(4) 4-6 Five Elements series. Cult leader Jonathan Thorne dupes Gabe and his friends into merging the hellish dimension of Arcadia with San Francisco. Thorne's victory seems inevitable, but the young elementalists have one last chance to prevent the villain from transforming the entire world. This finale maintains the series hallmarks of multifaceted characters and astonishing powers but is hampered by an overly long climactic battle.

Reviewer: Russell Perry

(4) 4-6 Five Elements series. Having escaped the Eternal Dawn on Alcatraz, Gabe and his fellow child-elementalists (The Emerald Tablet) must combine their powers to destroy the hellish dimension of Arcadia. While the Dawn cultists work to merge Earth with Arcadia and to resurrect their leader, a traitor close to Gabe could ruin everything. Despite overdone gore and a convoluted plot, the novel's deepening character relationships and stunning magic will satisfy fans.

Reviewer: Russell Perry

(4) 4-6 Five Elements series. When Gabe and his three friends enact a binding ritual (thinking it will secure their friendship forever), they inadvertently join themselves to mystical powers. Together with a ghostly boy, they must use their new abilities to stop a cult bent on fusing Earth with a hellish parallel dimension. Surprisingly gruesome at times, the convoluted story is bolstered by complex characters and dazzling elemental powers.

Reviewer: Russell Perry

(3) PS Exploring the Elements series. Illustrated by Marie Lafrance. On each double-page spread, a child says why he or she likes rain ("...because sometimes I hear thunder"), then wonders aloud about the rain-related concept ("I wonder why it thunders"). Factual information that addresses each question is hidden under clever lift-up flaps. The main pages' color-saturated acrylic paintings set the scene; spot art on the flaps helps explain the science.

Reviewer: Lauren Maggio

(3) PS Exploring the Elements series. Illustrated by Marie Lafrance. The left-hand pages feature simple statements about why someone might like the sun ("I like the sun because I get to wear my sunglasses"). Right-hand pages then present queries ("I wonder how sunglasses work"), which are answered on fold-out flaps. The main pages' color-saturated acrylic paintings tell a story while the flap pages illustrated with spot art help explain the concepts.

Reviewer: Lauren Maggio

(3) PS Exploring the Elements series. Illustrated by Marie Lafrance. "Who likes the snow?" In a series of double-page spreads, children respond in the affirmative and give their reasons ("it covers the ground like a white blanket") on the verso page. On the recto, they ask a related science-based question ("I wonder why snow is white"), which is cleverly answered after readers lift a flap. Blue-hued acrylics reflect the season.

Reviewer: Lauren Maggio

(4) 4-6 Elements series. Each of these books defines an element, then describes what risks are associated with it and where it fits in the periodic chart. Numerous captioned color photos and sidebars augment the accurate, well-organized, but information-dense sections. Glos., ind. Review covers these Elements titles: Manganese, Iodine, Nickel, and Mercury.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian

(4) 4-6 Elements series. Each of these books defines an element, then describes what risks are associated with it and where it fits in the periodic chart. Numerous captioned color photos and sidebars augment the accurate, well-organized, but information-dense sections. Glos., ind. Review covers these Elements titles: Manganese, Iodine, Nickel, and Mercury.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian

(4) 4-6 Elements series. Each of these books defines an element, then describes what risks are associated with it and where it fits in the periodic chart. Numerous captioned color photos and sidebars augment the accurate, well-organized, but information-dense sections. Glos., ind. Review covers these Elements titles: Manganese, Iodine, Nickel, and Mercury.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian

(3) 4-6 Elements series. Each of these books defines an element, then describes what risks are associated with it and where it fits in the periodic chart. Numerous captioned color photos and sidebars augment the accurate, well-organized, but information-dense sections. Glos., ind. Review covers these Elements titles: Manganese, Iodine, Nickel, and Mercury.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian

(4) 4-6 Elements series. Each of these books defines an element then describes where it's found, how it's used, how it's combined, what risks are associated with it, and where it fits in the periodic chart. Numerous captioned color photos and sidebars augment the accurate and well-organized but information-dense text. Glos., ind. Review covers these Elements titles: Tin, Fluorine, Tungsten, and Platinum.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian

(4) 4-6 Elements series. Each of these books defines an element then describes where it's found, how it's used, how it's combined, what risks are associated with it, and where it fits in the periodic chart. Numerous captioned color photos and sidebars augment the accurate and well-organized but information-dense text. Glos., ind. Review covers these Elements titles: Tin, Fluorine, Tungsten, and Platinum.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian

(4) 4-6 Elements series. Each of these books defines an element then describes where it's found, how it's used, how it's combined, what risks are associated with it, and where it fits in the periodic chart. Numerous captioned color photos and sidebars augment the accurate and well-organized but information-dense text. Glos., ind. Review covers these Elements titles: Tin, Fluorine, Tungsten, and Platinum.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian

(4) 4-6 Elements series. Each of these books defines an element then describes where it's found, how it's used, how it's combined, what risks are associated with it, and where it fits in the periodic chart. Numerous captioned color photos and sidebars augment the accurate and well-organized but information-dense text. Glos., ind. Review covers these Elements titles: Tin, Fluorine, Tungsten, and Platinum.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian

(3) 4-6 Elements series. These four accounts discuss the discovery (if known), the sources, the properties, and the uses of common elements. Each series book begins with a short description of atomic structure and ends with an explanation of the periodic table and of balancing chemical equations. The well-selected photographs and diagrams are appropriate to the text. Glos., ind. [Review covers these Elements titles: Noble Gases, Silver, Potassium, and Titanium.]

Reviewer: Harry Clement Stubbs

(3) 4-6 Elements series. These four accounts discuss the discovery (if known), the sources, the properties, and the uses of common elements. Each series book begins with a short description of atomic structure and ends with an explanation of the periodic table and of balancing chemical equations. The well-selected photographs and diagrams are appropriate to the text. Glos., ind. [Review covers these Elements titles: Noble Gases, Silver, Potassium, and Titanium.]

Reviewer: Harry Clement Stubbs

(3) 4-6 Elements series. These four accounts discuss the discovery (if known), the sources, the properties, and the uses of common elements. Each series book begins with a short description of atomic structure and ends with an explanation of the periodic table and of balancing chemical equations. The well-selected photographs and diagrams are appropriate to the text. Glos., ind. [Review covers these Elements titles: Noble Gases, Silver, Potassium, and Titanium.]

Reviewer: Harry Clement Stubbs

(3) 4-6 Elements series. These four accounts discuss the discovery (if known), the sources, the properties, and the uses of common elements. Each series book begins with a short description of atomic structure and ends with an explanation of the periodic table and of balancing chemical equations. The well-selected photographs and diagrams are appropriate to the text. Glos., ind. [Review covers these Elements titles: Noble Gases, Silver, Potassium, and Titanium.]

Reviewer: Harry Clement Stubbs

(3) 4-6 Elements series. These four books follow the series format: each describes a common chemical element's discovery (if known), its occurrence in nature, the atomic structure that accounts for the element's behavior, its properties, and its uses. In addition to well-chosen photos, chemical equations are supplied and explained with diagrams. The books conclude with a discussion of the periodic table and of balancing chemical equations. Glos., ind. [Review covers these Elements titles: Sodium, Silicon, Chlorine, Lead.]

Reviewer: Harry Clement Stubbs

(3) 4-6 Elements series. These four books follow the series format: each describes a common chemical element's discovery (if known), its occurrence in nature, the atomic structure that accounts for the element's behavior, its properties, and its uses. In addition to well-chosen photos, chemical equations are supplied and explained with diagrams. The books conclude with a discussion of the periodic table and of balancing chemical equations. Glos., ind. [Review covers these Elements titles: Sodium, Silicon, Chlorine, Lead.]

Reviewer: Harry Clement Stubbs