The side with the green cover of this 11 1/4 x 9 1/4" double story involves Mari's experiences as a new girl at school. Mari is an immigrant child who has not yet learned English. After her teacher, Mr. Petrie, discovers that Mari can draw at the easel, she is able to tell her classmates a bit about herself by herself. Mr. Petrie uses one of Mari's drawings about her feelings to talk with his pupils after one of them calls her dummy. Mama tells Mari, In life there will always be those who hurt and tease out of ignorance...look and listen so you will not be one of them. Mari makes progress learning English, and, at home, so does Mama. Readers must turn the book around and upside down to locate the orange-covered side relating Mari's life story in words and pictures. Aliki's full-color artwork created with colored pencils and crayons effectively shows Mari as a greatly cherished child in her family, glimpses of Mari's infancy and early years in her former village, and her new life. The artwork briefly becomes black and white to reflect Mari's account of an earlier war and famine. Aliki's two-part, double- sided picture story reflecting some of the school experiences and feelings of a transplanted child without a new language allows readers to guess Mari's age, grade, and birth country. According to book jacket information, Aliki herself began school in Philadelphia where she was born to Greek parents. (Ages 5-9)

A simple and elegant re-telling of the story of King's life and philosophy, alternates the author's words with his. "Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that." Large format collage illustrations, inspired by the colors of stained glass, glow on each page. A chronology and resource list are appended.

Returning to her own childhood for inspiration, Aliki has created an exceptional sixty-four-page book that presents Marianthe's story -- her present and her past. In Painted Words, Marianthe's paintings help her to become less of an outsider as she struggles to adjust to a new language and a new school. Under the guidance of her teacher, who understands that there is more than one way to tell a story, Mari makes pictures to illustrate the history of her family, and eventually begins to decipher the meaning of words. In Spoken Memories, a proud Mari is finally able to use her new words to narrate the sequence of paintings she created, and share with her classmates her memories of her homeland and the events that brought her family to their new country.

00-01 Arkansas Diamond Primary Book Award Reading List