If You Spent a Day with Thoreau at Walden Pond (Christy Ottaviano Books)
A young boy in jeans and a T-shirt knocks at the door of a small wooden cabin. This is where Henry David Thoreau lives, and if you want to spend a day with him, you have to arrive early, because he is up with the sun. Burleigh, in his compact but elegant text directed at the reader, never really introduces Thoreau, but he gives kids a sense of him through his actions. As they sit at the pond, for instance, Thoreau tells the boy, Living a simple life is the best way to be happy. Minor’s spreads are impressive in their depiction of the outdoors and in the way they capture tinier moments, like watching ants. Yet, the pictures only marginally extend the text and take few chances. As a piece of bookmaking, however, this is quite handsome, starting with the endpapers that show a simple map of Walden Pond, and ending with a comprehensive conclusion, which features a two-page Thoreau biography and a list of observations he made about life (after each quote, a more modern explanation follows). A solid introduction to someone kids should know. Grades 1-3. --Ilene Cooper