ALA Booklist (Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 CST 2005)

Both the famous and the unknown are celebrated in the 21 rhyming poems in this collection, which is illustrated with full-page, smiling oil portraits. Helen Keller, Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, and Rosa Parks are here, and so is the Pakistani child laborer and martyr, Iqbal Masih. The book also pays tribute to ordinary subjects such as The Elementary School Teacher, The Firefighter, and even to a wonder dog in Alaska. There's also an outrageous Lady Godiva, nude on horseback (private parts covered). The verse is undistinguished, and the rhyme is sometimes forced. This is an entertaining collection, however, and a brief biographical note about each subject included with each supplies a few additional, interesting details.

Horn Book

Twenty-one laudatory poems celebrate the accomplishments of people (plus one dog) who have performed selfless acts in the service of others. Subjects range from Helen Keller, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr., to those toiling in the trenches of their professions with little or no recognition. Expressive oil paintings ably complement the verses and do much to convey strength of character.

Kirkus Reviews

The best-described hero in Lewis's book is actually in the author's note, where he writes about his school janitor at St. Mary of the Lake, who always made kids feel better. The 21 poems about heroic men and women unfortunately do not sing and sometimes do not even hum sweetly. These very short verses—16 lines at their longest—are each followed by a short paragraph giving some more information about their subject. These range from an acrostic about Roberto Clemente to a quick quatrain about The Elementary School Teacher ("A teacher is a person / unafraid / To get the third degree / From Second Grade!") to a free verse about Ida Wells-Barnett, a journalist who spoke out against lynching. Unfortunately, most of these are not felicitous, and the rhymes fall like hammers. The illustrations, oil paint on illustration board, feel ponderous. Gandhi looks like Yoda, Joan of Arc has long hair when one of the things everyone knows about her is that she cut hers short to wear men's garb and armor, and Cesar Chavez's head floats in a migrant workers' sky like the Wizard of Oz. Lewis has done wonderful work in the past; this one doesn't measure up. (author's note) (Picture book/biography. 6-10)

School Library Journal (Tue Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2005)

Gr 3-7-In this attractively illustrated collection, Lewis spotlights many famous individuals-Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, and Gandhi, but he also lauds those who are less well known, such as Roberto Clemente, who "saved his greatest heroics to/Rescue earthquake victims of Nicaragua" and Sister Jeannette Normandin, who founded an assisted-living center for women with AIDS. Included also are nameless others-"Rosie the Riveter" ("High I beams/And welders' seams/Making History with a Her"); a firefighter at the World Trade Center ("-on that day/Badge 5-6-9/Did all he could/To redefine/Uncommon good"); and immigrants ("To transform this new nation,/They opened up closed doors/And bravely rolled/New into old/To cultivate these shores"). A final poem encourages readers to become heroes who "set aside their fear/To lend a hand or lend an ear,-.No matter what or where or who,/When something must be done,/They do." Notes following each poem give a brief explanation about the significance of the subject. Cooke's illustrations, created with oil on illustration board, present compelling portraits and help to create a book that is both inviting and educational. This is an important title that will inspire young people and perhaps encourage them to look more deeply into the lives of others as well as their own.-Lee Bock, Glenbrook Elementary School, Pulaski, WI Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.