Gr 1-3-Two fresh, short biographies for newly independent readers. Each book is unbroken by chapters, and both lack an index. And, interestingly, each one gives a pronunciation guide to just one word-"Iroquois" in Champlain and "phonograph" in Edison. Champlain's childhood can only be surmised. He was born around 1580 in France, according to the text, although the CIP lists his birth year as 1567. Edison takes readers from the subject's childhood in Ohio, where he was born in 1847, to his death 84 years later. His more famous inventions are mentioned. In both books, the writing is clear if sedate, and the type is large. Abundant pen-and-ink illustrations are finely rendered and enhance each text. There are several books for this age range about Edison, such as David A. Adler's worthy A Picture Book of Thomas Alva Edison (Holiday House, 1996), but there is little information available for this audience on Champlain.-Anne Chapman Callaghan, Racine Public Library, WI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.