(4) YA Odysseys in Outdoor Adventures series. These intriguing titles about outdoor activities are an odd mix of history and beginner tips for equipment, enjoyment, and safety. For instance, Hiking includes a discussion of proper footwear plus references to biblical pilgrimages and wanderings; Deep-Sea provides solid information on rods and lures alongside novel and movie plots. Colorful stock photos add appeal to the presentations, but readers will likely skip around these texts. Websites. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these Odysseys in Outdoor Adventures titles: Camping, Hiking, Canoeing, Rock Climbing, Caving, and Deep-Sea Fishing.

Reviewer: Renée Wheeler

(4) YA Odysseys in Outdoor Adventures series. These intriguing titles about outdoor activities are an odd mix of history and beginner tips for equipment, enjoyment, and safety. For instance, Hiking includes a discussion of proper footwear plus references to biblical pilgrimages and wanderings; Deep-Sea provides solid information on rods and lures alongside novel and movie plots. Colorful stock photos add appeal to the presentations, but readers will likely skip around these texts. Websites. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these Odysseys in Outdoor Adventures titles: Camping, Hiking, Canoeing, Rock Climbing, Caving, and Deep-Sea Fishing.

Reviewer: Renée Wheeler

(4) K-3 Pebble Plus: Ice Age Animals series. These volumes provide very basic information about Ice Age animals; Sabertooth and Mammoths end with those creatures' extinction (shrews are still around today). The texts are easy to read but occasionally vague: "Humans settled in the sabertooths' home"; "The babies [shrews] are born blind and naked." Fuzzy digital-looking illustrations play up sharp teeth, long tusks, or small ("tiny") size. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers the these Pebble Plus: Ice Age Animals titles: Arctic Shrews, Sabertooth Cats, and Woolly Mammoths.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(3) YA Brushes with Greatness series. The history of painting is divided into four genres in these thorough, attractive volumes. Survey chapters are accompanied by crisp reproductions; interspersed throughout each book are four "Appreciating Art" sections focusing on famous paintings that exemplify the specific genre during various periods. Brief endnotes give readers tips for doing additional research online (there are no links). Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these Brushes with Greatness titles: History Paintings, Landscapes, Portraits, and Still Lifes.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo

(3) YA Brushes with Greatness series. The history of painting is divided into four genres in these thorough, attractive volumes. Survey chapters are accompanied by crisp reproductions; interspersed throughout each book are four "Appreciating Art" sections focusing on famous paintings that exemplify the specific genre during various periods. Brief endnotes give readers tips for doing additional research online (there are no links). Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these Brushes with Greatness titles: History Paintings, Landscapes, Portraits, and Still Lifes.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo

(4) K-3 Simple Science series. This book describes characteristics of temperature. Easy-to-read sentences using simple vocabulary and occasional small boxed photographs appear on left-hand pages. Information is selective; it would be better to know what a thermometer does than who made the first one and that mercury is a component. Each facing page contains a large, bright photograph that reinforces the text. An activity is included. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(4) K-3 Simple Science series. These books describe basic characteristics and practical applications of physics. Easy-to-read sentences using very simple vocabulary and occasional small boxed photographs appear on left-hand pages. The writing tends to be too vague ("Nothing would ever happen without forces"). Each facing page contains a large, bright photograph that reinforces the text. An activity is included in each book. Glos., ind. Review covers these Simple Science titles: Gravity, Magnetism, and Motion & Movement.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(4) K-3 Simple Science series. These books describe basic characteristics and practical applications of physics. Easy-to-read sentences using very simple vocabulary and occasional small boxed photographs appear on left-hand pages. The writing tends to be too vague ("Nothing would ever happen without forces"). Each facing page contains a large, bright photograph that reinforces the text. An activity is included in each book. Glos., ind. Review covers these Simple Science titles: Gravity, Magnetism, and Motion & Movement.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(4) K-3 Simple Science series. These books describe basic characteristics and practical applications of physics. Easy-to-read sentences using very simple vocabulary and occasional small boxed photographs appear on left-hand pages. The writing tends to be too vague ("Nothing would ever happen without forces"). Each facing page contains a large, bright photograph that reinforces the text. An activity is included in each book. Glos., ind. Review covers these Simple Science titles: Gravity, Magnetism, and Motion & Movement.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(4) K-3 Dog Breeds series. These slim volumes provide basic facts about retrievers and German shepherds, including their life cycle, the care they need, and the kinds of work they can do. Each book also includes an activity about dogs for readers to try. Attractive photographs show the variety of dogs, but the texts are somewhat choppy and occasionally repetitive. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. [Review covers these Dog Breeds titles: German Shepherds and Retrievers.]

Reviewer: Patricia Riley