Reviews
SLJ Review of Making Good Choices
Social-Emotional Learning gets a choose-your-own-adventure twist. In each book, children are confronted with social situations that they will recognize from school, the playground, or the bus stop. The choose-your-own-adventure format lets reader see possible outcomes based on the… View →
SLJ Review of The Power of Energy
This is a comprehensive series that explores the different types of energy sources and the benefits and drawbacks of each one. Each page has a white background with black text or a large color photo. While not the most eye-catching and colorful books on the shelf, the amount of… View →
Booklist Review of The Government Encyclopedia
It can be difficult to make history and politics relevant, let alone interesting, but this United States Encyclopedias series (4 titles) volume cleverly explains aspects of the American government through past events and stories pulled from today’s headlines. The first chapters explore… View →
SLJ Review of Rain Forest Life
Step into the visual feast of the rain- forest; page after page of beautiful side-by- side images of plants and animals in their vibrant glory. Themes of conservation and the importance of this fragile ecosystem are included in a light way to add weight, with- out tilting into climate… View →
SLJ Review of Understanding Idioms
Out like a light. Play it by ear. Off the hook. Who isn’t curious where these silly sayings come from? This extensive series demystifies just about every idiom a young reader can think of. Each phrase is used in a paragraph and given a definition followed by its origin story. Funny… View →
Booklist Review of The Early Bird Catches the Worm!: (And Other Strange Sayings)
English can be difficult to learn, but this volume in the Understanding Idioms series (12 titles) can also be a reader’s “ace in the hole.” From “blow off steam” to “get your goat” to “push the envelope,” it introduces 24 varied idiomatic expressions in alphabetical order. Each entry… View →
Booklist Review of Creative Sports: A History of Hoops
Each book in the Creative Sports: A History of Hoops series (30 titles) features one of the 30 teams in the National Basketball Association. Surprisingly, the organization of information is more eclectic than chronological. The first double-page spread, one of several featuring LeBron… View →
SLJ Review of Odysseys in Recent Events
This informative series provides essential research material on global events from recent decades. Each topic is placed in historical context; for example, the author asks readers to consider Martin Luther’s theses as “going viral” while discussing social media, and gives background… View →
SLJ Review of Curious About Pets
A question-and-answer format intro- duces pets to prospective owners. Content touches on physical features, behavioral traits, and care. Practical questions about topics such as size and food are nicely bal- anced with ones that address specific behav- iors, such as ferrets’ toy-hoarding View →
Booklist Review of Curious about Dragons
Gather ’round for a glimpse of the formidable, scaled beasts that infest folklore. The book opens by acknowledging that “no one has found proof that dragons ever existed,” but their presence in stories and legends around the world is well documented. Following a general description of… View →
Booklist Review of The Refugee Crisis
This is a solid introduction to the plight of refugees, displaced individuals, and asylum seekers. A historical overview begins with the Huguenots in seventeenth-century France (the first time the term refugee was used) and is current through the Ukraine conflict. The straightforward,… View →
SLJ Review of Necessary Nutrients
Styled with short chapters similar to transitional materials, these titles rely on longer sentences and paragraphs to explore more nuanced information related to healthy eating. The art is primarily real photographs of foods that are tied to the specific topics connected to the pages,… View →