Gr 4-6A flashy, colorful set of books with numerous die-cut pages, transparencies, fold-outs, and reusable stickers. All of the titles feature short text, lots of full-color illustrations, informative captions, and sidebars. The spiral bindings are enclosed in a standard spine, making the books easy to label and attractive to shelve. Architecture begins with simple shelters, progresses to the classical world's constructions, medieval castles and cathedrals, Japanese paper houses, bridges, London's Crystal Palace, skyscrapers, and Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater. Moviemaking covers the development of motion pictures from stills, the invention of talkies and technicolor, Hollywood, competition from television, special effects and animation, and notable people, such as Chaplin and Eisenstein. Flight starts with the dream of flight and flying animals and continues with kites, gliders, balloons and dirigibles, the invention of airplanes, the Wright Brothers, early flying aces, warplanes, and how navigational systems work. Wind discusses the atmosphere, clouds, different kinds of precipitation, rainbows and mirages, weather systems and storms, climates, and forecasting the weather. None of the books goes into great depth, but all have small, useful tidbits of information scattered throughout. Occasionally, simplification of the topics results in some strange wording: e.g., drag is explained by saying that "air tries to pull the plane backward," and light is compared to "millions of tiny balls," which may be misleading to beginners. Nonetheless, due to their format, style, and appealing topics, these books are sure to be popular.Jeffrey A. French, Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library
