Reviews
Booklist Review of Thanksgiving
Starting with a quick version of the traditional story of the origins of Thanksgiving (with a glancing nod to contemporary Indigenous people’s alternate gathering to “remember those who died after colonists arrived”), this Holiday History series (7 titles) volume still… View →
SLJ Review of Forest School
Exceptionally clear photos show readers what they should look for during their forest walks. Most of nature comes in shades of green or brown, so detailed pictures of tracks, seeds, nests, and droppings will help children identify evidence of life. Photos of woodland creatures bring kids View →
SLJ Review U.S. Government Need to Know
This new hi-lo series from focuses on the branches of the United States government and how they interact together. Each title explores an aspect of the federal government, including how it works and its key players. The series successfully conveys very complicated concepts like checks… View →
SLJ Review of X-Treme Facts: Space
An irreverent series that uses humor to engage readers. Each spread has an interesting chapter title, a paragraph of informational text, colorful boxes with facts, photographs, and comic-book style speech bubbles. There are many pictures of children or stereotypical aliens layered over… View →
SLJ Review of Eye-mazing Illusions
The exciting optical illusions throughout this series explore not only the science of optics, but also interconnected STEAM topics like neurology. Covering both two-dimensional and three-dimensional illusions, there are mathematical, health, and artist… View →
SLJ Review of Los trabajos de los perros (Dogs on Duty)
Repetition, early words, and simple narrative structure are major strengths in this series about the many service functions performed by working dogs. Herding dogs, military dogs, search and rescue dogs, and service dogs are profiled in these Spanish/English books for early readers who… View →
SLJ Review of Mindful Cooking
Moving beyond deep breaths and yoga mats, these titles incorporate mindfulness practices into common middle grade activities like dancing and crafting. It is a clever expansion that builds on a secular understanding of mindfulness and its uses in daily activities to boost mental… View →
SLJ Review of What on Earth? Climate Change Explained
This series covers the many aspects of climate change from weather patterns to climate events to the effects on animals. Each section is two pages long, and builds understanding of what climate change is and why it is happening. For example, due to climate change “…fire seasons… View →
SLJ Review of Life Works!
Using stylized monster characters, these books guide readers through activities to help build empathy and understanding, while developing critical skills like time management and building trust with others. Bright colors and silly monsters keep the serious topics layered with some levity View →
SLJ Review of What's Inside Me?
A neat trend in children’s body books is to blend cartoon and real medical imagery together, and this series does that very well. Pairing photographs, scientific imaging, and stylized cartoons really helps explain how each part of the body works doing different activities. The… View →
Booklist Advance Review Mindful Music and Dancing
This resource-filled guide, part of the Art of Mindfulness series (4 titles), lets kids explore SEL after-reading prompts as well as an View →
SLJ Review of Spot the Differences
Engaging animal comparisons are presented in a question-and-answer format. Text provides simple facts about the two animals. Readers examine the accompanying photograph, then try to identify it based on the words and image: “A frog has webbed feet. A toad does not. Which is this?” (Frog… View →