April 1, 2012
K-Gr 3-This series highlights salient aspects of each season with descriptive text and a pleasant array of photos: colorful leaves, animals in snow, green buds, and bright blue skies. Though they sometimes lack detail and leave fundamental concepts underdeveloped, the books are appropriate introductions for the targeted age group. Suggested activities in each volume, such as journaling what time of day it gets dark, logging daily temperatures, collecting treasure-hunt items from nature, and measuring levels of precipitation, encourage observation, inference, experimentation, and practice of key scientific methodology concepts.
Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
July 1, 2012
Brightly colored, kid-friendly photos illustrate this series introducing the seasons; information includes the change in amount of daylight, effects on living things, typical weather, and other signs of the seasons. Suggestions for observation, questions for critical thinking, and seasonal "treasure hunts" are highlights of the books, making up for the slightly crowded design and arid text. Reading list. Glos., ind.
(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)