Reviews
California Gold Rush
This graphic-rich introduction to the 1849 California gold rush walks readers through the basics, from the discovery of the first nuggets to the mass migration of hopeful prospectors to the sudden appearance of boomtowns to San Francisco’s transformation into a teeming metropolis.… View →
Each title in this series describes animal groupings and explores how the members benefit. For example, kangaroo mobs facilitate safety, child rearing, and grooming. One short paragraph per page explains a different key aspect of the social construct, accompanied by a large photo that… View →
Series Made Simple
This series provides a visual tour of the seven land masses. Each continent gets its own book, featuring information on its climate, native animals, population, and unusual features. In Explore Africa, readers will learn about the Sahara desert, Mount Kilimanjaro, and the many animals in View →
Garland Independent School District Review of Peru (Spanish)
Introduces readers to the land, cities, history, and food of Peru. This attractive volume in kid friendly, easy to read, and inviting. Beautiful and bright color photographs are included on every page, and although the text is simply written, it is interesting and does not overwhelm… View →
Series Made Simple
Children with disabilities deserve to be positively represented in the books they read. This excellent series in Spanish introduces readers to ability diversity in a compassionate and practical way. Readers will be drawn in by the book’s full-page color photographs of children from all… View →
Series Made Simple
Vivid photographs and minimal text work together in this set for younger readers. Basic descriptions of shark attributes include questions and answers, along with occasional interjections: “What is this? A mako shark! Wow!” Though occasionally awkwardly worded, the loose, simple… View →
Series Made Simple
Having a hard time convincing sports lovers that STEM includes them? Then look no further—these titles cover bikes, boats, balls, and balance beams. The text asks questions to draw readers in and provides details about the science behind the equipment, uniforms, View →
Series Made Simple
This series in Spanish introduces beginning readers to all the colors of the rainbow and where to find them in nature, at home, and more. Examples of everyday objects in every color are shown in detailed, vibrant full-color photographs. Each page is limited to one line of text or a short View →
Readers are given keys to some of the world’s most lavish and secretive abodes when they pick up the Cool Castles and Palaces series. Each book focuses on one royal dwelling, offering a snapshot of its history, inhabitants, layout, function today, and, of course, copious photos.… View →
Series Made Simple
Authors invite readers to embark on a tour of each castle or palace, with sentences like “Atop an extinct volcano in Edinburgh, Scotland, sits a fortress. It is more than 600 years old.” A table of contents, color photographs, sidebars, critical thinking questions, a location map, a… View →
An array of animal noses are on display in this entry in the Animal Part Smarts series (6 titles), which is designed with the youngest readers in mind. The well-labeled pictures take center stage, while simple, declarative sentences assist in emerging readers as they make their way… View →
Booklist Review of Snake Cake
What do you get when you mix a green tree python with a red velvet layer cake? A recipe for some silly rhymes. This entry in the Read and Rhyme: Level 2 series (8 titles) takes on the –ake word family by crafting a short narrative about Jake, who bakes a cake that gets eaten by his pet… View →