K-Gr 1- The full-color action photography is the strength of these books. Unfortunately, the weak texts give very little actual information. "Lots of people like to ride snowboards. Some grown-ups ride snowboards. Lots of kids and teenagers ride snowboards, too. People who ride snowboards are called snowboarders." "Rock climbers climb slowly. They reach up carefully. They climb higher and higher. At last they reach the top!" This information is not exactly enlightening, even for first graders. The brief glossaries (four terms each) are equally poor, with words such as "partner" and "tricks." Many better series on these subjects already exist, including "Kids' Guides" (The Child's World), "Extreme Sports" (National Geographic), and "X-treme Outdoors" (Children's Press). Stick with them, even if the reading level is a bit higher.-Kate Kohlbeck, Randall School, Waukesha, WI
