This nonfiction book is all about freestyle motocross, which is a type of dirt bike race held on an outdoor course. The book discusses the basics of the sport, tricks and motocross freestyle stars affiliated with the sport. The book also has a glossary, read more, Internet site pages and index. The book has a pretty low reading level and is good for reluctant readers. It has basic easy to read information, but great photographs  and nice use of borders. It is definitely appealing to young boy readers.

This nonfiction book is all about the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight title holder, Georges St-Pierre. The books discusses this fighter and his stats, his UFC record, early career, fight training and his career highlights. The book is nicely laid out giving his stats and record in nice, easy to read box charts. For reluctant boy readers, this book does not have  a lot of text. It just gives basic information and has great (although graphic!) photographs of St-Pierre. There is a glossary explaining some of the terms such as what Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighting is and an index. Elementary boys would love the entire series (Inside the Octagon, Forrest Griffin, B.J. Penn, etc.).

This nonfiction book is all about measuring weight. The books starts out explaining weight and measuring weight. The author then explains about the weight of vehicles and then starts comparing weights of vehicles. The book compares vehicles such as, toy scooters to mountain bikes, mountain bikes to snowmobiles, snowmobiles to cars and so forth each getting heavier. Each comparison is on facing pages with a photograph of the vehicle and measuring scales showing the comparison. The book has great photos, nice additional information bubbles and a measuring activity students can do. There is also a heavy quiz and facts page at the end of the book, along with a glossary, find out more and index. Upon seeing this book, I thought boring! When I actually started reading it, I really liked it not finding it boring at all. Young elementary boys will like it and teachers will find it useful when teaching measuring and weighing.

This nonfiction book is all about astronauts working in space. The book discusses blasting off into space, what it is like going into space, floating and gravity, eating, taking a bath, sleeping, walking and communicating with Earth all while in space, and then coming back to Earth. Each chapter is on facing pages with important words bolded, great photographs and just enough information that it is not overwhelming. The attractive, nicely laid out style of this book put it in my recommend list. There is also a glossary, further reading page and index.

This nonfiction book is all about wildfires. It starts out telling about a devastating fire in California that was started by a boy playing with matches. The book then teaches students the science behind fires, including what causes them, the potential devastating effects and staying safe. The book has a lot of text and information. There are many side bars and boxes with added interesting information, such as “a firefighter will carry equipment and protective gear weighing fifty to seventy pounds.” At the end of the book, there is a glossary, further reading, Internet addresses and index. I recommend this book because I don’t have any books in my library about wildfires and the dangers. I think it would be a nice series to have. There are also books on floods, hurricanes and tornadoes. The only thing I did not like about the book was it is really text heavy. While the photographs in the book were high quality, there weren’t many of them. The information given is well written, but there are some pages with nothing but writing on white paper (the text is small), which I worry the reluctant readers that this book is supposedly for will find it overwhelming.

This nonfiction biography is all about the Twilight star, Robert Pattinson. The book discusses this rising star, his family ties, growing up, starting out, his big break, the actor as a  singer and songwriter and what it is like to be an actor. The book is nicely organized and is easy to read for students. It has an attractive quality with lots of stars, colors and nice photos. At the end, there is a snapshot page about the star, important words, web sites and an index. This is a nice biography series for elementary age students.

This nonfiction b00k is all about emperor penguins. The book starts with a table of contents and then a words to know page. I liked that the words to know is at the beginning of the book so students can be looking for those words and already have seen them. It then discusses the habitats, characteristics, eating habits, mating, babies and conserving this species of birds. There is a lot of text, but it is easy to read and has lots of interesting facts about the penguins. The photographs are great, the text is a nice font and I just really liked this book. At the end of this book, there is a facts page with fun facts (if a newly hatched penguin chick fell off its parent’s feel onto the ice, it will die in less than two minutes), a learn more page and index.

Well the cover says The Highest Places on Earth but it is clearly the book, The Driest Places on Earth inside in the same series. The book has the wrong cover. This is a bummer. I was excited about this book, but I just can’t put it in my library.

Adventure should be Buzz Beaker’s middle name! Young Buzz keeps a notebook handy for recording his inventions.   “So far, none of his inventions worked” (p. 11)  but he continues to dream of making a space ship.

Illustrator, Bill McGuire gives Buzz a  big head and a winning smile which works very well with Cari Meister’s energetic text with which student readers will identify.

Emergent readers will enjoy straight forward facts with strong visual support about opossums. Written in large font with two sentences per page opposite a color photo. If it weren’t for the cover photo and the one opposite, “It shows its 50 teeth to scare the predator away” on page 16, the young reader might have thoughts of keeping an opossum as a ‘cute’ backyard wildlife pet. The author does not mention the aspect of ‘playing possum’ but young readers won’t notice this omission.

Includes: Table of Contents, Index, Glossary, & Fact Surfer.com instructions.