Series Made Simple

PreS-Gr 2—With its neon covers, vibrant photography, and "Let's Do It" text boxes that contain accessible tips for conserving and recycling, this series will grab children's attention...

Gr 7 Up—Rather than preach about good nutrition, these books offer visually appealing, conversational, and practical takes on healthy eating in a variety of settings...

Gr 4–7—This series delivers the next best thing to traveling to the national parks in person...

Gr 3–5—Nelson covers the essentials of geology from various types of erosion to formation of different kinds of metamorphic, igneous, and sedimentary rocks...

Gr 5–8—Along with high-appeal content, these celebrity biographies also offer high visual appeal with an engaging, colorful format and numerous photos...

In these books, educators will find solid choices to support some aspect of the Common Core State Standards. Most of the publishers have made a noticeable effort to address the standards and relate math to everyday experiences, giving readers connections that help them engage with the texts.

One thing is certainly clear about this spring’s new nonfiction series: publishers are focused on helping educators understand and deliver on the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).

The fall of 2012 was a strong season for new series in American history and geography. In comparison, the spring of 2013 has a small turnout. However, that does not mean that these books are also-rans. Quite the contrary is true.

Ever responsive to changing fads in educational theory, nonfiction publishers are, with varying success, already tweaking their new titles to conform to the Common Core science standards. These efforts range from inserting a few vague ideas for activities or demonstrations into otherwise conventional surveys of well-traveled informational territory to festooning texts with review questions, primary-source documents, photos and graphics, and suggestions for ongoing projects or lines of thought.