(4) K-3 Meant to interest young children in the plant kingdom, this is a simplified survey of the broad range of plant adaptations. The "tour" of "amazing powers," led by cactus "TV personality" Spike E. Prickles, is a jazzy, spirited botany introduction. Unfocused, visually overwhelming collaged layouts feature cartoon plant characters and labeled photos of real plants atop busy graphics. Project ideas are appended. Glos.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo

(4) K-3 At the top of the beanstalk, Jack is surprised that the hungry giant doesn't want to eat him but, guided by the USDA MyPlate program, to explain food groups and recommended serving sizes. Young readers may be less inclined to swallow this advice than agenda- and curriculum-driven adults hope, but the playful food-filled art and storybook approach make it more palatable.

Reviewer: Bridget McCaffrey

(2) K-3 Leedy points out that "if you can fold a shape exactly in half, it has symmetry." Her many visual examples, complete with the imaginary line of symmetry drawn in, will help young math students understand the concept. The pages are colorful, lively, and easy to understand in this encouraging, accurate book. Suggested activities and further explanations extend the text. Glos.

Reviewer: Robin L. Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2012

(3) K-3 This tour of prehistoric life, beginning with the formation of the earth, presents basic information about natural history; the time of the dinosaurs gets the most attention. There is much in the text and illustrations to engage readers: rhyming poems, limerick riddles, jokes, and varied digital illustrations of plants, animals, and their environments. It's all a little busy but generally effective. Timeline.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(4) K-3 Erg, an energy bolt, escorts readers on a tour of all types of energy, from muscle power to nuclear energy. The book's crowded and confusing layout makes it difficult to navigate the spreads, but the text is well researched and covers the pros and cons of different power sources. Back matter provides additional information, including "More Bad News About Fossil Fuels." Websites.

Reviewer: Amy Cherrix

(4) K-3 "Last Monday was an average day. / It wasn't odd or weird-- / till numbers all around our town / completely disappeared." Leedy's bouncy rhymes reveal how being "numberless" disrupts voting, cooking, sleeping, etc. And who's the number nabber? It's a raccoon with a high-powered vacuum, unmasked by a trench coat–clad ginger cat in Leedy's lively, if a bit busy, digital illustrations.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(4) K-3 Fox Rufus leads his sheep friend Babette on a goose chase to her surprise party. The book's aim is to teach similes; plot is buried beneath explanatory notes and simile-based dialogue. It works in most places, but sometimes the chosen similes either don't fit well together or are just straight comparisons. The synthetic-looking illustrations are garish but lively.

Reviewer: Becca Schaffner

(3) K-3 This solid, readable introduction to probability follows Lisa as she works on a weekend homework assignment with Penny, her Boston terrier. Lisa charts what will/might/can't happen during a walk with her canine pal, and she plays around with impossibilities and slim/equal/unequal chances. Giggle-inducing illustrations (watch for President Penny) reinforce the math concepts quite capably.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(4) K-3 At the grand opening of the Edible Pyramid restaurant, a cat maître d' goes over the menu--the Department of Agriculture's Food Guide Pyramid--with the other animals. Though the text is a bit dry, the clear, amusing illustrations do their best to explain the government's recently revised recommendations on how many servings from each class of foods to eat each day.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Loreen Leedy. Facts about Mars are relayed through e-mails sent home by children on a fictional space field trip. The information is accurate and includes some good details, if readers can get past the awkward attempts at kidlike language and humor. The overly busy layouts contain crude cartoon illustrations that distract from good photographs and diagrams. Glos.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(4) K-3 From "Ideas" through "Rough Draft" to "Lettering" and "Binding," Leedy certainly knows all there is that goes into a book, although her implication that the process follows a certain order ("Layout" before "Art," for example) is both specious and soul killing. Still, her writing is clear (if oversimplified), and the cartoon vignettes of a boy, a girl, and a dog following the various suggestions are fun. Reading list.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Loreen Leedy. This lively language arts lesson loosely organizes chosen idioms by such topics as "Around the House" and "On the Wing." Leedy and Street pack each double-page spread with twenty-odd turns of phrase, defining each briefly and furthering the definitions with an illustrative array of portraits, scenes, and mini-dramas that also provide textual and graphic cohesion. An index of the animals metaphor-ized is appended.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2003

(3) K-3 This introduction to everyday economics is narrated by George Washington as he appears on a freshly minted quarter. Throughout the course of one day, George is handed out as change at a store, dropped into a vending machine, placed in a piggy bank, etc. Leedy's cartoonlike illustrations feature images of wisecracking and punning coins. A final section provides some facts about money. Glos.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(3) K-3 A bespectacled hippo named Miss Prime and her class of math-minded students show off their subtraction skills at the school fair. The book tackles conceptual understanding (what it means to subtract) and demonstrates problem-solving strategies (writing and solving number sentences). Colorful, stylized illustrations provide lots of visual clues, and answers for all questions are included.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(3) K-3 After learning about maps in school, Lisa draws a few of her own, including her bedroom, her dog Penny's favorite spots to hide bones and toys, and some of their other hangouts. Leedy's text and illustrations, a combination of digital painting and photo-collage, point out important details, such as a map's scale and symbols. Lisa's enthusiasm is catching: young readers will be eager to grab pencil and paper and try out mapmaking, too.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(4) K-3 Each half page profiles a different American state, complete with scaled map and various spot illustrations, labels, and captions highlighting the capital, major cities, year and order it entered the union, state bird and flower, other representative animals, major products, and important places or events. What it lacks in depth it makes up for in breadth, but the pages are frenetically busy.

Reviewer: Emma Loy-Santelli

(2) K-3 For a measuring project, Lisa decides to measure her dog, Penny, and a cast of other dogs at the park. Noses, tails, ears, paws--nothing escapes her measuring zeal. Also, time, temperature, cost, and even value are creatively calculated throughout a day spent caring for Penny. Leedy cleverly incorporates Lisa's notebook recordings into the illustrations, which depict a wide range of shapes and sizes for easy visual comparison.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.