(4) 1-3 Calico Kid: Libby Wimbley series. Illustrated by Alexandria Neonakis. Pig-tailed African American farm girl Libby approaches each animal-centric scenario--building a birdhouse, recusing a dragonfly from a spiderweb, teaching her goat tricks, and training her rooster to crow--with persistent problem-solving skills. Each transitional reader has five easy chapters filled with cartoonlike illustrations recalling LeUyen Pham's. The stories are facile, but young readers will be drawn to Libby's curiosity and can-do attitude. Review covers these Calico Kid: Libby Wimbley titles: Birdhouse Builder, Bug Rescuer, Goat Trainer, and Rooster Instructor.

Reviewer: Kari Allen

(4) K-3 My Day Learning Science series. A slight easy-reader text with new vocabulary words in bold-colored type accompanies close-up color photographs of birds in nature and a boy and his father building a birdhouse. The connection between birds' needs and the birdhouse-construction is clearly explained for young readers. The subtitle is misleading since the book only addresses bird homes. Discussion questions are appended. Reading list. Glos.

Reviewer: Renée Wheeler

(4) 4-6 Earth-Friendly Projects series. Illustrated by Roger Stewart. Each title presents an ecological dilemma before providing clear instructions for the featured household project to help rectify the problem. Accessible layouts and organization unite the books, as do consistent graphics, although the featured dew drop leaves on each page are as distracting as they are decorative. The introductions contain useful stock photographs, and simple illustrations accompany the projects. There are four other fall 2016 books in this series. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers these Earth-Friendly Projects titles: Build a Flytrap, Build a Neighborhood Library, Build a Rain Barrel, and Build a Birdhouse.

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(3) K-3 Throughout the year, young Riki enjoys watching birds. He constructs a birdhouse, prepares special feed, assists with nest building, and tends to sunflower plants ("the birds love them and he does too"). Gouache illustrations enhanced with color copies of photographs include borders that incorporate facts and pictures. Appended resources include birdhouse building and installation plans and a "Bird Food Cupcakes" recipe. Websites.

Reviewer: Sheila M. Geraty

(3) 4-6 Kids Can Do It series. Schwarz gives detailed instruction, with illustrations of the steps and a photo of the finished product, for building nine birdhouses. Each house is suited to a particular species of bird, and the directions for building it are quite thorough. The houses are creative and attractive but require a strong woodworking background and a good assortment of tools for completion.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(3) K-3 MathStart series. Illustrated by Edward Miller. These books cover elementary math concepts: place value, capacity (or volume), and numbers one through one hundred on a number line. The stories--about a club that recycles cans, birds searching for the right-size home, students doing "cool" things for the first hundred days of school--make the concepts palatable, while the cartoony color art adds energy. Suggested activities conclude each book. Review covers these MathStart titles: Earth Day--Hooray!, A House for Birdie, and 100 Days of Cool.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Barbara Garrison. An apple-shaped birdhouse becomes home for a tree frog, but his rest is interrupted by three birds, a squirrel, and a cat. Ultimately, he finds a frog friend to share his house. Themes of home and friendship are smoothly integrated into the story, and unusual illustrations create an old-fashioned look, but the story's repetition and rapid conclusion may turn off some readers.

Reviewer: Beth L. Meister

(4) 1-3 Illustrated by Bethanne Andersen. Two children from the city visit their widowed grandfather in the country and help him restore their grandmother's garden, which their grandfather had let go. Young Cody surprises his older sister and grandfather by purchasing a birdhouse to attract the bluebirds his grandmother loved. Andersen's loose gouache and oil paintings enrich the somewhat sentimental text.

Reviewer: Jim St. Claire

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Donald Dreifuss. This story from the perspective of a now-vacant birdhouse discusses its past tenants (industrious wasps, disruptive chipmunks, a chickadee family) in the year since it was put in the ground. Amazingly, Ziefert sparks genuine empathy with her fictional memoir of an inanimate object. The large-scale illustrations shimmer with color, and the close-ups of images inside the birdhouse effectively involve the reader.

Reviewer: Nell Beram