Lorrie Mack

For the most part, reading my kids' books is a chore. Many of the volumes are well written, good quality books, but the bottom line is that they're children's books. They don't satisfy my grown up intellect, nor do they usually offer the entertainment I get from literary brain candy. There are exceptions of course, the most frequent being what the wife calls discovery books. Discovery books offer lots of pictures, peppered with little factoids. If the young'uns leave one sitting around, I'll show more invariably pick it up and start perusing it. Anyway, Forest is such a discovery book, published by the masters of discovery books Dorling Kindersley. The book is about forests, of course, with colorful spreads about each type of forest in the world and the creatures that inhabit them. (You also have the obligatory environmental pages, to indoctrinate your children into saving the planet... or at least limit their depredation of the same.) It's a really nice book, though the pre-press artist in me would quibble on some of the photo montages. Hopefully, you have kids, so you'll have a perfect excuse to check it out.
--J. show less

Panda by Fleur Star

No getting around it, pandas are adorable! Saving this endangered species has garnered world-wide attention, but no more so than in China where pandas live in a few mountain ranges of that country. This DK book, which is part of the “Watch Me Grow” series, takes the reader on a photographic timeline journey through the life of a panda named Jing Jing, who became the mascot of the Beijing Olympics. She was born in the Chengdu Research Base in China where they work to show more save the panda through conservation by breeding and providing both a habitat and continuous care to engender population growth. The informative pages feature three font sizes. The largest font, meant for beginning readers, is mostly written in first person as if Jing Jing is speaking about herself, her home, her mom and her activities as she grows older. The next smaller font gives factual information which is written in first person on some pages and third person on others. The smallest font is generally contained in fact boxes. The last pages describe the panda conservation program at the research base in very clear language. Children will not be able to resist lingering over the stunning photographs and text that are purposefully placed on each page. A table of contents, glossary, and acknowledgement of the photographs are provided. The authority of the author is not noted but the Director of Conservation Education of the Chengdu Research Base is listed as a consultant along with an active website. While on two of the pages the words are slightly buried in the gutter, it does not detract from the overall presentation of the book. Panda lovers will want to be first in line to check out the story of Jing Jing. This book is highly recommended for children K-3 for individual or one on one reading. Older children could use it for beginning research projects. show less

Excellent book. Not only do the kids and myself learn to draw things but we also keep all the kids/visitors busy. The results are impressive. Anyone can draw like this, simply follow the guidelines.

An informational book about animal families and babies growing up. It gives plenty of information about family structures, how animals take care of their young, how young play and grow different. The photographs accompanying the text are awesome and ought to appeal to children of any age. Additionally, the text is set up such that children are not reading long paragraphs of information, but rather snippets. The book is also sectioned into different aspects of how families and animals show more functions and includes a glossary and index. show less