JEFFREY, Gary & Kate Petty . Sitting Bull: The Life of a Lakota Sioux Chief illus. by Terry Riley. chart. ISBN 1-4042-0247-1 . LC 2004005883. SHONE, Rob & Anita Ganeri . Harriet Tubman: The Life of an African-American Abolitionist illus. by Rob Shone. ISBN 1-4042-0245-5 . LC 2004009649.ea vol: 48p. (Graphic Nonfiction Series). maps. photos. reprods. further reading. glossary. index. Web sites. CIP. Rosen Central 2005. PLB $26.50. Gr 5-8 The spreads in these visually appealing books will remind many readers of the style popularized by DK. However, because of the limited space available for text, they often suffer from oversimplification and huge leaps in the time line of the person's life. The first book does not handle well the complexity of Lincoln's feelings toward slavery and African Americans. Students with a previous knowledge of the major battles and players of the Civil War will enjoy this fictionalized biography more than those with no background. Sitting Bull has an excellent diagram explaining the relationship among the many Sioux subtribes, but the glossary lacks a much-needed pronunciation key for the many Lakota words listed. Tubman suffers from poor organization; it opens with the slave ships holding Tubman's great-grandparents, moves to an elderly Tubman in 1896 upstate New York with children asking for her life story, and then returns to the slave ships of her ancestorsall in the space of two pages. Readers are zipped through her young life and early freedom work. In all three titles, the illustrations are quite colorful and appealing, and many readers will enjoy the action, but they need to be made aware that these titles are strictly for recreational reading. Courtney Lewis, Wyoming Seminary College Preparatory School, Kingston, PA