Boom, Snot and Twitty are three best friends.  Boom is a bear, Snot is a snail, and Twitty is a bird.  All three were relaxing and thinking of what to do that day and all three had different ideas.  So they did nothing and stayed where they were….and then a storm came up and left them worse for wear.  After the storm they were exhausted and were content to once again hang out with each other.  This is a very sweet, calming story of friendship and especially young children will relate to the fears of the storm and the comfort of home.

The cover itself of this book is striking–the different colors, shapes and textures–all on one animal.  I have to give this book a starred review simply because of the photos, which are totally awesome.  Each page features different iguanas in different situations–laying eggs, hatching from eggs, in trees, and so on.  The fine details, which a person wouldn’t really notice if one were looking at a live iguana, are highly visible for inspection.  The text has info which relates to each photo.  Terrific book and highly recommended for all elementary school libraries.

The color and clarity of these photos of zebra sharks are amazing–it seems that the fish are being suspended by some invisible thread.  The details such as their eyes, gills, and teeth are clearly seen.  The information is concise–not too much and not too little.  After all, most young children check out sharks books mainly just to look at the pictures, and they won’t be disappointed here.  Great book for use in teaching non-fiction skills.

The photos of the Siamese cats are large and clear, as they show off their beautiful blue eyes.  This book talks mainly about the social characteristics of the cat, but does not state anything about grooming, life expectancy, etc.  Towards the end there is a photo of a young girl holding both a Siamese cat and a dog; the cat doesn’t look too happy.  However, the accompanying text states that Siamese cats are good with children and other animals. Sure doesn’t look that way, plus on the very next page under More Facts, it states Siamese cats tend to be jealous.  They would not be happy if you brought home another animal.  It seems that there is a contradiction here.  This book would be good for teaching young children about the table of contents, glossary and index.  However, in my opinion, the facts and information need to be beefed up some more.

This book is like those Super Bowl commercials featuring the golden retrievers and horses–who doesn’t love them?  The photos in this book are crystal clear and the text aptly describes what the photo is showing.  The book provides basic information about the breed and would make a good beginning book to teach about index, glossary, and table of contents.

Little Sheep was bored and wanted some excitement.  So, to really stir things up, she convinced her mom to knit her a wolf’s costume and let her go to wolf school wearing it.  Some parents really are too lenient.  Anyway, she made a friend at wolf school and was invited to his house for dinner.  Surprise, surprise, when she found her parents tied up and ready to be roasted at Little Wolf’s house.  Unable to hide any longer, Little Sheep confessed to Little Wolf that she was a sheep and dinner was her mom and dad.  He provided a distraction and she and her parents safely escaped.  Happily, Little Sheep did not feel the need for any more excitement.  Great illustrations and certain parts of the text are in very large and bold type print highlighting some important words.  Kind of silly, but kids enjoyed it, and the story really was a good example of being careful what you wish for.

Young readers in the primary grades will enjoy seeing 12″ X 9″ color photos of  big work trucks. Two or three sentences of  large font text on the left are opposite the action photo on the right side of each page spread. The book is divided into three sections: Trucks, Parts of Trucks, and Different Kinds of Trucks.  There is a photo with the cab portion of the semi-truck labeled. The different kinds of trucks include: tow truck, fire, semi-trailer, garbage, flatbed, logging, and monster. This is followed by More Facts, Glossary, Index, and Abdo Kids Code. It is interesting to find that the on-line Abdo Kids Code portion contains 5 of the 9 photos from the book, and the text condensed and paraphrased down from 16 sentences to 4. There are, also, 3 printable activities[ the ‘craft’ is mistakenly a ‘floating boat’], a 1:43 minute video consists of a song counting 20 different types of trucks, and 3 “Learn More” .

Young readers in the primary grades will enjoy seeing 12″ X 9″ color photos of enlarged mosquitoes -yikes . Two or three sentences of  large font text on the left are opposite the photo on the right side of each page spread. The book is divided into three sections: Mosquitoes, Food, and Mosquitoes Help the Earth. There is a photo with the three main body parts outlined and labeled. I found it interesting on pages 16-19, “All mosquitoes eat nectar and plant juices. Only female mosquitoes bite and drink blood. They bite humans and animals.” These last two sentences are opposite a photo of a frog with 7 mosquitoes sitting on it above the water line. This is followed by More Facts, Glossary, Index, and Abdo Kids Code. It is interesting to find that the on-line Abdo Kids Code portion contains 4 of the 9 photos from the book, and the text condensed down from 17 sentences to 7. There are 3 printable activities [one of which is mistakenly an ‘ant’ word search- instead of the ‘craft’ promised], a 3 minute video showing the complete life cycle of a mosquito,  and 3 “Learn More” – the first one has a broken link and another is a somewhat cartoonish though factual video about mosquitoes.

Young readers in the primary grades will enjoy seeing 12″ X 9″ color photos of  wolf spiders in the wild, or maybe not because their photos are about 10 times their actual size. Two or three sentences of  large font text on the left are opposite the photo on the right side of each page spread. This book is definitely more visual than written facts. The book is divided into three sections: Wolf Spiders, Hunting, and Baby Wolf Spiders. This is followed by More Facts, Glossary, Index, and Abdo Kids Code. It is interesting to find that the on-line Abdo Kids Code portion contains 5 of the 9 photos from the book, and the text condensed down from 21 sentences to 5. There are, also, 3 printable activities, a 3.3 minute video, and 3 “Learn More”  two of which are from Oklahoma and  Michigan universities.

The Garbage Gang is a group of six friends who live in the city dump, although only Gordy, a small rhino, is the only living one.  The others are all inanimate.  Gordy is taking a bath when he makes a bubble that pops.    He knows it’s gas, but wonders ‘why does my body make bubbles?’  Then the bubble he made shows up and explains the digestive system, along with a field trip through the system.  There are the usual poop jokes but, actually, the information about why poop is brown, where does the smell come from, the acids and enzymes, are all interesting and factual.  The comics appearance make it easier to digest.  For those kids studying the human body and nutrition, it is a good resource.