Crustaceans

April 1, 2017
Gr 3-5-These ambitious series entries provide a general overview of the animal kingdom. Most of the information is communicated through one-sentence descriptions or definitions. Content moves from general to specific, starting with a look at taxonomy, then shifting to subtopics and individual creatures. Logical organization and creatively varied layouts help make the text accessible. A topic introduction for each spread leads into fact bites that are presented in photo captions, text boxes, and within circular frames that match the round borders of spot photographs. In some cases, images are partially obscured by the many insets and captions, creating a slightly cluttered look. With so many topics and multiple bits of data for each one, the lack of an index may frustrate kids trying to hone in on particular subjects. VERDICT Plenty of factual and visual content to engage readers, despite flaws. An additional selection.

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