Whether publishers made blatant efforts to promote Common Core State Standards or made a few discreet changes in approach, these new arrivals remain solid examples of the genre. Nonfiction, at its best, presents significant concepts in both eye- and imagination-catching ways, mixes accurate general statements and specific facts or terms in digestible proportions, and is likely to leave readers wanting to find out more. Of the new series or new titles in ongoing series below, those aimed at younger audiences more consistently accomplished these goals.

Preschool to Grade 4

Gr 3-5 –Maintaining a steady balance between general concepts and specific facts, these surveys are apt to stimulate broader interest in science and nature as well as provide helpful information for elementary level reports. Some topics are trimmed to fit, while others are more detailed. Changing Matter includes plasma as the “fourth state” to solids, liquids, and gases (and features a crowd-pleasing infographic showing what happens when solid food changes to gas in the human stomach). Predict It! is a wide-ranging introduction to using the scientific method to test hypotheses, and the authors of both Photosynthesis and Gravity cleverly bring the water cycle into their purviews. Examples are well chosen for the intended audience, too. Each volume’s easily digestible narrative is enhanced with a mix of photographs and cartoon images or schematics and capped with a pair of very low-overhead individual or group projects. VERDICT Both the content and the lively presentations will leave readers pleased as well as better informed.

Gr 1-3 –Though Ransom only mentions bees as pollinating agents, her introductions to flower functions and parts (which include glances at roots and stems as well) really stand alone as broad overviews. Still, Boothroyd’s volumes do cover their limited topics in an inviting, systematic way. Each slim volume offers a bright, close-up nature photo on every page and one or two simple descriptive sentences. Frequent labels provide geographical information, flower names, or an additional fact. Insect Pollinators identifies six types of insects that transfer pollen, Animal Pollinators identifies eight other creatures—including humans—and Cross Pollination includes a reference to wind so that no pollen vector goes unmentioned. Self-Pollination clearly explains the value of this seed-making strategy and presents six common plants—from tomatoes to dandelions—that rely upon it. Each volume closes with a glossary and a rudimentary index. VERDICT Suitable additions for those looking for material on plants or flowers.

Brett, Flora. Your Circulatory System Works! ISBN 9781491420638.

Gr 2-4 –Though missing an equivalent volume for the endocrine system, these introductions to our innards make good replacements for Capstone’s like-titled 2006 series. Aimed at readers ready to encounter ventricles and dendrons, ligaments and alveoli, each survey systematically covers a major body system with clear explanations of major functions and components. Special terms are printed in boldface. Photos of posing children and occasional close-ups of, for instance, villi in the small intestine, supplement simplified but clear and realistic graphic representations of nerves, muscles, and the rest. Brett mentions but five senses in Nervous System, and despite incorporating anatomical terms such as esophagus and rectum, Digestive System sticks to poop for references to solid waste. Still, these easily comprehensible but not simplistic presentations not only offer lessons on biology that are well pitched to the intended audience—they also include helpful remarks about, for instance, safety gear and even smoking and alcohol or drug abuse. VERDICT Useful additions.

ea vol: 32p. (Let’s Find Out). further reading. glossary. index. websites. Britannica Educational. 2015. lib. ed. $23.45.

Gr 2-4 –These mediocre introductions to major (nonreproductive) body organs pair dryly generalized descriptions of anatomical structures and their functions with a mix of often drably colored graphic images and obviously posed photos of young people coughing, playing sports or taking part in some other relevant activity. Though each volume closes with remarks on the benefits of healthy behavior and habits, each also includes one or more potentially disquieting chapters on diseases and disorders. Aspects of these books are sure to leave readers confused, such as a bald statement in Eyes that “Eye color is different for every person” and a schematic picture in Heart that could be construed as depicting capillaries and veins as the same size. Stomach includes a chapter on animal digestion that seems to be filler, as other volumes stick to human anatomy. The back matter includes adequate resource lists, but no review or study questions. VERDICT Lackluster additions.

Gr 2-4 –For the most part, the plant-based projects in each of these collections range from badly designed to outright dangerous. In Living Environment, for example, testing the effects of heat on seeds requires labeling, moving, and then regularly topping off a jar of boiling water (though Higgins does advise adult supervision). Elsewhere, pinecones are labeled as “seeds,” no advice is offered for digging up dandelions without damaging the roots, and children with pollen allergies are invited to “substitute the lily for a bowl filled with baking powder” rather than the other way around. Experiments with Pollination contains a nonsensical claim that “a seed will form only if pollen from the same types of flowers join.” Each volume ends with an arbitrary piece of the scientific method. The closing lists of print and web resources are adequate. VERDICT Not recommended.

Gr 4-6 –Readers who aren’t anxious about the environment will be after reading these alarmist screeds. Each volume surveys a natural resource that has been threatened by human use or overuse with consequences that range from species extinctions and public health hazards to globe-spanning climate change. Each ends with vague guidelines for more responsible behavior, such as turning off electric lights and using less plastic. Photos of dead fish, oil-soaked sea life, and fields of brightly colored industrial slime reinforce the message. Along with misleading generalizations, such as a claim in Endangered Energy that 300 million years ago Earth “was mostly covered by swamps,” the authors make some terrifying but debatable assertions: for instance, over the past 150 years we have changed our planet’s oceans “forever” and that even that today “all living beings are at risk” from misuse of fossil fuels. The copyediting isn’t topflight either. VERDICT Despite the flaws, these issues are important, and even if these introductions are stronger on general concepts than specific facts, they should stimulate enough concern to fuel further inquiry.

Gr 2-4 –Covering the same concepts in similar, often identical, language these surveys describe the places in selected food chains and webs that producers, herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, and decomposers occupy. Specific examples change from volume to volume, at least, and though the illustrations are a bit staid, the quality of the photography is excellent. But efforts to simplify the overall picture for younger readers result in misleading statements, such as the confusingly unamplified qualification in Pond Food Chains that algae “aren’t actually plants.” Characterizing red algae in Tide Pool Food Chains as “plantlike organisms,” again without explanation, is no real improvement. Likewise, visual simplification causes inconsistencies in the summary food web charts. VERDICT Angela’s Royston’s simpler Food Chains and Webs (Heinemann, 2014) for the lower ranges of the intended audience, and PowerKids’ own 2002 “Library of Food Chains and Food Webs” for the upper, are better alternatives.

Grades 5 & Up

Gr 5-8 –Serving as solid alternatives to relevant volumes of Chelsea House’s “Deadly Diseases and Epidemics” series for younger or less-able readers, these profiles focus on the appearances of selected pandemics through history and the development of effective treatments, from vaccines to public health measures. Aside from the cover photos for Smallpox and The Plague, the overall approach downplays scary pathological specifics in favor of thrilling notes, such as a reference in Smallpox to “insectpox, which melts the insides of caterpillars. Sometimes the pox of other animals can also infect humans.” Influenza includes a useful overview of how viruses in general work, and in Cholera, Grayson-Jones points to climate change as a major risk factor. Many of the photos are generic space-fillers, but time lines, side discussions, and adequate leads to further information provide helpful enhancements. VERDICT Suitable additions.

Gr 5-8 –Framing much of her narrative through leading or open-ended questions, Chambers surveys ways in which human industry, agriculture, and technology are changing the composition of our planet’s atmosphere, strewing land and sea with waste products and, at least potentially, upsetting natural balances. Each volume breaks down the topic into separately considered parts, followed by a summary chapter and, along with standard back matter, a pleasantly challenging quiz. Frequent sidebars throughout offering closer examinations of particular issues, eyewitness or expert commentary, profiles of scientists, and “Hero or Villain?” counterpoints join well-chosen photos and other illustrations. VERDICT Readers studying climate change, pollution, natural catastrophes and related subjects will find these studies low on definitive answers, but rich in points to ponder.

Despite lacking leads to further sources of information for their respective topics, the latest sheaf of “Science Readers” continues to uphold Teacher Created Materials’ high standards for visual appeal and richness of content. Both Lerner’s “First Step Nonfiction—Pollination” and Capstone’s “First Facts: Your Body Systems” will likewise provide valuable support for both classroom units and individual study. Older students will come away with solid groundings on a range of medical and public health issues related to some of the “Deadliest Diseases of All Time” (Cavendish Square). The other series, with noted exceptions, make useful additions to support collection strengths or fill subject gaps.