Big-Animal Vets!

November 1, 2015

Gr 5-9-This informative set immerses students in various STEM-related careers, both familiar and lesser-known. After a preliminary "Action!" chapter introduces readers to the field, each volume subsequently and thoroughly addresses educational requirements ("The Scientists and Their Science"), equipment ("Tools of the Trade"), and examples ("Tales from the Field" and "Scientists in the News"). Text-dependent questions and critical thinking activities conclude each chapter. The scientists are depicted as real-life superheroes, and their prowess is reflected in the graphics, which include comic book lettering and sidebars in the shape of speech bubbles. Although rich in content and design, the series is not without fault: a few incorrect examples-it was Louis Leakey, not Richard, whose illness resulted in his wife's solo outing and subsequent discovery of a hominid skull fragment; the goldsmith in the Archimedes gold crown myth tried to pass silver off as gold, not "some of the gold off as silver"-mar the set. VERDICT Despite a few blemishes, this is first-rate nonfiction for educational or recreational reading.

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