(4) K-3 Penguin Young Readers series. Despite the cutesy title, this easy reader offers a decent amount of information focusing on hedgehogs as outdoor or indoor pets ("check the laws in your town to see if you can have one"). Photos of hedgehogs playing, sniffing, eating, etc., enhance interest, though clarification would have been useful at times (e.g., we're told the creatures are nocturnal, but the photos are mainly daytime).

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(4) K-3 This basic introduction to hummingbirds includes excellent close-up photographs of beautifully colored birds flying, eating, and feeding their young. "Hummer Fact" sidebars add to the information; maps blended into the background of several shots show habitats. While the page design and text layout look haphazard at times, the easy-to-read book is a good starting place for young researchers and budding ornithologists.

Reviewer: Sian Gaetano

(4) 1-3 All Aboard Math Reader series. Illustrated by Mernie Gallagher Cole & Mernie Gallagher Cole. Young Gary Graff hates family reunions--until his offhand observations give his math homework purpose (e.g., he makes a bar graph to show which lunch dish is most popular). Despite some clunky dialogue, the cartoonishly illustrated story works because Bader injects humor into her lessons, for example, to help Gary do his homework, his cousins furtively figure out which relatives dye their hair.

Reviewer: Nell Beram