Elizabeth tries so hard to learn the constellations of the night sky so that she can grow up to be a sailor like her father, but she just can’t seem to learn.  When her father doesn’t return from a voyage, Elizabeth uses the postcards of the constellations he sent each week to follow and rescue him from his ship wreck. They then sail off to see the Northern Lights together.  A cute story about perseverance and courage.

Elizabeth’s Constellation Quilt ties imagination with the concept of navigating by stars.  The constellations Elizabeth sees are items that are part of her life, a ship, a bear, and a fish rather than the more difficult to recognize and remember constellations of Gemini, Ursa Major, or Cassiopeia.

The Wombats and their teachers Ms. Annabel and Mrs. Nott visit the zoo ready to make the most of their experience.  Let loose on the zoo, each of the Wombats and their teachers records his or her experiences in first person, often including a short poem.  Facts are interspersed with humor and word play.  The same humor can be found in the busy illustrations.  The complex interactions of the numerous characters makes this a title that would benefit from a second or third read.

This is an international publication with English spellings.  The Wombats Go on Camp contains the same goofy characters.

“Every day, millions of creatures are locked in a battle for survival”  Dead of Alive? is full of examples of how creatures, both big and small, survive unique challenges.  From the wood frog that can survive being frozen solid to the barnacle that turns a crab into a zombie, the book is full of intriguing facts about animal survival.

The book is graphically engaging with colorful illustrations and photographs as well as different size, font style, and arrangement of text.  Contains a Table of Contents, Quiz, Additional Resources, Glossary, and Index.

Published in the UK, the English spellings such as centimetres instead of centimeters may be confusing for young readers.

Law and Disorder is part the Beware of Batman series of graphic novels.  The story follows the typical super hero story line with a villain for the good guy to beat.  Batman’s backup is a woman named Katana.  A Visual Questions and Prompts section in the back helps teach readers to effectively engage with the graphic nature of graphic novels.  Also contains a Glossary with pronunciation of key words.

A origami dog and a cartoon rabbit give examples of healthy eating in Kitanai and Hungry Hare Eat Healthfully.  Dialog appears in bubbles and comes across as stilted and awkward.  While the images are kid-friendly, the food options and meals discussed are not particularly kid friendly.  For each meal of the day, specific bad choices and good choices are offered, but there is no information that would help a child develop the concept of eating healthfully.

This book is part of the series “Kitanai’s Healthy Habits.”

This well organized title about the muscular system is part of a six book Capstone series about body systems. Connections and interdependencies with other body systems are naturally integrated into the text. Topics are supported by headings, bold vocab defined on each page, diagrams, and photographs.

Includes Table of Contents, Glossary, Common Core critical thinking questions, additional information, and Index.

This book is a good choice to support the Next Generation Science Standards.

In the form of a third person narrative, this book tells the story of monarch migration from the continental United States to central Mexico.  Engaging text leads the reader through the forces that send the butterfly south, the perils of the journey, arrival at her Mexican destination and culminates with the return to the north to lay the next generation of Monarchs.  The book ends with a quick summary of the Monarch’s life cycle.  Illustrations are full of rich color, perspective, and motion and add to the migration story.

Book includes fun facts, CCSS connections, glossary, additional resources, and index.

Part of the “Did You Know?” series, this is truly a fun book of facts about food.  Most pages begin with question providing an engaging and entertaining communication of food facts.  The book has a stream of consciousness feel as the seemingly random facts about food connect from one page to the next following the whim of the author: invention of the dishwasher to invention of the toaster to sandwich to chips then potatoes.  Colorful images of cartoon animals growing, making or consuming food support the text.  Readers will not walk away with any great increase in knowledge, but the book will entertain and intrigue budding scientists.

An informational text about the theropod, Allosaurus.  Topics included are body features, era, range, hunting, babies, and fossils are all covered.  Contains table of contents, glossary, additional information, and index

All but one of the artist rendered illustrations show the Allosaurus with a layer of fur.  In no place does it provide evidence to support this rendering.  In conclusion, the book’s unsupported illustrations contradict accepted scientific thinking on external dinosaur physiology.

This nonfiction title is divided into chapters covering different features of Northwest Native American plank houses.  The elementary level text is enriched with photographs, illustrations, and a map.  The chapter, Building a Plank House would benefit from a diagram to provide a visual explanation of the multiple steps described only in text.

Contains table of contents, glossary, additional information, and index. Glossary terms are also defined on the page they first appear.  A recommended title to support Washington State mandated Native American curriculum, Since Time Immemorial.