• Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2020 April #1
  Here Karas takes a rarely reprinted poem from the Norman Rockwell of American poets and sets it in a modern smithy (based on his own son's), showing a young artisan using both contemporary and traditional tools. Viewers may see a disconnect between the slender figure in the illustrations and Longfellow's description of him as "a mighty man" with "brawny arms." Otherwise, the art follows the poem fairly closely, including in its depictions of children. If the verses come down heavy on the heart strings and tend strongly toward a moralistic tone, even younger audiences should find neither the language nor the overall character portrait of a sturdy worker who "looks the whole world in the face, / For he owes not any man," beyond comprehension. Closing out with closer looks at a blacksmith's gear and a second iteration of the poem, this performs double duty as both a celebration of an ancient but still worthy craft and a reminder that there is far more to this poet than "Paul Revere's Ride" and "Song of Hiawatha." Grades 2-5. Copyright 2020 Booklist Reviews.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine, on February 27, 1807, and died on March 22, 1882. Longfellow moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, in December 1836 and is one of the great American Romantic poets. “The Village Blacksmith” was first published in 1841 and was inspired by his ancestor, Stephen Longfellow, a village smithy, schoolmaster, and town clerk.

G. Brian Karas has illustrated more than ninety children’s books, including two by Megan McDonald about Ant and Honey Bee; Tap Tap Boom Boom by Elizabeth Bluemle; Are You Going to Be Good? by Cari Best, a New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Children’s Book of the Year; and his most recent title, Night Job by Newbery Medalist Karen Hesse, a New York Times Notable Children’s Book of the Year. G. Brian Karas lives in the Hudson Valley of New York.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine, on February 27, 1807, and died on March 22, 1882. Longfellow moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, in December 1836 and is one of the great American Romantic poets. 'the Village Blacksmith' was first published in 1841 and was inspired by his ancestor, Stephen Longfellow, a village smithy, schoolmaster, and town clerk.

G. Brian Karas has illustrated more than ninety children's books, including two by Megan McDonald about Ant and Honey Bee; Tap Tap Boom Boom by Elizabeth Bluemle; Are You Going to Be Good? by Cari Best, a New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Children's Book of the Year; and his most recent title, Night Job by Newbery Medalist Karen Hesse, a New York Times Notable Children's Book of the Year. G. Brian Karas lives in the Hudson Valley of New York.