This careful breakdown of the variety of factors that can contribute to our understanding of what community means is refreshing and much-needed. It begins with prereading activities to build on prior knowledge and introduce vocabulary terms. Suggestions for during-reading and postreading extension activities add to the pedagogic scope. The concept of a community is addressed broadly, starting with what a global community means, through infographics and data charts that break down technical information into accessible chunks. Subsequent sections address racial diversity and ways to think about the various demographic terms that define us, narrowing the focus of community at the...

It takes a lot of guts to be a war journalist, and this offering from the Beyond the Battlefield series (4 titles) profiles six groundbreaking war correspondents. Subjects include two women—Marguerite Higgins, a white American, during WWII, and white, French-born Catherine Leroy during Vietnam—as well as Sha Fei from China (the 1937 Sino-Japanese War); Vincent Ottley, an African American civil rights activist and reporter (WWII); and the well-known Hungarian American Robert Capa, (also WWII). Short chapters concentrate on wartime activities, featuring simple sentences, embedded vocabulary definitions, and archival photos, often the journalists' original work. The text also provides sufficient context...

These new picture-book biographies in the Leaders like Us series (written and illustrated by Black women) place a well-deserved spotlight on lesser-known Black Americans who were leaders in their fields. Civil rights activism, journalism, and politics are discussed in Charlotta Bass, which describes the impressive accomplishments of this Rhode Island native as she published her own newspaper for Black Americans and became a Vice Presidential nominee in 1952. Jackie Ormes introduces fashionable comics creator Ormes, who kicked stereotypes to the curb with her popular comics (the first by a Black woman to be nationally syndicated) featuring smart, successful, and attractive...

Serving in the military can extend beyond the realm of combat to many possible career paths. Grouped into broad categories, the volumes in the Careers in the US Military series reveal the wide range of aptitudes and jobs needed to keep the five branches of the military running successfully. Each book begins with a brief overview of the career type and continues with the specialized skills, training, and duties associated with five specific jobs in that area. Accompanying the accessible, upbeat text are numerous large photos of military members in action. They reflect a diverse workforce that includes women and...

Kids who have torn through dinosaur books are the ideal audience for this introduction to prehistoric sea creatures, part of the Mega-Cool Megafauna series (4 titles). Photos of fossils and illustrations of aquatic megafauna (almost all labeled) fill the splashy pages of this volume, and the array of creatures is impressive: beyond the typical plesiosaur and megalodon, this book also profiles ancient sea cows, whales, fish, and turtles that dwarf their contemporary descendants. Occasionally, the layout makes the text a bit hard to follow, and readers might need some adult help with a few confusing descriptions, but the high-interest topic...