton fabric, yarn, gouache, pencil, tea, and tinfoil.

Reviewer: Kathleen T. Horning | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2014

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton. In this refreshingly original story, Kameeka is determined to win the title of "Hula-Hoopin' Queen of 139th Street." However, on the day of the contest, she's supposed to help prepare a birthday party for her elderly neighbor, Miz Adeline. The appealing cartoon-style illustrations highlight a strong sense of community in Kameeka's Harlem neighborhood, showing a wide range of distinctive characters and places.

Reviewer: Kathleen T. Horning | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2014

(3) PS This story follows a small boy through a day which begins with him being the first to wake up, then the first to get dressed, and so on. But being first isn't always positive for him. Preschoolers won't miss the silly details as bold colors and blocky figures show a brown-skinned boy engaged in daily routines. This resized edition was previously published as First Comes Harry.

Reviewer: Kathleen T. Horning

(2) PS Isadora shows a group of roly-poly toddlers enjoying a beginning gymnastics class. Teachers lead five girls and four boys through activities such as stretching, tumbling, walking on a low balance beam, and hanging on a parallel bar. The text is minimal, but the real joy comes through Isadora's sprightly illustrations that combine pencil and ink line drawings with swathes of oil paint.

Reviewer: Kathleen T. Horning | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2014

(2) K-3 Translated by Emmy Smith Ready. Illustrated by Javier Martínez Pedro. A straightforward first-person narration recounts a child's memories of his migration from Mexico to Los Angeles. The dramatic journey includes jumping a train, scaling a wall, and being chased by dogs. Intricately detailed black-and-white artwork is presented as one long vertical picture book with an accordion fold, in the style of ancient Mayan codices. The reverse side of the book presents the Spanish translation.

Reviewer: Kathleen T. Horning | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2014

(2) YA The murders of three young civil rights workers--James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner--are the focus of Mitchell's absorbing book. He conducted interviews with friends and family members of the men, and provides a fascinating biographical sketch of each, along with a thorough account of the police investigation. This compelling book will grab you from its opening paragraphs and won't let go. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Kathleen T. Horning | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2014

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Meilo So. Fourteen three-line verses, in English and Spanish, celebrate water in its many forms. Each verse is accompanied by a majestic painting from a specific place in the world, from Arizona to Zambia. Skillful alliteration and assonance in the English versions are mostly lost in the literal Spanish translations, but in either language, the poems, read aloud, can be as dramatic as the accompanying illustrations.

Reviewer: Kathleen T. Horning | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2014