Review
'Blastoff! Readers Level 2: Let’s Get Outdoors is a ten book series that is written in a format that is appropriate for young readers that are ready for a bit more complexity in sentence structure. Typical nonfiction features include: table of contents, index, glossary, labeled diagrams and illustration, headings and bold typed words. Each book has high interest photos and details an outdoor activity/sport. Gear lists and safety equipment/protocol are addressed. A diverse array of people are shown participating in each activity. Readers will see themselves out there having fun with theses book. Add this series to your library for those newer readers that are ready for something more. Canoeing is all about getting out on the water and enjoying the outdoors. Diverse canoeists show readers that anyone can be part of the fun and the safety measures are valuable additions to this fun sport. Unfamiliar words are bolded and explained in the glossary and readers can learn more from other resources mentioned in the back of the book. There’s a lot to learn in 24 pages! Recommended.', Candy Ranney, South Sound Book Review Council, Washington,'This sturdy and engaging nonfiction book series introduces readers to popular outdoor activities while capitalizing on a wide variety of nonfiction text features to disseminate clear and concise information. Real photos featuring diverse groups of people enjoying the outdoors are clearly labeled with information and text for readers to understand what activities are being depicted. Each book in the series contains a table of contents, headings, a map, bold printed vocabulary, labeled diagrams, a glossary, and an index. Additional page labeled “To Learn More” offers an “At the Library” list of three companion books with citations and “On The Web” Factsurfer website to find more information about each activity. While the books themselves were excellent reads for young readers, the Factsurfer.com website was not helpful. Although it is easy to navigate to and put topics in search terms, the suggested websites are not really designed for the audience of these books and some sites will not remain active in 2024 (per their publisher). Those with filtering systems in place at schools may not be able to get to sites. Overall these books are a solid informative series that readers will enjoy, just do not rely on the listed web page sources.', Lisa Zink, Elementary School Librarian, Educator Review
