(3) K-3 Illustrated by Chris Madden. In appealingly unusual first-person-plural voices, twenty-six different animals--including birds, bugs, reptiles, and mammals--present their distinctive home-building techniques ("We are the polar bears. The hidden-under-snow bears"). The rhythmic and informative text is formatted like poetry, while full-spread scene-setting illustrations depict each species comfortably at home--whether they be weaver ants, aardvarks, or even humans. Appended with a world map and "Builders' Fact File."

Reviewer: Erica Wetter

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Jennie Webber. Spare rhyming text describes a sycamore tree's life, starting with a seed drifting to the ground. Roots, shoots, and leaves grow to become a home to animals; the cycle continues when the tree sends seeds into the breeze. Realistic line and watercolor illustrations show each stage in gorgeous detail. Gatefold back matter includes the poem in full and some very basic facts.

Reviewer: Janet Dawson

(4) K-3 Illustrated by James Boast. Storytelling with a "once upon..." refrain follows the jungle food chain, from insects to predators to trees. Foldout back matter describes the pathway of natural energy, touching on producers, consumers, and decomposers. Bright, sharp-edged swaths of color, made all the more vivid against predominantly black backgrounds, create the flora and fauna. The crisp art works alongside simple prose to create a cursory ecology lesson.

Reviewer: Jeannie Coutant