Reviews
Series Made Simple
Each book introduces the class of animals in question before moving on to two chapters, each of which focuses on a different “biggest” animal. Basic info, with an emphasis on size, is provided. The authors employ child-friendly comparisons: school buses, cars, and average child or adult… View →
Series Made Simple
These early readers supply basic overviews of natural disasters. Each volume starts with a “You Are There” scenario to engage interest by describing a specific event. Meister then offers simple explanations of why and where such disasters are most likely to take place and offers some… View →
Series Made Simple
These basic reptile introductions offer judiciously selected facts coupled with strong visual content to appeal to early readers. Spare text offers a couple of sentences per page, with simple vocabulary. One or two features of each animal are highlighted over multiple pages. In Horned… View →
Series Made Simple
These early readers supply basic overviews of natural disasters. Each volume starts with a “You Are There” scenario to engage interest by describing a specific event. Meister then offers simple explanations of why and where such disasters are most likely to take place and offers some… View →
Booklist Review for Guatemala
Ready to do some armchair traveling? This entry in the Countries We Come From series lets readers explore Guatemala’s cities, landscape, ruins, and more. The first thing readers learn is that Guatemala is colorful, busy, and warm. Vibrant photo illustrations support this claim,… View →
The Amazing Structures series is a quality primer on the basics of reading nonfiction texts, with big, bold added facts. This edition deals with the basic physics that po View →
Booklist Review for Florida's Burmese Pythons
Burmese pythons aren’t native to Florida, yet their numbers are rapidly increasing in the Everglades. This installment in the They Don’t Belong: Tracking Invasive Species series uses a narrow focus on the Burmese python to illuminate concerns about invasive species in general.… View →
Booklist Starred Review - Asteroid Hunters
In 2004, astronomers discovered a huge asteroid predicted to collide with Earth in fewer than 30 years. That discovery forms the backbone of this installment in the Get to Work with Science and Technology series, which follows agencies and scientists who study asteroids and… View →
The Horn Book Guide Review for Rocks and Minerals
Concepts such as rock composition, formation, and erosion are investigated through a series of activities that, while popular classics, are at time weak analogies for geological concepts. The structure of the activities, however, encourages observation, data collection, and analysis.… View →
I read and reviewed the Disaster Zone series, which included separate books for hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards. droughts, earthquakes, etc. I thoroughly enjoyed all of these books, probably most of all because of the incredible photography and illustrations/infographics. Each book in… View →
I read and reviewed the Disaster Zone series, which included separate books for hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards. droughts, earthquakes, etc. I thoroughly enjoyed all of these books, probably most of all because of the incredible photography and illustrations/infographics. Each book in… View →
The Horn Book Guide Review for Air
This collection of activities features physical science concepts that at times are above the indented audience. Each activity uses household times to explore properties of air, with directions provided through step-by-step instructions and photographs. Young experimenters are encouraged… View →