Published by Charlesbridge 

Summary:  Brightly colored photographs illustrate the simple text describing how air is all around us and necessary for all kinds of life.  The last several pages talk about how dirty air is unhealthy, and makes several kid-friendly suggestions (ride bikes and walk more, turn out the lights) to help clean up polluted air.  The final two pages have six questions, such as “What is air?” and “Why is clean air so important?” with a few paragraphs of information on each topic.  40 pages; ages 4-8.

Pros:  A simple and beautifully illustrated introduction to the importance of clean air in our lives.

Cons:  Trying to answer the question “What is climate change, and how is it connected to air pollution?” in two paragraphs seems overly ambitious.

Published by Candlewick Press 

Summary:  Before the title page, a boy lies on his bed, wishing he could fly.  A couple pages later, he’s in wheelchair on the beach, watching a bird called a godwit flying with his flock.  They’re heading north, on the longest migration any animal in the world makes, traveling 7,000 miles from Australia to Alaska.  It’s a perilous journey, but the godwit finally makes it.  He builds a nest and finds a mate.  Together they have four babies, only one of which survives to make the return trip with his parents.  The flock flies for nine days and nights without stopping, arriving back at the beach where the story started, and where the boy has now abandoned a set of crutches to run along the beach.  An author’s note tells more about godwits and some of the threats to their survival.  48 pages; grades K-3.

Pros:  Beautiful collage illustrations capture the various environments inhabited by this remarkable bird.

Cons:  A hungry fox eats the other three chicks.

Published by Balzer + Bray 

Summary:  Blobfish takes a book called The Deep Sea Book and turns it into The Blobfish Book.  The original is about the deepest part of the ocean, with photographs of some of the animals that live there.  Blobfish’s version has a pink cartoon of himself drawn onto the photographs, attempting to make it all about him.  Finally, the book gets to the page about blobfish, but the sentence “The blobfish was once voted the world’s ugliest animal” stops the narrator in his tracks.  Fortunately, the other sea creatures are paying attention, and they join forces to create a final page that celebrates Blobfish and cheers him up again.  Includes more facts about the deep sea and its creatures, plus a list of additional resources.   40 pages; ages 4-8.

Pros:  2016 is turning into The Year of the Blobfish…this is the second kids’ book featuring a blobfish in the last six months (see Pink is for Blobfish).  This one is a fun blend of fact and fiction, with some facts about the deepest parts of the ocean being snuck in around Blobfish’s slightly obnoxious, but always good-intentioned narration.

Cons:  The informational part is pretty slight.

Published by Orchard Books 

Summary:  20 North American birds are introduced in simple rhyming text (“Chickadee wears a wee black cap/Jay is loud and bold/Nuthatch perches upside down/Finch is clothed in gold”).  Each line of the rhyme is on a separate page with a large cut-paper illustration of the bird.  The entire text is included on two pages at the end, followed by smaller pictures and additional information about each bird, listed alphabetically.  32 pages; ages 2-5.

Pros:  Each line perfectly captures a characteristic of the bird it describes.  The illustrations are simple and bright, appealing for young kids, yet accurately depicting the bird.  Readers will be ready to head outside and look in trees and the sky for some feathered friends.

Cons:  So many birds in one place triggered a brief Alfred Hitchcock moment.