An anecdotal tribute to the adventurous boyish exploits of the great writer and humorist Clemens whose formal education ended at the age of twelve. Artwork has a homespun softness reminiscent of Norman Rockwell’s paintings.

The originator of The Tale of Peter Rabbit and his beloved garden animal friends, Potter turned to drawing and writing as a child in the absence of interactions with family and friends. The immediacy of this first-person account underscores her inherent loneliness and creativity.

Selene S. Vasquez is a media specialist at Orange Brook Elementary School in Hollywood, Florida. She is formerly a children’s librarian for the New York Public Library.#

River Boy: The Story of Mark Twain

by William Anderson.

Illustrated by Dan Andreasenn. (HarperCollins, 32 pp., $15.99).

Beatrix: Various Episodes from the Life of Beatrix Potter

by Jeanette Winter.