(4) K-3 Illustrated by Ron Broda. Ruurs introduces the behaviors of toads, snails, and other backyard creatures. Her descriptions range from lyrical ("When spiderlings are ready to leave home, they fly away on silvery threads") to incongruous ("Like a little helicopter, the hummingbird hovers by flowers"), and the transition between seasons is too subtle. But Broda's meticulously crafted paper-sculpture illustrations encourage visual exploration of every page.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(3) K-3 All Aboard Reading series. Illustrated by Ron Broda. Using short sentences and uncomplicated language, this concise text introduces beginning readers to butterflies--their physical characteristics, habitat, diet, life cycle, and even their migratory habits and how they differ from moths. But it's Broda's exquisite three-dimensional crafted paper scenes, which depict dozens of butterfly patterns in amazing detail, that will have nature lovers returning to this book again and again.

Reviewer: Emma Loy-Santelli

(4) K-3 In an uneven and sometimes forced rhyming text, this book introduces young readers to the insect world. Descriptions of appearance and behavior ("Some bugs even use their feet / to take a taste before they eat!") are interesting, but not always clear, as the insects aren't identified until the end. Broda's paper sculptures add realism to this lighthearted entomology lesson.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.