Vital Connections is an outgrowth of a symposium sponsored by the Children's Literature Center of the Library of Congress to highlight issues surrounding the use of science trade books in classrooms and libraries. The book describes the special relationship between children and science books and the way science books allow for a kind of personal growth and connection that is not possible with a basal text.

All the essential players are here: editors, educators, literature and science specialists, as well as well-known children's authors like Jean Craighead George, Patricia Lauber, and Seymour Simon.