ARCTIC A TO Z

This entry in a limited series that offers surveys of various topics in abecedarian form focuses on the adaptations that allow the people, animals and plants that make their home in the Arctic to survive, as well as on the natural phenomena that make this such a special place, from the Aurora Borealis to zooplankton. The strongest of the three titles, it defines new words, explains concepts and provides word pronunciations within the text, accompanied by stunning photographs. The length of each gloss—two to three densely set paragraphs—skews the book to older elementary students, but adept caregivers can make the photos work with younger audiences. Birds A to Z, by Chris G. Earley and Robert McCaw (ISBN: 978-1-55407-554-6; PB: 978-1-55407-500-3), presents a variety of North American birds and information that ranges from their songs and plumage to the food they eat and their adaptations; Stephen A. Marshall’s Insects A to Z (ISBN: 978-1-55407-555-3; PB: 978-1-55407-503-4), while the most visually striking, is textually the weakest of the three. (Nonfiction. 8-12)