Roots (Plant Parts)
These books discuss the purpose of each featured part, its diversity among various types of plants, and its function as food for humans. Each spread has a clear color photo that covers a strip of the left-hand page as well as the entire right side. The illustrations are particularly interesting because of their varying perspectives, some taken at ground level, other reaching upward to the soaring heights of treetops. The texts consist of two easy sentences per spread. Some of the explanations are unnecessarily simplified, and the science suffers a bit. In Stems, for example, the text misleadingly says Leaves make food out of sunlight, without mentioning water and minerals. As indicated in a note to parents and teachers, these books are designed to provide reading practice as well as subject knowledge and specific vocabulary. --School Library Journal; Vol. 53, No. 1; Page 112, January 2007The Plant Parts series consists of six books titled Roots, Seeds, Flowers, Fruits, Stems, and Leaves. The books are aimed at the very earliest readers, from prekindergarten through grade 2. The sentences are very short with a limited vocabulary, in the face of which the factual presentaiton is nonetheless very nicely done. Each page of text is paired with a full-page photo. The photos are beautiful and aptly illustrate the text. Most of the photos use subjects that would be quickly recognized by the reader; for example, Fruits has excellent photos of apples, kiwis, and peaches, while Roots has equally excellent photos of radishes, carrots, and turnips. The photos add to the appeal of the book and probably help early readers recognize words. Each books has a glossary, an index, and a list of further readings. In addition, reference is made to a child-friendly search engine that would be useful to children at the upper edge of the target audience. Used as a set, these books give a good, age-appropriate introduction to plants and would be useful in a classroom setting or in early childhood-oriented garden programs. They are not hands-on science books, but it is easy to imagine activities that would nicely complement their text. --Science Books & Films; Vol. 43, No. 2; Pages 82-83, March 2007This new series is an excellent introduction to the parts of a plant. Focusing on just one plant part in each book, the opening chapters present clear and simple explanations of why plants need that particular part to grow and flourish. Succeeding chapters discuss the varieties of that plant part found in nature. The full-page photographs beautifully illustrate the books subjects. Whereas most of the definitions in the glossaries are appropriately worded for young children, some younger readers may need additional help. Also included are instructions for finding relevant Internet sites through FactHound, a very attractive, fun, and easy-to-use Web site that suggests pre-selected, age-appropriate Internet resources. In addition to very effectively supporting science standards related to the identification of plant parts, the books features can also be used to teach about the parts of a book. Young readers will certainly enjoy using these attractive, accurate, and carefully designed books. Bibliography. Glossary. Index. Recommended. --Library Media Connection; Vol. 25, No. 7; Page 67, April 2007