%% This is a multi-book review: SEE also the title Simple Machines. %% Ages 59. From the Starting with Science series, these books offer simple science activities in an appealing format. Each double-page spread includes an equipment list, a step-by-step procedure, an explanation, and additional information, as well as a large, colorful photo of children demonstrating the activity. Although some of the kids smile with all the self-conscious calculation of actors trying out for a toothpaste commercial, others look not only happy but also intrigued by what they're doing. Simple Machines will be a boon for the many children assigned to demonstrate machines such as levers or pulleys, and an interesting activity book for those who just happen upon it. Developed by one of the world's foremost hands-on science museums, Solids uses nifty experiments to illustrate concepts such as air pressure, condensation, and changes from liquids to solids and gasses. (Reviewed April 15, 1998)

These are engaging presentations of familiar science demonstrations, such as using levers and pulleys, making a worm farm, growing seeds, and creating condensation. Accessible designs, featuring clear, readable texts and bright, colorful photos of children performing the activities, add appeal. A boxed text explains "what's happening" in every experiment, and a note to parents and teachers concludes each book. Glos., ind.

Gr 2-4--Using primary background colors and attractive, enthusiastic children as models, the format of this series is spacious and packs visual punch. Each book contains 13 experiments that are clearly explained in the full-color photographs and step-by-step directions. The texts are set in blocks that list the materials needed, the methodology, and an explanation of the principle shown. In Simple Machines, the lever, wheel, wheel and axle, gears, pulleys, inclined plane, screw, and combinations of basic machines are explored. One activity, which involves moving a friend lying on a table by using a broomstick placed over a wooden chair as a lever and fulcrum, could be problematic. In Solids, Liquids and Gases, the properties of matter are explained using common experiments such as making ice cream. In general, safety precautions are indicated in the text or illustrated in the photographs. Expansions of each activity are included in an appendix. These lively titles are far more attractive than Anne Horvatic's Simple Machines (Dutton, 1989; o.p.) and more interactive than Michael Dahl's "Early Reader Science" series (Children's, 1996).--Kathryn Kosiorek, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Brooklyn, OH