(4) K-3 Best Holiday Books series. This useful but unexciting revised and updated series presents the historical origins of these culturally diverse holidays and the ways they are observed. Many captioned photographs of public festivals featuring traditional foods, music, and clothing, when applicable decorate the pages. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Best Holiday Books titles: St. Patrick's Day, Kwanzaa, Chinese New Year, Mardi Gras, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.

(4) K-3 Best Holiday Books series. This useful but unexciting revised and updated series presents the historical origins of these culturally diverse holidays and the ways they are observed. Many captioned photographs of public festivals featuring traditional foods, music, and clothing, when applicable decorate the pages. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Best Holiday Books titles: St. Patrick's Day, Kwanzaa, Chinese New Year, Mardi Gras, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.

(4) K-3 Best Holiday Books series. This useful but unexciting revised and updated series presents the historical and spiritual origins of these religious holidays and the ways they are observed. The books particularly focus on how the holidays are celebrated in modern-day North America with festivals featuring traditional foods, music, and clothing. Many captioned photographs break up the pages. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review includes these Best Holiday Books titles: Diwali: Hindu Festival of Lights and Ramadan and Id Al-Fitr.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.

(4) K-3 Best Holiday Books series. This useful but unexciting revised and updated volume presents the historical origins of Mexican Independence Day and Cinco de Mayo and the ways they are observed. Many captioned photographs of public festivals featuring traditional foods, music, and clothing decorate the pages. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.

(4) K-3 Best Holiday Books series. This useful but unexciting revised and updated series presents the historical origins of these culturally diverse holidays and the ways they are observed. Many captioned photographs of public festivals featuring traditional foods, music, and clothing, when applicable decorate the pages. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Best Holiday Books titles: St. Patrick's Day, Kwanzaa, Chinese New Year, Mardi Gras, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.

(4) K-3 Best Holiday Books series. This useful but unexciting revised and updated series presents the historical and spiritual origins of these religious holidays and the ways they are observed. The books particularly focus on how the holidays are celebrated in modern-day North America with festivals featuring traditional foods, music, and clothing. Many captioned photographs break up the pages. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review includes these Best Holiday Books titles: Diwali: Hindu Festival of Lights and Ramadan and Id Al-Fitr.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.

(4) 4-6 Exploring California Missions series. Each book focuses on three missions, detailing life in the area of the missions before they were built, the rise and fall of the mission system, and relations with the native population. Some features, including pictures and timelines, are duplicated across the series, which becomes repetitive though it does help convey the connectedness of the mission settlements. Reading list, timeline, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Exploring California Missions titles: Monterey Bay Area Missions in California, Central Coast Missions in California, and Los Angeles Area Missions.

Reviewer: Antonio Trujillo

(4) K-3 Best Holiday Books series. This useful but unexciting revised and updated series presents the historical origins of these culturally diverse holidays and the ways they are observed. Many captioned photographs of public festivals featuring traditional foods, music, and clothing, when applicable decorate the pages. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Best Holiday Books titles: St. Patrick's Day, Kwanzaa, Chinese New Year, Mardi Gras, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.

(3) 4-6 Carolrhoda Nature Watch series. Clearly written texts introduce these two endangered species, discussing classification, habitat, diet, life cycle, and threats. Pandas explains new Chinese conservation policies and controversial breeding programs; and Humpback describes many whale behaviors such as breaching, singing, and migrating that are still mysterious to researchers. Habitat maps and well-captioned color photos round out these overviews. Glos., ind. Review covers these Carolrhoda Nature Watch titles: Humpback Whales and Giant Pandas.

Reviewer: Bridget McCaffrey

(4) 4-6 Ecosystems in Action series. Occasionally dry but informative texts, illustrated with crisp color photos, use five specific locations (Adirondack forest, Sonoran Desert, Florida Everglades, Hawaiian rainforest, and Alaskan tundra) as examples of a particular ecosystem. The books discuss geological and climactic characteristics of each area, plant and animal adaptations and interdependence, and close with negative effects of humans on the ecosystem. Glos., ind. [Review covers these Ecosystems in Action titles: Life in a Deciduous Forest, Life in a Desert, Life in a Wetland, Life in a Rain Forest, and Life in the Tundra.]

Reviewer: Bridget McCaffrey

(4) 4-6 Port Cities of North America series. Each of these books introduces a different North American city, focusing on how its role as a port has shaped its identity. Current harbor facilities, the geography and history of the area, common imports and exports, and cultural and tourist highlights are presented in full-color and black-and-white photos and numbingly detailed prose, making the series a good source of information, if not engaging reading. All five contain pronunciation guides. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.

(3) 4-6 Carolrhoda Nature Watch series. Photographs by Gerry Ellis. Large color photographs complement lucid texts in these books. 'Cheetah' describes physical characteristics, a cheetah's typical day, hunting, family life, and conservation efforts. 'Hippos' covers physical characteristics, communication, mating, life cycle, daily routine, and the declining numbers of both pygmy and common hippos. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.