A cutting-edge gallery of working and experimental robots, with commentary from a working cybernetics expert and side looks at robots in movies and TV.Colorful and eye-catching as the photographs are, they're crowded together on the pages in an unsystematic jumble. There are true robots—defined as machines that "think" (a term the author simplistically equates with "compute") and have at least one functional appendage—along with fictional ones, prosthetics, remote-controlled devices, mechanical toys, and purely speculative images. Readers may likewise come away with confused ideas from a commentary that slips Isaac Asimov's "Three Laws of Robotics" into an otherwise-factual overview, offers conflicting views about how well robots can dance or perform complex tasks, and includes uselessly brief descriptions of winning entries in a 2015 contest for young engineers. For a close-up look at robotics in practice, Selbe, described in the blurb as a "conservation technologist," adds a description of how he employs drones and other devices to study the Okavanga Delta in Botswana. The simultaneously publishing Everything Sports, by Eric Zweig with Shalise Manza Young, is similarly crowded.An overcompressed survey, slickly produced but too superficial to impart more than a glimpse of where the field stands or is going. (review quiz, index, resource lists) (Nonfiction. 8-11)

ZWEIG, Eric . Everything Sports . ISBN 9781426323331 . ea vol: 64p. (National Geographic Kids). further reading. glossary. illus. index. photos. websites. National Geographic . Mar. 2016. pap. $12.99. Gr 4-6 These titles are designed for casual browsers and more serious readers alike. The four chapters, introduction, and afterword offer a planned route through these ambitious overviews, while the mini-bites of information keep them friendly. Chapter 3 in Robotics , "Robo-Helpers," shows real-world robots in homes, in factories, underwater, and in outer space. A "Robotic Comparisons" spread of robot and human features ends the chapter. Chapter 2 in Sports , "Dribble, Drive, Hustle," introduces four popular sportsbasketball, baseball, hockey, and footballand closes with a photo gallery of less mainstream sports. Each volume features insights from a professional in an "Explorer's Corner" Sports offers the expertise of sports reporter Shalise Manza Young and Robotics provides knowledge from National Geographic Explorer Shah Selbe. These colorful selections are crammed with quality photos, including the dynamic full-spread images on chapter-title and closing pages. An "Interactive Glossary" in each book adds a bit of fun to learning vocabulary words with a quick related multiple-choice question after each definition. VERDICT These resources present accessible fun; both will find eager audiences. Carol S. Surges, formerly at Longfellow Middle School, Wauwatosa, WI