Reviews
It's Back to School We Go!: First Day Stories From Around the World
“Large, eye-catching spreads introduce the school experiences of children from 11 different countries, including Kenya, Kazakhstan, China, and Canada. Each entry includes the student’s name, age (ranging from six to nine), and place of residence. Then, in chatty style,… View →
“. . . Soft, full-page watercolor illustrations lend a glow to the gentle text, which guides readers through the birth, life, death, and reuse of an oak tree and well as the travels of a drop of water. . . A valuable addition to early earth-science units.”… View →
Marsh Morning
“Morning comes to the marsh with wildlife awakening amid watercolor mist and movement in grays, browns, green and black, re-creating this unique ecosystem. Rabbit stands in mid-motion, heron is knee-deep in water and red-winged blackbird ‘starts his melody.’ Four… View →
Earth Cycles
“. . . easy-to-read but expressive language. . . Attractive watercolor paintings. . . uncluttered pages. . . will be inviting to young readers. This title will be especially useful for classroom units.” —School Library Journal View →
Greetings, Asia!
“These titles focus on each continent’s natural features, highlight many of its animals, and present a brief overview of the people. Useful information is presented in an enjoyable style. Different size fonts and background colors are used to break up the text and add… View →
All-Girl Crafts
“As with Ross’s other craft titles, this book is sure to please children and the adults who assist them. A welcome addition.” —School Library Journal View →
Written Anything Good Lately?
“The volume can be used as a straightforward alphabet book, but older readers will appreciate the detail of the illustrations and recognize the writing suggestions on each page. Bright pen-and-ink and watercolor art is cheerfully appealing.” —School… View →
A Star in My Orange: Looking for Nature's Shapes
“Through one-sentence descriptions and full-color, uncluttered photographs, readers are taken on a journey of discovery in the natural world. Rau begins with a star in the sky and then moves to objects that children might be able to examine more closely to find that shape,… View →
Lots of Feelings
“Many readers will find themselves represented in this multicultural array of close-up images of children displaying their emotions. From grumpy squints, excited grins, and surprised shouts, the photos move to whimsical curiosity, sadness (complete with tears), and sleepy yawns.… View →
Apple Cider Making Days
“The realistic illustrations are soft with autumnal colors and show the process that results in that glass of cider. Although listed as fiction, there is more straightforward information than story. The addition of the children makes this book more personal for young students. A… View →
Asteroids, Comets, and Meteors
“Like their predecessors, these entries in this valuable series combine clear, extended expositions with a vivid mix of colorful space photos, well-designed diagrams, and dramatic paintings of alien shores and skies. . . Solid additions for serious students of ‘worlds… View →
Uranus and Neptune
“. . . Miller points out many intriguing features. . . Sidebars offer historical anecdotes, fact summaries, and even a few simple science experiments. . . the art imparts a captivating sense of ‘being there’ that elevates these offerings above the standard run of… View →
Jellies: The Life of Jellyfish
“Gorgeous full-color underwater photos and a simple, readable text provide a fascinating introduction to some little-known and often unheralded marine organisms. Less detailed than Elizabeth Gowell’s equally spectacular Sea Jellies (Watts, 1993; o.p.), George’s… View →
Kathy Ross Crafts Letter Shapes
“These attractive books present hands-on projects to accompany phonics and letter recognition lessons. Shapes presents a craft activity based on each letter of the alphabet. . . The layout is friendly to nonreaders, including illustrations of the materials needed. . . Overall,… View →
Christmas Presents Kids Can Make
“Ross offers 29 handmade gifts for children to create for their families and friends. Most of the materials can be found in the home and often involve recycling items (old felt-tip pen caps, film canisters, laundry-bottle caps, Christmas catalogs). . . Although there are a… View →
Animal Antics: The Beast Jokes Ever!
“Filled with puns and wordplay, the quips are packed with child appeal. Whimsical and bright cartoon illustrations appear throughout the book.” — School Library Journal View →
All New Crafts for Valentine's Day
“Colorful, child-friendly,watercolor paintings take readers step-by-step through 20 easy crafts. The materials needed are easy to find and are show at the beginning of each spread. Most projects involve cutting and gluing. Some also require simple drawing and hand lettering a… View →
Pattern Fish
“A clear and effective teaching tool.” —School Library Journal View →
Our Big Home: An Earth Poem
“A joyful celebration of the Earth with the important environmental message that we share the planet not only with all the various people of the world, but with the plant and animal worlds as well. The loosely rhymed poem describes water, sun, soil, air, wind, sky, night, and… View →
A Fruit Is a Suitcase for Seeds
“. . . carefully worded information. . . cleverly presented book.” —School Library Journal View →
It's Winter!
“. . .an exemplary exploration of a season. . . Swan’s beautiful cut-paper artwork is colorful, crisp, and stark. . . Make room on your shelves for this fresh offering.” —School Library Journal View →
Kathy Ross Crafts Triangles, Rectangles, Circles
“This is a delightful book to enhance understanding of basic geometric shapes; its design is attractively whimsical without sacrificing practicality. With the help of well-drawn, colorful, cartoon-like illustrations, the projects are easy to produce. Children will enjoy the… View →
Star-Spangled Crafts
“Ross is well-known for her creative craft books and this one is no exception. Here she offers ideas for 22 activities, with clear, step-by-step instructions that use commonly found materials. Colorful illustrations set against lots of white background enhance the text along… View →