Tadpole Story. (Crabtree Connections). Angela Royston. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2012. 24 pp., pbk. & hc., $7.95 (pbk.), $18.36 (RLB.). ISBN 978-0-7787-7881-3 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-7859-2 (RLB.). Subject Headings: Frogs-Life cycles-Juvenile literature. Tadpoles-Juvenile literature. Kindergarten-grade 3 / Ages 5-7. Review by Courtney Novotny. **1/2 /4
	A Bean’s Life. (Crabtree Connections). Angela Royston. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2012. 24 pp., pbk. & hc., $7.95 (pbk.), $18.36 (RLB.). ISBN 978-0-7787-7862-2 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-7840-0 (RLB.). Subject Headings: Beans-Juvenile literature. Beans-Life cycles-Juvenile literature. Kindergarten-grade 3 / Ages 5-7. Review by Courtney Novotny. **1/2 /4
	One Egg. (Crabtree Connections). Louise Spilsbury. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2012. 24 pp., pbk. & hc., $7.95 (pbk.), $18.36 (RLB.). ISBN 978-0-7787-7869-1 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-7847-9 (RLB.). Subject Headings: Chicks-Juvenile literature. Eggs-Juvenile literature. Kindergarten-grade 3 / Ages 5-7. Review by Courtney Novotny. **1/2 /4

excerpt:

I am a tadpole, and I love in a pond.
One day soon I will change from a
tiny tadpole into a fully grown frog.
Then I will hop out onto the land! (From Tadpole Story.)

Thirsty plants
A plant needs water to
grow. Its roots are covered
with thin hairs that take
in water from the soil. (From A Bean's Life.)

How many in the nest?
A hen lays one egg
each day. The hen
carries on laying eggs
every day until there are
about ten eggs in the nest. (From One Egg.)

The “Crabtree Connections” series includes nonfiction books about all sorts of kid-friendly topics, from geography to science to history. The books are broken down into nine categories: information, instruction, report, persuasive, explanation, recount, biography, journalistic, and formal. This series offers a good selection of nonfiction materials for early elementary students and would prove helpful for homework assignments. These books would work well in both school and public libraries.

     Tadpole Story introduces readers to the life cycle of frogs. It covers predators, food sources, and simple anatomy of frogs.

     A Bean's Life details the life cycle of bean plants. It covers how beans are grown, dangers to plants, and explains some types of beans.

      One Egg explains the life cycle of chickens. It covers everything from the laying of the eggs, to growth inside the egg, to hatching and the chicken’s life afterwards.

      The content is simple but offers a great introduction to the various topics via age-appropriate language and format. High-interest word captions are included throughout each book and would be exciting for the fact-hungry child and add that extra touch to a school project.

      The photographs are good quality resolution and offer children the chance to view concepts up close, from tadpoles to hatching chicken eggs to sprouting plants. Some of photos could be repositioned away from the center spine of the books so that they are fully visible without bending or cracking down the book.

      Each book includes a short, but age-appropriate, glossary of important terms that are useful for reiterating and highlighting learning concepts. A short list of further reading materials (websites and books) is also included that offers immediate direction for expanded research, though including website URLs is always questionable due to the ever-changing nature of the internet. A child five years from now may pick up these books and find the URLs may be outdated.

Recommended

Courtney Novotny is a librarian-in-training and will soon receive her MLIS from the School of Library, Archival, and Information Studies at the University of British Columbia.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.

Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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