It’s a decent little book: sturdy binding, nice full-page color photos, solid information in clear sentences.  But with it’s limited scope (32 pages, with just a couple easy sentences per page), trying to cover a vast topic like an entire continent means it’s only very basic, generalized information.  The photos don’t always do as good a job of supporting the text as I would like, either (e.g. text says that lions, giraffes, and zebras live in Africa, but accompanying photo shows only zebras).  Still, not bad.

The title says it’s “A Day with Mail Carriers,” but it’s really only about half about what the mail carriers are doing, and the rest is about the people sending and receiving the mail.  To be true to it’s title, I wish it had told more about what happens at the post office, and about different types of mail carriers.

If I had looked closer at what I was getting I wouldn’t have even taken these for free — they’re completely not suited to library use.  I know the kids like the transparent pages, and though not sturdy the regular ones are fine.  But these transparent pages are in front of black pages, so that the only way the reader can view what’s on them is by sliding a punch-out “torchlight” behind them (a piece of paper with a white “spotlight” to illuminate small portions of the illustrations at a time).  It’s gimmicky, and there’s no way the punch-out torch will last more than a month before getting lost.

If I had looked closer at what I was getting I wouldn’t have even taken these for free — they’re completely not suited to library use.  I know the kids like the transparent pages, and though not sturdy the regular ones are fine.  But these transparent pages are in front of black pages, so that the only way the reader can view what’s on them is by sliding a punch-out “torchlight” behind them (a piece of paper with a white “spotlight” to illuminate small portions of the illustrations at a time).  It’s gimmicky, and there’s no way the punch-out torch will last more than a month before getting lost.

Kids love the transparent pages, but they’re a bit fragile for library use.  I won’t expect these to last long.  Also, because the topic is so broad, the depth of information is rather shallow.

The subtitle says it’s poems and prayers, which it partly is, but also quotes from scripture and other people.  It does have an over-arching theme of peace, but it seems a bit unorganized/random.  The illustrations fine.  I just think there are better choices available.

One very short, direct sentence on each two-page spread states very briefly what that type of machine does.  Though the topic will be of interest to small boys, and the limited text is useful for emergent readers, there’s hardly enough content here to judge.  I would be reluctant to spend my library budget on something of such minimal substance, but it might be a series to consider in paperbacks for classroom use.

The topic supports the science curriculum both in terms of seasons and in terms of animal adaptations.  The full-page color photos are large and vibrant and eye-catching, and help support the text.  The text is simple and straightforward, presented in both English and Spanish, so the book is also useful as a tool for language learners.  An all-around solid choice.

Though this series is targeting young readers, the topic of this particular one, slaver, seemed at first to be a little age-inappropriate, but the author managed to hit the right note, without being either too gruesome for its young audience, nor white-washing things too much.  I only found one place where over-simplification resulted in inaccurate information (when explaining why Harriet Tubman’s exact birthday is unknown, it says, “Slave owners did not keep track of when their slaves were born.” — some didn’t, but some kept very detailed records).  And I’m willing to forgive what is usually one of my pet peeves, because they got one of my other pet peeves right:  the timeline in the back, listing different events in Harriet’s life, uses distance along the line to represent different lengths of time, as timelines should.  It’s illustrated with a combination of photos and drawings. Great binding.

It could be a great addition to a school whose music or drama department was planning on using this musical in their curriculum.  The illustrations are fun and cartoonish.  The text is the lyrics to the broadway musical, and would be helpful for students who wouldn’t catch all the words if they were just listening to the music.  But, as a stand-alone book, it’s a bit difficult to read without knowing the tune that should be accompanying the words.  It would have been stronger if it included a CD in the back with the music, or a link suggested as to where readers could listen to the music online.