What's out there? Ready? Let's go! Let's zoom into space. Let's zoom past the Moon. Let's visit the shining stars and their planets. Most stars have families of planets. The planets in a family orbit, or travel around, the star. Our Sun is a star. Earth orbits the Sun. Earth is a rocky planet. Gas planets and rocky planets orbit our Sun. They are all part of the Sun's family.
Level one readers are for beginning readers who are just beginning to learn to read for information. Level one readers consist of 200-500 words, are written in simple sentences, feature new vocabulary, contain key facts, introduce first infographics, and may mention famous people. This book on planets include a glossary and index.
Planets is a good introduction to the subject for young readers. There will be plenty more books for them to grow into as their reading skills improve year by year. The information is simple, straight-forward, and up to date. The writing style is simple, it's true, but it's not boring, in my opinion.
Here come the acrobats of our seas! With flicks of their tails, dolphins leap high into the air. Dolphins love to show off for one another. They may even do somersaults! Watch them porpoising, or jumping in arches. They race across the water.
Have you seen a bottlenose dolphin doing flips? There are 42 kinds of dolphin. Most are between 5 and 8 feet long. The orca is the biggest. It can be the size of a school bus! There are a few kinds of dolphin that live in freshwater rivers. They have long beaks. The Amazon River dolphin can be pink!
Level 2 readers are written for developing readers. Level 2 readers are much more complex: more text, harder vocabulary, longer sentences, longer paragraphs, etc.
Dolphin Dive is an interesting read. Each page is packed with information and photographs. I love the use of photographs; I think photos can definitely appeal to readers and make the book more inviting and less intimidating. Good nonfiction will almost always offer images (photos or illustrations) to draw readers in.
One interesting thing I noted about this book is that the author seems to LOVE exclamation points. I counted twenty-two exclamations! The narration is factual and enthusiastic!
Let's take a trip around the world. Let's go and see the most amazing landmarks on Earth. Landmarks are famous buildings or structures.
Level 3 Readers are for independent readers who can read fluently for information.
I like the concept of this one. But the organization could use a little help perhaps. It felt a little zig-zag, here-and-there to me. That could just be my perception.
Here are the locations "visited" on the readers' "best vacation ever!"
- Statue of Liberty
- Mount Rushmore
- Hoover Dam
- Machu Picchu
- Colosseum
- The Parthenon
- Tower of London
- Eiffel Tower
- The Great Pyramid
- Great Wall of China
- The Taj Mahal
- Sydney Opera House
- Montreal Biosphere
- McMurdo Station
- Robben Island
- Millau Viaduct
- United Nations Headquarters
- Burj Khalifa
© 2014 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
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