Kerplunk! (Spyglass Books, Life Science)

Children's Literature

The attractive and informative books in the "Spyglass Books" series that focuses on life science, earth science, and physical science follow a similar format. They open with a table of contents page and then move right into the subject. Each chapter or section features a heading in large type; words that are defined in the glossary are printed in bold. The text consists of mostly declarative sentences, but the pictures on the opposing pages often pose a question that is answered in the inset box. For example, "The young dragonflies live in water until they become adults and grow wings." The Did You Know box notes "Young dragonflies breathe in the water using gills." The photographs are all labeled and appropriate to the content. The text is simple, since these books are aimed at readers in grades 1 and 2. At the end of the text there is an activity or list of fun facts. In this case after learning the types of animals that inhabit a pond, kids also learn that dragonflies can't fly when their wing muscles are cold. The bolded words are defined; there is a resource list with a few references, which are reasonably current; a reference to a web site followed by an index and brief introduction to the author. 2002, Compass Point Books,
— Marilyn Courtot