For the parent or teacher that is looking for books about animals for beginning readers, Animals Around the World: Asia is a great introductory series about fascinating animals throughout the world. The six-set series focuses on the animals of Asia, with one book each about Orangutans, Giant Pandas, Komodo Dragons, Pangolins, Bengal tigers, and Yaks.

These books are library-bound, nonfiction, and are labeled EZ Readers. They have helpful tips for reading nonfiction with beginning readers, including a discussion about what a nonfiction book is, and the parts of a nonfiction book the reader might find, such as an index, photographs, and charts.

The primary text of each book, written by Carol Kline, focuses on one animal, and every book includes similar basic facts. The books cover information that a young child might want to know about an animal, such as their physical characteristics, habitat, and diet, even how many babies they have at one time. For instance, pangolins dig for ants, and yak horns are longer than the reader’s arm. The books are full of beautiful photographs of the animals eating, sleeping, and playing with their young, and help make the book very engaging.

At the end of each book, the reader finds a few sections that present much of this same information in a reference format. There is a map of Asia with specific areas the animal habitats colored in. There is a bullet point list of Interesting Facts, and a list of the Parts of the Animal, such as claws, teeth, fur and tail, and each part is described in look, size, or use. Then there is also a Glossary and Index. The Further Reading lists a couple of books to read for more information, and “On the Internet” was of particular interest. It includes a few links to follow for videos, sound clips, and more information. For example, there were great links to a live panda cam and to listen to the calls of the orangutan. This is an excellent feature to help children enjoy exotic animals and see how they live. It will require the help of an adult since the target audience of the book might still need guidance when using the internet, but it is an effective way to show wise use of technology. The only downside to this feature is that links change so often that they may not always be active.

The series is recommended for about Grade 2, and that is accurate if the reader is still a beginning reader. Advanced readers would need more challenging material. The text is limited, with only a few short sentences per page, so it should not overwhelm the new reader, and it can hold the interest of younger children as a read-aloud. Overall, this is a nice set of beginning readers.

-Product review by Brittney Rutherford, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, August 2019