This is a simple book paying homage to mothers with classic De Paola illustrations.  Starting from the perspective of an infant, and moving on through toddler to child, each page includes one sentence with accompanying illustration, stating one way the author’s mom demonstrates her brilliance — from knowing when to change his diaper to knowing how to make popsicles to knowing how to dress like a movie star when she’s going out. It’s charming and full of experiences many children will relate to, a good read around Mother’s Day.

“Squirrels are rodents. They live in grasslands, forests, and deserts.” is written in large font opposite a page showing a red squirrel eating amidst green vegetation. Across the bottom of the page are 3 insets : a grassland, a forest, and a desert.

Eight more double page sets with full color photos on the right and 1 or 2 sentences on the left make up this informative book for young emergent readers.

Throughout the text the glossary words are typed in bold print: rodents, balance, claws, gnaw, insects, predators, and burrows.

It’s got an attractive and sturdy-looking binding and attractive illustrations:  Each two-page spread consists of a large color illustration of a single dinosaur on the right, accompanied by 2-3 simple sentences in large font telling a couple facts about that dinosaur and its “big” features.  An inset on each page tells the size of that dinosaur.  “Chapters” are Big, Bigger, and Biggest.  Though an attractive volume for beginning readers who are dinosaur enthusiasts, it’s limited in the amount of information in provides.

Though not likely to be a high-interest book selected for recreational reading, this may fit a curriculum niche.  It describes how levers work and compares different types, always connecting them to real-life tools with which kids will be familiar, such as a shovel, scissors, teeter-totter, nut-cracker, and baseball bat.  The text is simply stated, to make concepts understandable to beginning readers, and well-supported by photos and labeled diagrams.  Besides being useful in science instruction, it also includes typical non-fiction text features such as glossary (with words bolded in the body of the text), index, and table of contents.  Sturdy binding.

This book begins by describing how scientists classify animals according to how they are alike and different, and goes on to list some of the defining characteristics that make fish fish.  It then takes a closer look at each characteristic with clear, labeled illustrations.  There were some unfamiliar fish mentioned in the text (clingfish, hagfish) that were not included in the illustrations, and though the book says it has a reinforced library binding, the finish on the cover doesn’t feel like it will stand up to much wear.  Includes scientific classification chart.

This book discusses the history of money, from the days of bartering, and different things that have been used as mediums of exchange through time and in different places.  It includes information about the earliest metal coins and paper money and describes the details of US coins and Euros.  Be wary that the information about Euros could become outdated as countries who use the Euro continue to change.  The first and last chapters sandwich the information of the middle chapters amidst a story of a boy bringing his coin collection in for show-and-tell, which seems to fuzz the lines between fiction and non-fiction.

Describes the history of the camera from the discovery that silver salts darken when exposed to light, up to modern digital cameras, explaining the basics of how each version works.  The significance of cameras to society and jobs is discussed. Labeled diagrams help illustrate the information.  Index, glossary, recommended web links and timeline are included, with the words included in the glossary highlighted within the body of the text.  I found some of the choices as to which words to include in the glossary a bit odd (“demonstrated”), and I worry about the currency of the information (it says that most people use color film these days, but I believe that digital cameras have nearly eliminated film altogether).

This simple, kid-friendly guide to staging a dramatic performance, begins with basic information, outlining and defining different elements that help bring dramatics to life, such as backdrops, props, and set pieces.  It offers suggestions for finding, buying, or making what you need. It provides a complete list of the tools and materials needed for the projects in the book, and then it provides step-by-step directions with ideas for spin-off variations.  Lots of reminders about safety and supervision are included.  The projects included are ones with which the target audience should be able to find success.  Index, glossary, and table of contents are included.

Fun, cheerful, bright illustrations brighten this book that has a lot of potential but doesn’t quite hit the target.  It attempts to use the rhythm of the familiar song, “Who stole the cookie form the cookie jar,” to address all the basic question words: who, what, when, where, why, and how.  Unfortunately, the rhythm is a bit off, making it hard to read smoothly.  The storyline tying the song together is a bit vague and kind of gets lost in the singing.

A rather odd little story, it’s got a nice font.  Quirky, cartoonish illustrations accompany this story telling of a very active boy whom people are always warning that’s he’s sure to crack his head and scramble his brain.   One day he does crack his head and his brain runs away.  The story continues, telling of community efforts to catch the brain, until Bobby and his brain both realize that they work best together.