(3) PS Baby Animals series. Noted wildlife photographer Eszterhas (Baby Animals Playing) returns to document wild baby animals on the move: some self-propelling (zebras, orcas), others needing help from adults (a lion cub carried in its mother's mouth, a baby otter riding on its mother's belly). Sharp, clear photos feature close-up shots of the animal babies; the brief text functions mainly as captions.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(3) PS Baby Animals series. In a new series for preschoolers, noted wildlife photographer Eszterhas here focuses on wild animal babies at play: two baby cheetahs wrestling; a racing giraffe calf; an orangutan swinging underneath his mother. Sharp, clear photos feature close-up shots of the baby mammals, while the brief, captionlike text underscores the point that for young animals, playing is learning.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(4) K-3 Lightning Bolt Books: Baby Australian Animals series. Each book begins with the birth of an Australian animal and then, in four brief chapters, superficially describes its growth and development, behaviors, diet, and physical characteristics; each ends with a simple life cycle diagram. Clear photographs help illustrate the somewhat choppy texts. "Habitat in Focus" and "Fun Facts" sections are appended. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Lightning Bolt Books: Baby Australian Animals titles: Meet a Baby Koala, Meet a Baby Tasmanian Devil, Meet a Baby Wombat, Meet a Baby Kangaroo, and Meet a Baby Wallaby.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(4) K-3 Lightning Bolt Books: Baby Australian Animals series. Each book begins with the birth of an Australian animal and then, in four brief chapters, superficially describes its growth and development, behaviors, diet, and physical characteristics; each ends with a simple life cycle diagram. Clear photographs help illustrate the somewhat choppy texts. "Habitat in Focus" and "Fun Facts" sections are appended. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Lightning Bolt Books: Baby Australian Animals titles: Meet a Baby Koala, Meet a Baby Tasmanian Devil, Meet a Baby Wombat, Meet a Baby Kangaroo, and Meet a Baby Wallaby.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(4) K-3 Lightning Bolt Books: Baby Australian Animals series. This book begins with a mother crocodile building a nest and laying eggs. The babies hatch, and in four brief chapters, readers learn about crocodiles' growth and development, behaviors, diet, and physical characteristics, ending with a simple life cycle diagram. Clear photographs help illustrate the somewhat choppy and superficial text. "Habitat in Focus" and "Fun Facts" sections are appended. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(4) K-3 Lightning Bolt Books: Baby Australian Animals series. Each book begins with the birth of an Australian animal and then, in four brief chapters, superficially describes its growth and development, behaviors, diet, and physical characteristics; each ends with a simple life cycle diagram. Clear photographs help illustrate the somewhat choppy texts. "Habitat in Focus" and "Fun Facts" sections are appended. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Lightning Bolt Books: Baby Australian Animals titles: Meet a Baby Koala, Meet a Baby Tasmanian Devil, Meet a Baby Wombat, Meet a Baby Kangaroo, and Meet a Baby Wallaby.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(4) K-3 Lightning Bolt Books: Baby Australian Animals series. Each book begins with the birth of an Australian animal and then, in four brief chapters, superficially describes its growth and development, behaviors, diet, and physical characteristics; each ends with a simple life cycle diagram. Clear photographs help illustrate the somewhat choppy texts. "Habitat in Focus" and "Fun Facts" sections are appended. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Lightning Bolt Books: Baby Australian Animals titles: Meet a Baby Koala, Meet a Baby Tasmanian Devil, Meet a Baby Wombat, Meet a Baby Kangaroo, and Meet a Baby Wallaby.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(4) K-3 Lightning Bolt Books: Baby Australian Animals series. Each book begins with the birth of an Australian animal and then, in four brief chapters, superficially describes its growth and development, behaviors, diet, and physical characteristics; each ends with a simple life cycle diagram. Clear photographs help illustrate the somewhat choppy texts. "Habitat in Focus" and "Fun Facts" sections are appended. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Lightning Bolt Books: Baby Australian Animals titles: Meet a Baby Koala, Meet a Baby Tasmanian Devil, Meet a Baby Wombat, Meet a Baby Kangaroo, and Meet a Baby Wallaby.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(3) PS Baby Animals series. These preschool introductions to baby birds consist of a few short sentences per spread, presenting basic facts about each creature's appearance, diet, development, and behavior. Every spread is bolstered by an endearing close-up photograph. An appended page shows a grid of four small pictures of the bird at different developmental stages. Glos., ind. Review covers these Baby Animals titles: Ducklings and Penguin Chicks.

Reviewer: Russell Perry

(3) PS Baby Animals series. These preschool introductions to baby birds consist of a few short sentences per spread, presenting basic facts about each creature's appearance, diet, development, and behavior. Every spread is bolstered by an endearing close-up photograph. An appended page shows a grid of four small pictures of the bird at different developmental stages. Glos., ind. Review covers these Baby Animals titles: Ducklings and Penguin Chicks.

Reviewer: Russell Perry

(3) PS Baby Animals series. These preschool introductions to wild animal babies consist of a few short sentences per spread, presenting basic facts about each creature's appearance, diet, development, and behavior. Every spread is accompanied by an endearing close-up photograph. An appended page shows a grid of four small pictures of the animal at different developmental stages. Glos., ind. Review covers these Baby Animals titles: Elephant Calves and Koala Joeys.

Reviewer: Russell Perry

(3) PS Baby Animals series. These preschool introductions to wild animal babies consist of a few short sentences per spread, presenting basic facts about each creature's appearance, diet, development, and behavior. Every spread is accompanied by an endearing close-up photograph. An appended page shows a grid of four small pictures of the animal at different developmental stages. Glos., ind. Review covers these Baby Animals titles: Elephant Calves and Koala Joeys.

Reviewer: Russell Perry

(3) PS Baby Animals series. These preschool introductions to kittens and puppies consist of a few short sentences per page, presenting basic facts about each creature's appearance, diet, development, and behavior. Every spread is accompanied by an endearing close-up photograph. An appended page shows a grid of four small pictures of the animal at different developmental stages. Glos., ind. Review covers these Baby Animals titles: Kittens and Puppies.

Reviewer: Russell Perry

(3) PS Baby Animals series. These preschool introductions to kittens and puppies consist of a few short sentences per page, presenting basic facts about each creature's appearance, diet, development, and behavior. Every spread is accompanied by an endearing close-up photograph. An appended page shows a grid of four small pictures of the animal at different developmental stages. Glos., ind. Review covers these Baby Animals titles: Kittens and Puppies.

Reviewer: Russell Perry

(4) K-3 Little Pebble: Baby Animals and Their Homes series. These small early-reader books about animal homes feature simple text in large print and cute photos, but only superficial information. Perhaps understandably, the color photos of animal babies in burrows are not as clear or illustrative as those of the easier-to-see nest babies. Each book concludes with two age-appropriate critical thinking questions. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers these Little Pebble: Baby Animals and Their Homes titles: Baby Animals in Burrows and Baby Animals in Nests.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee

(4) K-3 Little Pebble: Baby Animals and Their Homes series. These small early-reader books about animal homes feature simple text in large print and cute photos, but only superficial information. Perhaps understandably, the color photos of animal babies in burrows are not as clear or illustrative as those of the easier-to-see nest babies. Each book concludes with two age-appropriate critical thinking questions. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers these Little Pebble: Baby Animals and Their Homes titles: Baby Animals in Burrows and Baby Animals in Nests.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee

(4) K-3 Lightning Bolt Books: Baby Farm Animals series. Four brief chapters follow lambs from birth to adulthood at one year. The simple text briefly touches on sheep behavior and diet, "why people raise sheep," and lambs' development. Large, high-quality photos (on unfortunately garish backgrounds) show lambs in action with their mothers and flocks. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(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