Fleur Star

Sharks! I was fascinated by the ocean dwellers when I was a child, and the interest is shared by other children, then and now. My youngest daughter's favorite animal is the shark. With so much guaranteed appeal, choosing this nonfiction book as an addition to our library was easy. The format follows other books in the Eye Wonder series, with information about sharks broken down in two-page segments, and augmented with a heaping amount of photographs and illustrations. To mention just a few show more of the covered topics, the book teaches young readers about a shark's anatomy, birthing habits, and and how they hunt and eat. Towards the end, the authors include information on endangered sharks, sharks from the past and their fossils, and especially strange varieties of the animal. Textual supports such as an index, a glossary, and a table of contents are used to organize information for readers.

I am a vocal fan of DK's nonfiction catalog. The publishers create gorgeous picture books that blend the visual and verbal information in an appealing package. Books are accurately written at the appropriate age level; for example, this series is a younger version of their Eyewitness Books series, and the pages are accordingly filled with less text, simpler vocabulary, and bigger fonts. Topics in the series are built around subjects of particular interest to younger children. This shark book utilizes all of those qualities, and is an excellent example of how children's nonfiction can be both educational and entertaining. 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

This book has words, and braille underneath of the worlds, and whether the student is blind, or seeing, it’s a good book. This informational text about types of cars, and unique forms of transportation is a great starter book for children to read. The thing I like most about this is just the amount of information, and textual features. For example, some words are bolded, titles are bigger, and pictures are labeled. One section, on your bike has information about electric powered bikes and show more gas powered bikes, including quads or “4 wheelers”. Another thing I like about this is the Braille, of course. I like how it has both words and braille, even the pictures are texturized and the labels are braille! So, a student who can see can read with a student who is blind or hard of sight, or just learn about the language of braille. This book reaches diversity in a great way. However, the one thing I do not like about this book, and the one reason I would not put it into my classroom library is the lack of female recognition. In every picture, a guy is riding the tractor, 4 wheelers, car, or bike. I believe that it should at least have one picture of a girl, because girls can be interested in unique methods of transportation as well. Other than this unfortunate circumstance, this book is a great read, and will be interesting to students who can see, or to students who can not. show less

Not just for the visually impaired - this is tactile fun for anyone! And very sturdy, with lots of different textures that will likely hold up to lots of little learners' inquisitive fingers. My favorite texture is the "sticky worms" and my favorite image is the leaves (because even if before I touched and realized that the veins were distinctly textured, I could see them beautifully outlined in red against the different greens).