... Susan Jeffers, an award-winning illustrator, has produced a dramatic, oversize picture book to accompany Longfellow's verse. It's hard to find one word to describe the double-spread illustrations where only a small space is devoted to the verse. The currently overused ''awesome'' may say it best. ... For the full color artwork, she has used a fine line pen with many colors of ink and dyes. The effect is exquisite. ... A novel addition to the book is Ms. Jeffers use of the endpages (inside the front and back covers) to frame the story. She uses the front to illustrate Nokomis falling to earth and the back to show Hiawatha's stepping into manhood, to suggest the larger scope of Longfellow's poem. Reading ''Hiawatha'' sent me to the bookcase to look for the longer version. I hope young people, parents, and teachers reading this book will do the same. It's a wonderful epic which you want to pass on to a new generation.

K Up - With large pastel paintings detailing the young Indian boy's life and his natural surroundings, Jeffers has illustrated part of the childhood section of the poem Hiawatha.... She has beautifully illuminated the stanzas with details based on the poem. ... Jeffers has captured the essence of this brief section from the classic poem. As in her other works, the pale tints of the pictures are in complete harmony with nature and with the text and show in detail how Hiawatha might have seen his world. A fine first exposure to the poem for children and a beautiful artistic experience.