Age 04-08. 2 Stars. In this story a young boy walking home from school, and on seeing a simple horse and cart, embellishes it in his mind…. Unfortunately, the story opens with the boy’s father admonishing him against lying, and when he arrives home his father’s quelling response keeps the boy from sharing his story…. The tall tale is wonderful, but the dynamic between father and son isn’t one I want to have emulated in our family.

Age 04-08. 2 Stars. Another of the My Body Science series, this one is also a disappointment…. The entertainment value of the gross factor is the only thing going for this book, and the main text will bore the crowd that gets excited about that.

Age 04-08. 2 Stars. This picture-book biography presents the major events of his life with Demi’s characteristically beautiful illustrations…. Young children will probably be unable to separate the spiritual aspects of the story from the qualities that earned Ghandi’s reputation as a “Great Soul.” Our family will have to wait until a later, more sophisticated age to introduce this important human figure to our children.

Age 00-04. 2 Stars. Young children are fascinated with the aspects of their body which they are not allowed to talk about, and this book attempts to bring a lighthearted, scientific understanding to this oft-overlooked body part. However, the artwork is below mediocre, the text is unexciting, and there are better books that cover this topic without being boring.

Age 12-16. 2 Star. A riveting, can’t-put-it-down story of a boy’s survival in the Canadian wilderness for two months, after crash-landing a small plane when the pilot dies of a heart attack. Very well written, this could be a modern Robinson Crusoe story with a protagonist young enough for its target age to identify with…. Although it is memorably well-written, the sub-plot of parental infidelity and the unbiblical perspective on humanity’s place in the created order disqualify this story from our home library.