(3) YA Hip-Hop Artists series. Each standalone biography highlights a (male) hip-hop artist's artistic influences, childhood experiences, and professional challenges and successes, all supported by healthy source notes; narratives touch on (but don't delve deeply into) controversial aspects. Attractive layouts include colorful sidebars, bolded quotes, and plentiful photos. Though the content will date quickly, this is a well-curated and visually appealing series. Reading list, timeline. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these Hip-Hop Artists titles: Kendrick Lamar, Chance the Rapper, Drake, Future, J. Cole, and Kanye West.

Reviewer: Amy Seto Forrester

(3) YA Hip-Hop Artists series. Each standalone biography highlights a (male) hip-hop artist's artistic influences, childhood experiences, and professional challenges and successes, all supported by healthy source notes; narratives touch on (but don't delve deeply into) controversial aspects. Attractive layouts include colorful sidebars, bolded quotes, and plentiful photos. Though the content will date quickly, this is a well-curated and visually appealing series. Reading list, timeline. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these Hip-Hop Artists titles: Kendrick Lamar, Chance the Rapper, Drake, Future, J. Cole, and Kanye West.

Reviewer: Amy Seto Forrester

(3) 4-6 Searchlight Books: Predators series. In this high-interest series for third through fifth graders, descriptions of familiar predators' hunting techniques emphasize the animals' ferocity; the texts also include information on adaptations for a predatory lifestyle, habitats and ranges, and life cycles. Photographs show bloody attack scenes as well as the animals at rest or with their young. "Fact File" and a food chain are appended. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Searchlight Books: Predators titles: Tigers on the Hunt, Lions on the Hunt, Orcas on the Hunt, Polar Bears on the Hunt, and Wolves on the Hunt.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(3) 4-6 Searchlight Books: Predators series. In this high-interest series for third through fifth graders, descriptions of familiar predators' hunting techniques emphasize the animals' ferocity; the texts also include information on adaptations for a predatory lifestyle, habitats and ranges, and life cycles. Photographs show bloody attack scenes as well as the animals at rest or with their young. "Fact File" and a food chain are appended. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Searchlight Books: Predators titles: Tigers on the Hunt, Lions on the Hunt, Orcas on the Hunt, Polar Bears on the Hunt, and Wolves on the Hunt.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(4) 4-6 Edge Books: Bug Wars series. Comparing and "rating" two insect species by their physical features, each book in this science-based series imagines the opponents fighting "to the death." The gimmicky text emphasizes such words as threat, attack, and defense, and includes "Fierce Fact" sidebars; magnified photos of insect "weaponry" (pincers, stingers, fangs, and venom) are featured throughout. The "battle" then occurs in cinematic present tense. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers the following Edge Books: Bug Wars titles: Scorpion vs. Centipede and Praying Mantis vs. Giant Hornet.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo

(4) 4-6 Edge Books: Real-Life Zombies series. With their brief, gruesome descriptions of how parasites and parasitoids prey upon their victims, these books will appeal to those who like their nonfiction grisly. Unfortunately, the color photographs, while plentiful, are often difficult to decipher. The page design incorporates sidebars, multiple fonts, and loud graphics seemingly intended to inspire fear and awe but which only further the visual clutter. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers these Edge Books: Real-Life Zombies titles: Body Snatchers and Brain Eaters.

Reviewer: Miriam Lang Budin

(4) K-3 Translated by Gabriela Baeza Ventura. Illustrated by Gary Undercuffler. Francisco misses flying kites in his native El Salvador, so he builds one from found materials in his new Chicago neighborhood. The owner of a recycled goods store notices the kite and offers to pay Francisco to make twenty more. In both English and Spanish, the quiet text tells a gentle story. The illustrations are stiff but convey Francisco's pride in his creations.

Reviewer: Tim Wadham

(4) 4-6 Edge Books: Library of Weird series. This attention-grabbing, browsable book describes "bizarre" or "loony" foods that some people eat as delicacies or a part of their cultural traditions; while many readers may find it enlightening to learn about the variety of foods humans consume around the world, it would be preferable to discuss them without pejorative modifiers. Illustrations, photos, and graphics fill the pages. Reading list. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: Miriam Lang Budin

(4) 4-6 Continents series. Standard encyclopedia information is dispersed among these forty-eight pages, illustrated with photographs that are sharp but not always well placed. The information is generally sound but superficial, inevitable for a short book on a broad topic: "People from many cultures live on this amazing continent." Common Core sidebars are more interesting but frequently at a higher skill level than the book itself. Reading list. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton