Death Valley

The evocative cover photos on these books in the National Park Explorers series will draw children right in. And once inside, they will be delighted by all the many photos, which are especially crisp, inviting, and often intriguing. Each book in the series showcases key elements of the landscape, the flora and fauna, and special features of each park. Death Valley is introduced as one of the hottest places on earth. Although the best time to come is between October and April, the park remains open in the summer. However, if you come then, don't forget the map and water! Though the text is short, it is informative, making these titles useful as well as beautiful. Consider pairing with Steven P. Medley's Antelope, Bison, Cougar: A National Park Wildlife Alphabet Book (2001) or Maud Lienard's Search and Find National Parks (2014) for even more sights and activities.--Cooper, Ilene Copyright 2016 Booklist

K-Gr 3-Dramatic photo covers and gorgeous full-page photographs entice even the youngest students to explore the beauty and unique geography of each park. Age-appropriate text is limited to about two to three sentences, augmented by photo captions, per page. Topics include an introduction to the park, its geography and geology, interesting plants and unique animals, and fun activities for visitors. The only minor weakness is an occasional photo that is poorly matched to the text or inadequately captioned, such as the industrial kilns and borax works in Death Valley. These books capture the splendor and majesty of some of our most-visited national parks, and their focus on natural scenes and plants and animals allow them to do double duty as geography and nature books. They are suitable for reading aloud or independent reading. VERDICT For all elementary collections. © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.