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.

Chaucer is a bear cub who is friends with a fox and a squirrel. When his parents begin to hibernate,  friendly and inquisitive Chaucer decides to stay awake with his non-hibernating friends and experiences  the beauty of snow, the fun of snowball fights, and the slipperiness of ice. Chaucer’s illustrator has his parents sneaking peeks and keeping a watchful eye on him.

Predictable, Chaucer fall asleep when his parents end their long winters sleep.

Roxie Munro’s panoramic 9″ X 20″  pen-and- ink and watercolor illustrated vistas of  North America’s Chihuahuan, Death Valley, Great Basin, Mojave, Painted , and Sonoran Deserts once by day and once again by night take the reader on a search and discover mission. There are 12 to 18 different animals per vista.

“Find, name, and count the animals you see during the day, and then find the animals that come out after the sun sets.” The reader will find his/her enjoyment on all those levels, plus the added information given on each desert in the back of the book where the answers are found.

In this picture book, Tucker is naughty goat that will eat anything. But what Tucker really loves is corn and he is tired of waiting and waiting. It is almost ready, but he just can’t take it so he runs amuck through the farm taking the horses sun hat, the pigs watermelon, the cows hay, Mrs. Zook’s sundress off the line, and her fresh pie. Mrs. Zook and all the animals have had enough! She heads off to let that goat have it. To everyones surprise, Tucker has used all the stolen goods to make a scarecrow to keep the corn safe! This is a fun, little farm story. The pictures are digitally created and very bright and colorful. The story is simple and good for beginning readers.