Around Town

This series for beginning readers explores a variety of locations, from airports to farmer’s markets to museums. The opening pages offer tools to support fluency and comprehension; high-frequency and content-area words are highlighted. Thoughtful before-and-after reading activities, designed to be used with the support of parents or educators, are provided to help readers engage with the text. Page layouts include a full-page color photograph, which is often labeled so that readers can engage with subject-specific vocabulary, along with one short sentence that reflects the specific image. Repetitive sentence structures are used throughout the text. Photographs show children and adults who are people of color. There is also a good balance of gender and age representation. VERDICT Thoughtful prompts and intentional choices to support early readers make this an excellent series for children at the beginning of their reading journey.

This series offers the most basic of introductions to helpful places within a community. Colorful photographs featuring children and adults of various ethnicities show some of the different community helpers young children should know. Each spread features a strong visual clue on the left, followed by a simple statement or fact on the right side. Oversize white text is placed on top of photographs, in colored text boxes. Each title starts with suggested before-and-after activities to engage readers beyond the text. VERDICT Practical looks at standard community gathering spots that will serve most early learning classroom settings well.