(4) 4-6 Bishop packs a lot of historical detail into this (fictionalized) diary account of life aboard explorer Captain James Cook's ship Endeavor, from the perspective of the ship's cook Thomas Richmond ("likely...a freed slave from Jamaica"). The acrylic and ink drawings, in muted greens, blues, and off-whites, contain speech bubbles; sidebars provide supplementary information and very basic recipes. It's somewhat hard to follow but engaging.

Reviewer: Jack Forman

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Poly Bernatene. Despite having been adopted by bookstore owners when she was five, eleven-year-old Property Jones is (secretly) illiterate. Fortunately, she is also extremely observant, which enables her to thwart the swindlers who are bent on cheating her family out of the commodious, almost-magical book emporium they've just won in a contest. This pleasant fantasy, enlivened by Bernatene's cartoon illustrations, will engage young book lovers ready to take on denser chapter books.

Reviewer: Miriam Lang Budin

(3) 4-6 Maddie's been waiting forever for her end-of-the-year sixth-grade dance. But the night doesn't go as planned: the boy she likes asks another girl to dance, and then Maddie's Massachusetts town is hit by a tornado. An eventful summer ensues for Maddie, with crushes, changing friendships, and more serious subjects of disaster and loss all handled sensitively and realistically.

Reviewer: Nancy Sheridan

(3) K-3 A day in the life of a rockhopper penguin family features Bishop's stunning photographs. Simple sentences accompany the photos to tell the story of the mother penguin's hunt for food while baby and father remain behind. There's a bit of drama when the chick wanders off, but all ends well with the mother's return. An appended author's note offers more information.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Alison Edgson. Four little forest creatures have a favorite storybook--it's the only one they own. When they find a new book dropped in the woods, they return it to its owner, Bear, resulting in a happy ending for all five bibliophiles. The well-paced text is full of gentle humor (including a "Goldilocks" riff). Softly textured, earth-toned illustrations emphasize the animals' highly expressive faces and body language.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(3) 4-6 In chapters alternating between "this summer" and "last summer," when her beloved older sister died, talented pitcher Quinnen works through her family's unresolved grief. Having quit baseball, Quinnen initially resents the minor league ballplayer boarding in their home, but her love of the game gradually rekindles as she processes her loss. Bishop's solid debut is an engaging mix of family drama and baseball.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(1) K-3 Seemingly impossible-to-get shots of snakes poised and alert, arched and ready to strike, and even swallowing an egg whole are interspersed with more restful moments during which they are coiled onto branches or camouflaged by sand. It will take a while for readers to tear themselves away from the images to read the excellent accompanying text that describes snake behavior, physiology, and eating habits. Reading list. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2013

(1) K-3 Bishop provides spectacular photographic images, accompanied by excellent scientific information about the many lizard species, their behaviors, anatomy, survival mechanisms, and habitats. Brilliant color photographs bring us sharply into close-ups of the nubby texture of lizard skin or capture frame-by-frame the animals in mid-jump (most impressively across two foldout pages showing every nuance of a basilisk skimming the surface of water). Reading list. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2010

(3) K-3 Superb photographs and knowledgeable, accessible text combine to produce an appealing, informative book about marsupials. Subjects include opossums, kangaroos, koalas, Tasmanian devils, and numbats, and Bishop presents them all in the moment: hiding in a log, perched atop a tree, or in a four-part leap across a double-page spread with two foldouts. Captions and highlighted text help organize the information. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian

(2) K-3 In informative but not-too-demanding text, Bishop covers life cycles, eating, defenses, mating, and the differences between butterflies and moths, all illustrated with intriguing full-page photographs. A pull-out center-page spread contains a series of photos showing five steps in a butterfly's flight process. An appended section describes Bishop's quest to photograph a Costa Rican caterpillar that camouflages itself as a snake. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: Janet Hamilton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2009

(1) K-3 This informative book covers anatomical, behavioral, and reproductive facts. On each spread, one of the sentences is in larger type, serving as a highlight of main ideas and a pointer to the accompanying captioned photograph--the real star of the show. The pictures are stunningly crisp and beautifully reproduced. At book's end, Bishop explains the extensive work involved in his nature photography. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2008

(1) K-3 This informative book covers anatomical, behavioral, and reproductive facts. On each spread, one of the sentences is in larger type, serving as a highlight of main ideas and a pointer to the accompanying captioned photograph--the real star of the show. The pictures are stunningly crisp and beautifully reproduced. At book's end, Bishop explains the extensive work involved in his nature photography. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2008

(4) K-3 In the same format as his Backyard Detective, Bishop uses photographic montage to depict a deciduous forest and its inhabitants. Flip the page from the stunning visual to find the streaming field notes running over the spread. Organized by season, layers of the forest, and life after dark, the book is visually alluring, but the merits of the book as a guide are slight. Ind.

Reviewer: Hilary Breed Van Dusen

(3) PS When Old Bear and Brown Bear decide sleeping is a waste of time, they stay awake all winter long and plan an exciting summer trip. Nice weather finally comes, but the bears are exhausted and end up slumbering through their whole vacation. The tongue-in-cheek story of defying conventional mores is accompanied by cheerful line and watercolor illustrations.

Reviewer: Patricia Riley

(2) 4-6 Bishop situates a thorough discussion of a hot topic in paleontology in the work of Cathy Forster, a scientist who works both in laboratory and remote field locales. The excellent color photos are large enough to illustrate the detailed field work involved in finding and removing dinosaur fossils. This account of the development of scientific knowledge, linked closely to those who create it, makes the whole process highly appealing. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2000