Reviews
SLJ Review of Math Adventures
Everyday family math situations fill this series. Children notice the various shapes among the kites at the park or check the clock while getting ready for a family… Characters have a range of skin tones, hair textures, and culturally diverse names; some also use medical devic View →
Booklist Review of Explore the West
The U.S. is vast and varied, and here readers are offered a succinct snapshot of the American West. The book opens with a rapid historical overview that touches on the West’s original Indigenous inhabitants, the Louisiana Purchase, the Lewis and Clark expedition, and California Gold… View →
Booklist Review of Science Behind the Colors
The eye-catching Science behind the Colors series uses pigment and patterns as an inroad into studying some of the animal king- dom’s most curiously colorful creatures. Each title is broken into short chapters, with only a few sentences per page, that explain how each… View →
Booklist Review of Whole Wide World
These new books in the Whole Wide World series present exciting destinations around the world to young readers. Each book focuses on one large, famous structure, describing its parts, its construction, and what visitors can see there… Angkor Wat explains how the world’s View →
SLJ Series Made Simple Review of Baby Animals in the Wild
Basic information about the lives of young wild animals is ably supported by excellent photographs. Short, declarative sentences cover food, grooming, play, and social groups, often with a single fact or two about each topic: “Tiger cubs are born! They drink their mother’s… W View →
SLJ Series Made Simple Review of Fairy Tale Phonics
Through the lens of fairy tales and magical creatures, this series presents different phonics concepts through short, narrative stories. Each book shares an original, fictional tale that focuses on one phonics area, such as word families and consonant… Readers are invited to View →
SLJ Review of Meet the Community Helpers
Early readers will love to learn about how veterinarians, bus drivers, construction workers, and garbage collectors work hard to serve people and animals in their communities. Each book features common situations associated with each job: Dr. Jenny has a busy day treating animals at her… View →
Booklist Advance Review Mindful Music and Dancing
This resource-filled guide, part of the Art of Mindfulness series (4 titles), lets kids explore SEL after-reading prompts as well as an View →
SLJ Series Made Simple Review of Holiday History
What is the background of holidays? What traditions are associated with them? How are they celebrated around the world? This series addresses these questions in short paragraphs and large-scale images with helpful… Text boxes ask “Did you know?” or “What do you think?” and t 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 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 Series Made Simple Review of Brainpower
Answer the question of what is going on inside a person’s brain when they feel strong emotions by looking at each individually and talking through the experiences, both chemical and biological. The families and children depicted across these titles come from diverse… Mo View →