Cuba

Exploring Countries: Cuba is a level 5 book from the Blastoff! Readers series. Level 5 is designed for readers who have learned to read and are transitioning to a focus on comprehension of the text. This nonfiction text includes the usual components of nonfiction: title page, table of contents, glossary, index, pagination, bold text, and charts, graphs, “Fun Facts”, and inserts sprinkled throughout. In addition, there is a “Fast Facts” section in the back of the book that contains information about Cuba such as the capital, natural resources, language, monetary system, and other basic yet pertinent facts about the country. There is also a short bibliography and directions for using Fact Surfer to find additional web resources about Cuba. The Blastoff! Readers seem to be hooked on the Fact Surfer search engine, providing the reader instructions for finding out additional information about the book’s topic. There’s no apparent way to find out who is behind the creation of the engine or any additional information about its purpose. Unfortunately, there’s nothing special about this search engine; NetTrekker is a better choice. The photographs within the book are colorful and engaging. The text is at a level which is difficult enough to render the Level 5 entries too advanced to be included in an ER collection but is clear enough for upper elementary grades. It is factual, concise, and a good addition to the elementary nonfiction collection.