KAREN LEE SCHMIDT
Reviews
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The Jungle Baseball Game
by Tom Paxton, Karen Lee Schmidt

"Incautiously challenging the champion monkeys to a game, a team of bumbling hippos buckles down to score a late go-ahead run, then wins in the ninth when pitcher Slammin' Sally causes a gorilla to fly out. Schmidt dresses the portly upstarts in pink T-shirts and decorates the margins with capering, overconfident primates just itching (not to mention scratching) for a fall....this will appeal to baseball fans and nonfans alike for its silliness and suspenseful game action. Music is printed on the endpapers."
Booklist May 1,1999

"Paxton's children's song is successfully translated into a lively picture book complete with musical arrangement on the endpapers. The humor in Schmidt's bright illustrations--monkeys and hippos cavort across the pages waving their arms and tripping over their feet--perfectly suits the song." 
 Horn Book

It's a marvelous mismatch: the humble hippos versus the magnificent monkeys, the slickest ballplayers around. Though the primates are poised for an easy win, the hippos buckle down and teach their opponents a thing or two about true grit! Brightly colored pictures feature rip-roaring action and high jinks that will keep little sluggers laughing all the way to home plate. Music based on Tom Paxton's song: "The Monkeys' Baseball Game" is included on the endpapers.

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You Be Good and I'll Be Night
by Eve Merriam, Karen Lee Schmidt

"Merriam's proliferation of animals allows the illustrator, Karen Lee Schmidt, to show off her talents to best advantage. Her sprightly pictures of creatures ranging from jigging pigs to cuddling crocodiles are the visual equivalents of the poems, right down to the hidden joke: carved fish on a bear's bed for instance, or the 'R' on the telephone of a conversing rat." 
The New York Times  March 26, 1989

"Schmidt creates bright, exuberant watercolors, the perfect accompaniment for Merriam's joyful music."
Publishers Weekly  July 29,1988

"The pigs are especially appealing, but the double-page spread showing bear, alligator, rabbit, and mice mommas and papas enveloping their children to such stanzas as 'You're my safety, you're my pin, hold me close, and fasten me in' are hard to resist. This is indeed a collection to hold close and jump on the bed with."
School Library Journal

"If I had to recommend the very best first poetry book for children, one which would turn out to be a favorite 99 times out 100, this would be it. The cheery, detailed watercolors alone make this a book you'd never classify as 'ho-hum.' There are 35 pages, and nearly as many poems. They aren't titled, and each one flows smoothly into the following poem. If this turns out to be your child's first encounter with poetry, I think it will pave the way toward a life-long appreciation of verse."
Chinaberry Book Service

"Schmidt's whimsical paintings suit the playful, singsong poems. This charming book is irresistible, and like Merriam's verse about the 'crusty corn bread, crumbly crumbs, mumbly muffins, buttery thumbs,' it is, in a word, delicious."
The San Francisco Chronicle

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What Do You Love by Jonathan London, Karen Lee Schmidt

"This sweet story follows a mother dog and her son through a day of joyous activities. Prompted by the question 'What do you love?' the frisky pup tells all in a bouncy, rhyming text: 'Park slides and piggyback rides, mud pies and Mommy's eyes, hiding places and wild chases.' The question is asked and answered three more times, with some of the replies indicating the passage of time ('read-alouds and sunset clouds'). Youngsters will like paging through Schmidt's adorable watercolors and seeing the fun-loving mother and son engaged in a variety of familiar activities. The pictures, too, nicely depict the progression from day to dusk to night, with bright sunshine and robust activity giving way to moonlit walks and quiet talks. A good bedtime story to end a busy day."
Booklist

"In this rollicking and warm picture book, rhyming couplets catalog things that a puppy-person and his mother enjoy over the course of a day, such as hiding places and wild chases, and read-alouds and sunset clouds. Schmidt's double-page watercolor illustrations are effective from a distance and depict this active pair with vigorous and varying perspectives. They sing, jump, hug, and have fun together right up to bedtime...Preschoolers will relate to London's selection of cheerful activities and will no doubt want to add things they love to do with their moms."
School Library Journal