February 1, 2014
Gr 3-6-By providing a breadth of;information about high-interest animals, students get up close and personal with predators like Piranha, Tarantula, Crocodile, and Boa Constrictor. This series, which is designed to align with the CCSS, asks readers to think critically and evaluate issues like conservation, habitat, and captivity. Each book contains attention-grabbing photographs complimented by textual and visual information. "Did You Know?" sidebars provides readers with curious facts about each topic. For example, in Piranha, children learn that "if a piranha loses a single tooth, all of its teeth will soon be replaced by a new set." "Learn More" offers students further reading and websites that contain current articles and multimedia to round out the content explored. "Straight to the Source" provides;primary source excerpts to support key ideas while "Stop and Think" extends topics presented with writing exercises, vocabulary building, and additional facts. These strong report resources will grab casual readers and researchers alike.-Melissa Smith, Royal Oak Public Library, MI
Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.