(4) K-3 SandCastle: Baby Animals series. These straightforward beginning science books are formulaic but achieve their purpose, covering the young mammals' habitats, behaviors, diets, and behaviors. Concise sentences convey information clearly and uncondescendingly, and vocabulary words are bolded. Full-page photographs illustrate the concept on the opposite page, though many of the images are similar. A fact page at the end introduces several new concepts; a quiz reviews information. Glos. Review covers the following SandCastle: Baby Animals titles: Baby Goats and Baby Gorillas.

Reviewer: Miriam Steinberg-Egeth

(4) K-3 SandCastle: Baby Animals series. These straightforward beginning science books are formulaic but achieve their purpose, covering the young mammals' habitats, behaviors, diets, and behaviors. Concise sentences convey information clearly and uncondescendingly, and vocabulary words are bolded. Full-page photographs illustrate the concept on the opposite page, though many of the images are similar. A fact page at the end introduces several new concepts; a quiz reviews information. Glos. Review covers the following SandCastle: Baby Animals titles: Baby Goats and Baby Gorillas.

Reviewer: Miriam Steinberg-Egeth

(4) K-3 SandCastle: Baby Animals series. This straightforward beginning science book is formulaic but achieves its purpose, covering young eagles' habitat, diet, appearance, and behaviors. Concise sentences convey information clearly and uncondescendingly, and vocabulary words are bolded. Full-page photographs illustrate the concept on the opposite page, though many of the images are similar. A fact page at the end introduces several new concepts; a quiz reviews information. Glos.

Reviewer: Miriam Steinberg-Egeth

(4) K-3 SandCastle: Baby Animals series. This straightforward beginning science book is formulaic but achieves its purpose, covering young alligators' habitat, diet, appearance, and behaviors. Concise sentences convey information clearly and uncondescendingly, and vocabulary words are bolded. Full-page photographs illustrate the concept on the opposite page, though many of the images are similar. A fact page at the end introduces several new concepts; a quiz reviews information. Glos.

Reviewer: Miriam Steinberg-Egeth

(4) K-3 SandCastle: Healthy Habits series. This book's opening question--"What is a healthy habit?"--isn't really answered. Instead, examples of safe behavior (wearing a life jacket on the water, using potholders when baking, etc.) are covered in one or two simple sentences with full-color, up-close photos on double-page spreads. A final question invites readers' input, and a quiz reviews information. A slight but satisfactory reading exercise. Glos.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(4) K-3 SandCastle: Healthy Habits series. These books' opening question--"What is a healthy habit?"--isn't really answered. Instead, the whys and hows of dental care and good sleep practices are covered in one or two simple sentences of text along with full-color, up-close photos on double-page spreads. A final question invites readers' input, and a quiz reviews information. These are slight but satisfactory reading exercises. Glos. Review covers these SandCastle: Healthy Habits titles: Brush Your Teeth and Sleep All Night!.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(4) K-3 SandCastle: Healthy Habits series. This book's opening question--"What is a healthy habit?"--isn't really answered. Instead, examples of age-appropriate activities (playing soccer, sledding, riding bikes) are described in one or two simple sentences with full-color, up-close photos on double-page spreads. A final question invites readers' input, and a quiz reviews information. A slight but satisfactory reading exercise. Glos.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(4) K-3 SandCastle: Healthy Habits series. This book's opening question--"What is a healthy habit?"--isn't really answered. Instead, the focus is on the importance of good choices from all the food groups. One or two simple sentences accompany full-color, up-close photos on double-page spreads. A final question invites readers' input, and a quiz reviews information. A slight but satisfactory reading exercise. Glos.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(4) K-3 SandCastle: Healthy Habits series. These books' opening question--"What is a healthy habit?"--isn't really answered. Instead, the whys and hows of dental care and good sleep practices are covered in one or two simple sentences of text along with full-color, up-close photos on double-page spreads. A final question invites readers' input, and a quiz reviews information. These are slight but satisfactory reading exercises. Glos. Review covers these SandCastle: Healthy Habits titles: Brush Your Teeth and Sleep All Night!.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(4) K-3 Super SandCastle: Out of This World series. These somewhat scattered books look at what it takes for humans to explore the solar system, from the technologies used to propel rockets into space to the requirements of being an astronaut and the experiences of living and working in space--including the dangers. Eye-catching images of spacecraft, astronauts, and training facilities are included. Each book includes a quiz. Glos. Review covers these Super SandCastle: Out of this World titles: Space Travel and Astronauts.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(4) K-3 Super Sandcastle: Biggest, Baddest Books series. These series entries introduce a random array of facts about their topics. Caves describes types of caves plus animals and insects that live in them. Storms includes hurricanes, cyclones, snow, ice, dust, typhoons, and more. Colorful photographs are accompanied by captionlike texts in a lively page design. These books are best for browsing. Glos.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee

(4) K-3 Super Sandcastle: Biggest, Baddest Books series. This series entry introduces a random array of facts about planes and flying, from the Wright brothers to helicopters, jet engines, and strange flying inventions. Space flight and "Flying Cars of the Future" are briefly touched on. Colorful photographs are accompanied by a captionlike text in a lively page design. This book is best for browsing. Glos.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee

(4) K-3 SandCastle: Numbers 1–20 series. These basic small-trim books teach the numbers one through twenty. Each page includes a crisp stock photo with a two-sentence caption ("There are 18 white feathers. They are soft"). The featured number is then shown with counters, a numeral, a word, and on a number line. Counting in some of Animals's photos can be more challenging because of clustering critters. Glos.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(4) K-3 SandCastle: Numbers 1–20 series. These basic small-trim books teach the numbers one through twenty. Each page includes a crisp stock photo with a two-sentence caption ("There are 18 white feathers. They are soft"). The featured number is then shown with counters, a numeral, a word, and on a number line. Counting in some of Animals's photos can be more challenging because of clustering critters. Glos.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(4) K-3 SandCastle: Numbers 1–20 series. These basic small-trim books teach the numbers one through twenty. Each page includes a crisp stock photo with a two-sentence caption ("There are 18 white feathers. They are soft"). The featured number is then shown with counters, a numeral, a word, and on a number line. Counting in some of Animals's photos can be more challenging because of clustering critters. Glos.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(4) K-3 SandCastle: Numbers 1–20 series. These basic small-trim books teach the numbers one through twenty. Each page includes a crisp stock photo with a two-sentence caption ("There are 18 white feathers. They are soft"). The featured number is then shown with counters, a numeral, a word, and on a number line. Counting in some of Animals's photos can be more challenging because of clustering critters. Glos.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(3) K-3 SandCastle: Sports Gear series. Each volume introduces equipment used in a variety of sports including baseball, badminton, table tennis, and waterskiing. The format includes an up-close look at the item, explanatory text, and a photograph of the gear in action: "Golfers use sticks called clubs...A putter is used when the ball is close to the hole." Attractive, crisp design and easy-to-read texts provide a solid presentation. Glos. Review covers these SandCastle: Sports Gear titles: Balls, Birdies & Pucks, Bats, Sticks & Rackets, Boards, Skis & Skates, and Gloves, Mitts & Pads.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(3) K-3 SandCastle: Sports Gear series. Each volume introduces equipment used in a variety of sports including baseball, badminton, table tennis, and waterskiing. The format includes an up-close look at the item, explanatory text, and a photograph of the gear in action: "Golfers use sticks called clubs...A putter is used when the ball is close to the hole." Attractive, crisp design and easy-to-read texts provide a solid presentation. Glos. Review covers these SandCastle: Sports Gear titles: Balls, Birdies & Pucks, Bats, Sticks & Rackets, Boards, Skis & Skates, and Gloves, Mitts & Pads.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(3) K-3 SandCastle: Sports Gear series. Each volume introduces equipment used in a variety of sports including baseball, badminton, table tennis, and waterskiing. The format includes an up-close look at the item, explanatory text, and a photograph of the gear in action: "Golfers use sticks called clubs...A putter is used when the ball is close to the hole." Attractive, crisp design and easy-to-read texts provide a solid presentation. Glos. Review covers these SandCastle: Sports Gear titles: Balls, Birdies & Pucks, Bats, Sticks & Rackets, Boards, Skis & Skates, and Gloves, Mitts & Pads.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(3) K-3 SandCastle: Sports Gear series. Each volume introduces equipment used in a variety of sports including baseball, badminton, table tennis, and waterskiing. The format includes an up-close look at the item, explanatory text, and a photograph of the gear in action: "Golfers use sticks called clubs...A putter is used when the ball is close to the hole." Attractive, crisp design and easy-to-read texts provide a solid presentation. Glos. Review covers these SandCastle: Sports Gear titles: Balls, Birdies & Pucks, Bats, Sticks & Rackets, Boards, Skis & Skates, and Gloves, Mitts & Pads.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan