By KAREN MACPHERSON, Scripps Howard News Service

Here are some great new children's books by previous winners of the Newbery and Caldecott Medals:

-- Two-time Newbery Medalist Lois Lowry has just published her first picture book, "Crow Call" (Scholastic, $16.99). Based on a memory from Lowry's childhood, "Crow Call" tells the story of a special day that a young girl named Liz spends with her father, just back from World War II.

Here are some great new children's books by previous winners of the Newbery and Caldecott Medals:

-- Two-time Newbery Medalist Lois Lowry has just published her first picture book, "Crow Call" (Scholastic, $16.99). Based on a memory from Lowry's childhood, "Crow Call" tells the story of a special day that a young girl named Liz spends with her father, just back from World War II.

She's not much to look at, but she's got loads of character. Most importantly, she's got a magical touch when it comes to attracting young readers.

Deborah Heiligman knew it would make a great book: the idea that Charles Darwin's religious wife Emma was terrified that her beloved husband would go to hell for his theory of evolution.

It was 1963, and Norman Bridwell, the father of an infant daughter, was broke and desperately searching for work as a commercial artist in New York City.

Celebrate Halloween with some of these great new children's books:

-- Duck and Goose look everywhere for a pumpkin until their friend Thistle tells them about the local pumpkin patch in "Duck & Goose Find a Pumpkin" (Schwartz & Wade/Random House, $6.99). This board book is the latest in the "Duck and Goose" series by author/illustrator Tad Hills. (Ages birth-2.)

Greg Heffley is a hybrid, and his millions of young fans love it that way.

For those who haven't yet met Greg, he's the hapless star of the best-selling kids'-book series, "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," written and illustrated by Jeff Kinney. Nothing is easy for Greg, a middle-school student with a large ego, small brain and a nose for trouble.

Learning to read should be fun. All too often, however, the books available for beginning readers are simple-minded and boring.

Picture-book biographies pack a lot of facts into a large, illustration-filled format, offering an enticing package for kids.

Here's a look at some great new picture-book biographies:

Several years ago, Kate DiCamillo was waiting for a friend in the lobby of a New York City hotel. Suddenly, she had a moment of pure inspiration, as she saw a picture in her mind of a magician and felt his desire to perform some extraordinary magic.