Kids love books about sharks and they will learn some great information in this book as they turn through the pages showing gaping mouths and dagger-sharp teeth. The photos will grab their attention and the text-boxes, labels and short sentences will teach them such information as the life span of great whites (30+ years), swimming speed (35+ miles per hour) and reproduction (two to twelve pups that develop inside the female). Typical non-fiction features (table of contents, labeled diagrams, index and glossary round out a solid introduction to this great predator. Recommended

Earth Movers is a high interest book for those readers that love to play with trucks or in the dirt or both! Large photos with labels and information (bolded words are explained in the glossary) are attractively laid out on bright background colors. Associated nonfiction features (table of contents, index and glossary) are helpful additions for the younger readers just getting started.

This book will not last long on the shelf and readers will learn some things along the way. Recommended.

Breathtaking photography with some good science mixed in – this book should interest most budding marine biologists. An introduction explains the history and process of photography. After that, the reader discovers some amazing animals of the ocean in glorious living color. Textboxes indicate scientific name, habitat, diet and size of each coral. Corresponding text adds extra information, some rather frivolous, but mostly interesting.

At the end of the book, the reader is invited to become a photographer, with tips to get started. Perhaps, this book, part of the Up Close series, will encourage a future wildlife photographer to take that first step. Or, it might prompt a future naturalist to take a closer look at organisms around her.

This book is a tour of all things Japan introduced by a young girl named Satchiko. The pages are loaded with information about daily living, school and home, customs, food, art and history. There is a guessing game as well as comparisons between Japan and America. An additional section called “Preparing for Your Visit” will help future travelers get ready for their trips to the featured country.

An index, glossary and table of contents are strong non-fiction features and the colorful layout lends itself to browsing as well as deeper reading for information. Recommended!

Carlos and Carmen go shopping with their grandmother for the perfect piñatas for their birthday party.  Finally in the 3rd store Carlos chooses a dinosaur piñata and Carmen chooses a elephant piñata.  When they get home, Dino and Ellie take part in many imagination filled adventures.  In bed at night, Carlos and Carmen lament the fact that their piñata friends will be smashed at their birthday party.  The next day their grandmother shows them how to cut out a square and use ribbons, scissors and tape to make door to let out the piñata prizes.  Now their piñatas will survive their party.  Hugs all around.

Spanish words are quite naturally interspersed in the text.  Spanish-English glossary in the back of the text.

This is a fun engaging story with young latinx characters celebrating their cultural heritage.  In the story the characters solve a problem of today by relying on family and the cultural expertise of their elders.

A very basic introduction to the moon. Although this book contains 1-2 sentences per page and geared towards younger students, the words used are not as attainable to those students. There is an educator note in the front of the book suggesting that the questions posed on some of the pages could lead to discussion, so possibly the intent of the book was to be used in the classroom. There is a picture glossary at the end that helps explain some of the words like astronaut and telescope, but the definitions could have been included in the text or with the corresponding picture in the text. The author did not use bold words, so readers would not know they could look up those in the picture glossary until they got to the glossary.

The main character, a mermaid named Cora, fails a spelling test and is kicked off the Singing Sirens group. She can return to the group if she passes her next spelling test, otherwise she will lose her spot to one of beautiful Vivian Shimmermore. The book is written from the point of view of Cora writing in her diary. Hilarity ensues like Cora finding a tiny shrimp under a barrel of toxic sludge. Some of the sludge spills as she tries to free him. She finds it odd that the shrimp is glowing, but leaves him to get home. The shrimp grows and follows her home. She tries to get rid of him by throwing a tuna tied to a coral stick for the shrimp to chase. She misses him as soon as he is gone and then finds herself surrounded by a gang of sharks that are bullies. It seems that when Cora solves one problem another one pops up and she is again distracted from studying for her spelling test. Although the illustrations are limited to black, blue and white they add to the story.

It was summer and Hank was bored and lonely. No one was using his pet-sitting business.  When the new kid in town stops by to use his services, Hank is thrilled.  Hank will be pet sitting for an escape artist sheep named Elmer.  That night the sheep does escape the garage, but not to get away, but to come find Hank.  After the sheep wakes Hank yet again, Hank finally settles down on the hay in the garage with the sheep.  Tommy arrives the next morning for his sheep and is impressed with Hank’s success.  Hank’s business has found him a new friend.

This beginning reader title adds a goofy twist to the kid friendly topic of pets.  Young readers can identify with Hank’s desire to earn money and his loneliness when his friends are away for the summer.

Black holes, by there very nature cannot be seen.  The only information about black holes is from observing how other objects in space behave around them.  This book details many of the devices that are used to collect information about black holes.  It also discusses the evolution of black hole theories over time.  The complexity of the concepts mentioned make this a book for a student with some prior knowledge of black holes and a basic understanding of cosmology.

The book contains a number of amazing illustrations and diagrams that imply they are showing a black hole.  These illustrations and diagrams, however, portray astronomers theories which don’t always agree with each other.  It is only in the last 2 chapters of the book that it clearly communicates that what is considered “knowledge” of black holes is in truth only theories and that aspects of these theories are continually being supported or disproved as more data is accumulated.

I feel the scope of this book is too great for its size. Ideas and concepts are mentioned in passing and not adequately explained.  Either focusing on current black hole theory, how black holes were discovered, or the tools and technologies used in the study of black holes would be more appropriate for this age level and allow for more clarity.  I also found the glossary entirely inadequate.  It includes the word “merge” yet not things like binary, gamma ray, or jet bursts.

A national park is more than just a name or a boundary contained place that we can witness now.  And Glacier National Park is more than “a wilderness landscape of forest, mountains, and lakes.” It stands witness to the impact of the forces of nature on the land as well as the footprint left by humans.  Glacier National Park, established in 1910 is one of the top ten most visited National parks in the nation with more than 2 million visitors in 2015.

In Glacier National Park from the Core Library National Park series, the reader experiences much more than a description of the park itself. This book incorporates multiple areas of study as it examines this beautiful wilderness landscape.  The science topics include: glaciers, continental divide, weather, geology, climate change, flora, fauna, and conservation. Personal perspectives include input and quotes from an award winning park ranger, a naturalist, a climate change expert, a historian, and multiple local Native Americans. The history of the region reflects multiple perspectives. Primary source documents are seamlessly integrated to support the content.  Suggestions for online exploration are embedded at the end of chapter 1 and 3 and include relevant leading questions.

With potential for NGSS STEM and C3 socials studies alignment this high quality title leads me to consider adding whole series to my library.