Airedale to Zuchon: dogs from A to Z

K-Gr 2-Nonfiction alphabet books often struggle to deliver content within the prescribed format. Such is the case with these collections of arbitrary facts. Adventurous, the least problematic work, is a compilation of character traits. The adjectives included ("Anxious," "Jovial," "Xenomaniac") will be excellent word-wall contributions and will be helpful in student writing. Alcatraz is the weakest title; it features buildings, landforms, countries, and cities, with no scheme clarifying the different kinds of places. There is no map to identify the locations. Airedale provides scant information on the ever-popular topic of dog breeds, outlining average height and weight, and giving facts on other physical characteristics, history, or roles. All of the books provide one or two facts per page plus one additional "guess what?" tidbit. Letters are clearly displayed in the corners of pages, and ample color photographs support the texts. As tools for gaining fluency in reading, these books are serviceable, but coverage is disappointing.-Gloria Koster, West School, New Canaan, CT (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

This superficial presentation introduces twenty-six dog breeds (one for each letter of the alphabet). Each dog gets its own page, which includes height and weight stats, a photo, two or three sentences of text (usually concerning physical traits), and a "Guess What?" fact bubble. It's difficult to determine scale from the cropped photos. Glos. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

K-Gr 2—Nonfiction alphabet books often struggle to deliver content within the prescribed format. Such is the case with these collections of arbitrary facts. Adventurous, the least problematic work, is a compilation of character traits. The adjectives included ("Anxious," "Jovial," "Xenomaniac") will be excellent word-wall contributions and will be helpful in student writing. Alcatraz is the weakest title; it features buildings, landforms, countries, and cities, with no scheme clarifying the different kinds of places. There is no map to identify the locations. Airedale provides scant information on the ever-popular topic of dog breeds, outlining average height and weight, and giving facts on other physical characteristics, history, or roles. All of the books provide one or two facts per page plus one additional "guess what?" tidbit. Letters are clearly displayed in the corners of pages, and ample color photographs support the texts. As tools for gaining fluency in reading, these books are serviceable, but coverage is disappointing.—Gloria Koster, West School, New Canaan, CT