Reviews
SLJ Review of Let's Look at Body Systems!
Take a look under human skin and explore the fun world of anatomy and physiology with this early chapter series about how systems work in the body. The step-by-step processes take readers through each part of the body and talk about the interconnected aspect of how systems work. The… 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 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 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 Seasons of Fun: Spring
Young readers will learn all about spring in this series. Brightly colored pages featuring simple text and large images describe the season’s weather, holidays, sports, and plants. Bolded vocabulary words can be found in the glossary. Each book ends with a one-page exploration of a topic View →
SLJ Review of Seasons of Fun: Spring
Young readers will learn all about spring in this series. Brightly colored pages featuring simple text and large images describe the season’s weather, holidays, sports, and plants. Bolded vocabulary words can be found in the glossary. Each book ends with a one-page exploration of a topic 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 Whole Wide World
This series continues to balance information with an eye-catching format, highlighting landmarks around the world. There are about three chapters that are six pages long and contain full-page pictures that accompany short paragraphs throughout. The beginning of each title starts with… 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 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 →
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 →