Grid Coordinates by Land, Air, and Sea Using 3-D Shapes to Build Houses Elapsed Time at the Olympics Measuring and Sharks

Gr 3—5—For the most part, these titles are marginal purchases. Grid Coordinates has a pedestrian writing style ("maps help us get to places," "maps are really useful," etc.), and the various concepts presented are often confusing or redundant. "Couriers carry goods" needs to be defined more precisely or an example provided, while "a map's scale is written as a ratio" includes an explanation of "ratio" but not of "scale." While the charts are clear, some photographs are dark. Erika Shores's If Maps Could Talk (Capstone, 2007) is a livelier choice. The second title has some of the same problems. The page that includes a "Let's Explore Math" activity that references bricks features a photograph of a clapboard house. Somewhat random information about famous architects and their creations is scattered about and interferes with the general discussion. Elapsed Time never defines the word "elapsed." The Paralympics are mentioned, but how they differ from the regular Olympics and who participates in them are not explained. Of the four titles, Sharks may have some child appeal.—Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ