Large font and simple text tell who firefighters are and what they do.  These men and women put out fires, help others, and visit schools and talk about fire safety.  Special clothing protects them from heat and smoke, tools help get water to the fire.  Different trucks also have specific uses: carry water, pump water, extend ladders.  When on duty, many firefighters live at the fire station so they will be ready to respond to emergencies.  Each spread has a large photograph to accompany the text.  Glossary, index, additional reading and an internet site included.

This is a well-written resource for those wanting to know about Iceland.  Iceland is a large, volcanic island in the North Atlantic Ocean that has a history dating back to the 800s when Irish monks first settled.  Norway followed and began one of the world’s oldest governments, the Althing, or Icelandic parliament.  Most of the island is glaciers, volcanic lava rock, and natural hot springs.  Because of earthquakes and eruptions, the island is constantly changing and different regions can be remarkably varied.  Weather conditions and life can be harsh, yet beautiful and breath-taking.  Wildlife and plants need to be able to adapt to bitter cold and short growing seasons.  History from the early Viking days to modern life in the 21st century is related in ample detail.  A pronunciation key is provided to help read the Icelandic language.  Fact boxes with illustrations complement many pages.  This book is filled with amazing little details in a variety of topics.  The many photographs are captioned and well paired with he text.  Information is comprehensive.  A timeline compares Icelandic history to world history from ca 2500 BCE to 2011.  Four pages of fast facts include the normal longest, highest, government information as well as economy, common phrases, and prominent people.  Recommendations for further reading, music, and an internet site are provided along with an extensive index.

Vermont, the Green Mountain State, is one in a series of books presenting facts about the states.  A map of the state’s position with the United States, a brief history, landmarks, wildlife, industries and natural resources, as well as places and things to do are included.  “Fun Facts” and “Did You Know?” sections can be found on many pages.  Photographs and insets are colorful and highlight the text.  The layout is pleasing.  The last pages include quick facts about Vermont along with the glossary, index, and book and internet resources.  Sufficient information is presented to introduce readers to basic facts about the state.  Good general resource for state reports.

Best friends Fish and Snail live in a book.  Each day, Fish journeys to a new book and returns home with a story to tell Snail.  Then one day Fish returns all excited to show Snail the fun and adventure of a pirate ship and treasure discovered in another book.  Timid little snail likes the quiet and safety of their own book where they can pretend to be kittens.  They argue and Fish angrily leaves.  Snail is sad and hesitant after Fish is gone.  Gathering courage and taking a leap, Snail tumbles down into the new book.  Surprised, Fish congratulates Snail’s bravery for leaving the security of their old book.  Snail is tentative but willing to try a big adventure in small steps, as a kitten pirate, as long as they can be together.  The gender of Fish and Snail is never revealed, leaving it to the reader.  The message of all the wonders found in books cannot be missed.  Beautifully illustrated in watercolor and pencil, this book is sure to attract readers.

It’s big on the cool factor, with lots of color photos of cool cars, and lots of data on different cars from different years, just the kind of thing my brother has always loved to read, and I’m sure it will be a hit with the boys.  It nearly got a “Recommended” rating, but for a gripe I had with the design of the layout:  there are all these yellow pages inserted into the body of the book, with “Smokin’ Facts.”  If the layout had been reconfigured, so that these fell between sections (or at least between paragraphs), it would’ve been better.  Falling as they do, often mid-sentence as the reader turns the page, the result is that they interrupt the readers’ flow, making for choppy reading (heck, a hyphenated word that starts on page 39 isn’t finished until page 43).

Though I’m certainly not the target audience for this book, I can certainly imagine some of my boys thinking it’s really cool.  And they’ll actually be getting some solid information into the bargain.  This little volume does a clear job of describing the history of drag racing and explaining the differences between different types of cars and events.  It nearly got a “Recommended” rating, but for some gripes I had with the design of the layout:  there are all these yellow pages inserted into the body of the book, with “Smoking Facts.”  if the layout had been reconfigured, so that these fell between sections (or at least between paragraphs), it would’ve been better.  Falling as they do, often mid-sentence as the reader turns the page, the result is that they interrupt the readers’ flow, making for choppy reading.

Even though it’s only got a couple sentences of simple text per page, accompanied by full-color photographs that support that text, this little book does a surprisingly good job of concisely explaining, in step-by-step fashion, how big sturdy trees get turned into thin, flimsy paper.  It’s got all your basic non-fiction text features, it’s designed to be held by small hands, and it’s got a sturdy binding, too.

Though it may not be a hot topic for kids to pick up for casual reading, as a tool to support the curriculum, this book is packed with solid information.  The layout is attractively designed, with plenty of photos and diagrams to support the text, and the text itself is broken up enough into manageable blurbs to keep it from being intimidating.  The concepts contained in this book (different types of energy, different modes of transferring energy, different sources of energy) are ones that I remember being quite confused about clear until I got to college, this book is quite clearly written, giving concrete examples.

I’m not exactly sure what the purpose of this book is.  If it is trying to be informative about life in a circus, the depth of knowledge it offers is really quite shallow.  If it is trying to illustrate how to write a diary (which is kind of suggestion by the two-page spread in the back offering tips on “Writing a Diary”), then it’s modeling bad writing: this is reported to be the diary of a grown man, but he’s writing in very short, choppy sentences, showing no evidence of personal voice or fluency.  Also, even though this is supposedly a diary, written in first person, the photos used to illustrate the book keep showing a different guy.