(4) K-3 Illustrated by Jon Van Zyle. Little Puffin is born on a cliffside and cared for by his parents until the time comes for him to strike out on his own. In a lyrical text, London traces the life cycle of a horned puffin, from mating to nesting to first flight; Van Zyle's somewhat fuzzy paintings alternate close-up views of the birds with sweeping landscapes. An author's note provides more information.

Reviewer: Hannah Rodgers Barnaby

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Jon Van Zyle. North American river otter pup Ollie is born in spring; during their first year he and his littermates play and learn to swim and hunt. In winter, Ollie slides down a snowbank into a rushing river and gets swept away, but all ends happily. Painterly illustrations portray the otters and their habitat through the seasons. An author's note provides information about otters.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Jon Van Zyle. In this engaging fictionalized account of a real salmon's two-thousand-mile journey from the Bering Sea up the Yukon River, Chinook avoids predators and reaches her spawning grounds. Young scientists may appreciate the text boxes of data (e.g., fish's speed, depth, river mile) received from Chinook's radio transmitter along the route. The art adeptly conveys the hazards and scenery of Alaska and Canada. Authors' notes are appended. Glos.

Reviewer: Bridget McCaffrey

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Jon Van Zyle. When sudden rain refreshes central Australia's long-dry Simpson Desert, dormant seeds and estivating creatures emerge, absorb or lap up water, and sprout or reproduce in a new rush of life. Extreme conditions don't deter the desert's well-adapted creatures from survival in this difficult habitat. Double-page spreads of realistic wildlife paintings, bright-white superimposed text, and present-tense narration add immediacy. Reading list, websites. Glos.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Jon Van Zyle. Despite the harsh environment, many animals survive and thrive in Alaska's Arctic National Park and Preserve. With vivid descriptions, both scientific and poetic, Miller details the fauna's skillful preparations that help them make it through the winter. Acrylic illustrations in largely muted colors help convey the severity of the season. Reading list, websites. Glos.

Reviewer: Betsy Murray

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Jon Van Zyle. Miller chronicles the daylight hours through a year near Fairbanks, Alaska, describing how people and animals adapt their activities to sunlight and temperature fluctuations in this part of the world. Colorful acrylic art illustrates such concepts as blinks, alpenglow, sundogs, and northern lights, and the text explains how the sun's position relative to the tilting earth produces varying periods of night and day. Glos.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Jon Van Zyle. In 1925, a diptheria outbreak threatened the town of Nome, Alaska. Miller dramatically recounts the heroic efforts of several sled dog teams that participated in the grueling relay to transport serum from Anchorage to Nome. The acrylic paintings ably convey the extreme weather conditions. Notes about various dogs, mushers, and the commemorative Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race are appended. Bib.

Reviewer: Hilary Breed Van Dusen

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Jon Van Zyle. Throughout the year, as several creatures of "the Far North" hunt for prey, they cause the well-camouflaged willow ptarmigan to fly up from its hiding place. Although the occasionally obscure text and acrylic paintings focus on the ptarmigan's enemies instead of the bird itself, both adequately convey the seasonal plumage changes the Alaskan state bird undergoes. An endnote provides more detail.

Reviewer: Bridget McCaffrey

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Jon Van Zyle. In measured, readable prose, this book recounts how a family of woolly mammoths might have spent a year near the end of the Ice Age. Led by the fifty-year-old matriarch Wise One, with a slight tinge of anthropomorphizing, the animals travel, rest, eat, play, defend themselves, and mate. Detailed illustrations are impressively textured, and an appended fact page adds data.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Jon Van Zyle. Harlequin ducks, ravens, mosquitoes, and salmon, among other wildlife, are briefly mentioned in this observation of a southern Alaskan river and are described in greater detail, along with their roles in the ecosystem, in a glossary at the back of the book. A smiling, nameless boy in the background detracts from the realistic oil illustrations in this otherwise simple look at a river throughout the seasons.

Reviewer: Bridget McCaffrey

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Jon Van Zyle. London's lyrical text and Van Zyle's dramatic paintings dominated by blues and purples tell the story of Baby Whale's birth and her pod's summer migration to northern waters. An informative afterword supplies additional facts about sperm whales, and a reader's guide offers thoughtful ideas for discussion of both the scientific and poetic aspects of the text.

Reviewer: Emma Loy-Santelli