Reviews
Seeing Patterns All Around
There’s beauty, humor, and elements of surprise in the fine photographs featured here. Simultaneously simple and complex, these small, thoughtfully constructed books supply an introduction to the concept of patterns to six different environments. Each spread pairs a brief… View →
Series Made Simple
With simple sentences; sharp, uncluttered photos; and just a handful of facts, these animal profiles are generally on target for the intended audience of new readers. Each book narrates one day in the life of the animal, introducing basic behaviors within the story. Iguanas, for… View →
Spooky Math
Though the monsters, ghosts, and witches pictured in these counting lessons are on the corny side, the simple rhyming text describing their numerical concerns are likely to amuse beginning readers. A vampire and a witch named Belinda appear as friendly humans in costume, while Elsie the… View →
Using an early reader format, these entries in the My First Pet series introduce young children to basic care of common pets. Extreme cuteness with large color photos of animals and their diverse kid owners in action (highlighted by vibrant frames and occasional labels) drives the… View →
Series Made Simple
With simple sentences; sharp, uncluttered photos; and just a handful of facts, these animal profiles are generally on target for the intended audience of new readers. Each book narrates one day in the life of the animal, introducing basic behaviors within the story. Iguanas, for… View →
Series Made Simple
These bright, slight, upbeat introductions to pet ownership are designed for early readers. Basic information is shared through a collection of vignettes. The text, never more than four brief sentences per spread, always gives a name to the pet in the photo and the child, who may not… View →
With only several sentences on every page, this entry in the Senses in My World series introduces the sense of smell to young children. How does our sense of smell work? “Tiny bits of scent float in the air. The nose breathes in the air. The brain understands the bits as smells.” A color View →
How Do Water and Wind Change Rock?
The wide-format books in the Rock-ology series discuss facts related to geology. A typical double-page spread introduces a new topic in several short, large-print sentences supplemented by an info-circle carrying more information in smaller type. Separated on the page into individual… View →
Series Made Simple
These bright, slight, upbeat introductions to pet ownership are designed for early readers. Basic information is shared through a collection of vignettes. The text, never more than four brief sentences per spread, always gives a name to the pet in the photo and the child, who may not… View →
These books incorporate brightly-colored page layouts, numerous photographs, separated text boxes, and photo labels to help engage and encourage young readers. Each book shows various ways the title machine works in a community. Each spread has very sparse text. Vocabulary is repetitive… View →
In Winter, Where Do They Go?
Focusing on animal behaviors in winter, each title examines hibernation or migration from fall to spring. Three to four large-type sentences per spread, supplemented by fact boxes, should be easy for young readers to navigate. The basic vocabulary limits the excitement level of the text, View →
Series Made Simple
Excellent photographs support basic information written at a beginning reader level. Titles focus on a few key areas, such as wasps’ nests and stingers, rather than trying to cover too much for new readers to absorb. Most books describe the activities of a single insect, though different View →