Library Media Connection - Beverly Combs, Librarian
While the illustrations, from different illustrators, in these books will not win prizes for their beauty, they are very appropriate for illustrating the answers to the questions that are covered. Each page presents several questions in large headline-style text boxes; the question is answered in simple terms, giving just the right amount of information to satisfy young curiosity. The illustrations are comical, but perfect as a pictorial response to the questions. While these books are not the definitive source for information and facts, the topics covered are interesting and factual. At the end of the book, there is a recommendation to go to the publisher’s portal for more information. The website is simple to use and can be used to supplement the minimal information found the books. This is a nice nonfiction browsing selection. Bibliography. Glossary. Index. Recommended.
March 1, 2010Children's Literature - Tiffany Torbeck
It is understandable that kids would have a lot of questions about snakes, like do they have ears, can they smell and how big a thing can a snake eat? This book takes questions from children and answers them in a kid-friendly fashion. For example, when explaining how long the largest snake is, the book says it is thirty feet, or longer than a school bus, or that snakes can go five miles per hour, which really is not fast considering that any person can run that fast. Each question is asked by a particular child, “Abigale, age eight,” or someone identified by grade, like a Kindergartner, however, where these children are from is never identified. Abigale may be a fictional character for all the reader knows, and it would strengthen the book to have a location for each child, even if only in the end notes. The illustrations are humorous and add to the text. A glossary and index can be found at the end, as well as books for further reading and a referral to FactHound. This is an approachable volume for children in classrooms and libraries. 2010
January 1, 2010
