A fanciful series of poems all centered around the theme of a circus, from the viewpoint of the circus chef.  The illustrations are equally fanciful, well-matched in style to the text.  Though the poems may be a bit inconsistent, the delights outnumber the duds, and the individual poems are tied together at the end with the final two poems working to connect the others into a comprehensive story.

I confess that my review may perhaps be a bit biased, as I am not naturally inclined to approve of authors who take advantage of copyright holdings to use the characters and style of a deceased author to carry on adding to a series of books without the input of the original author.  This story is a rather pedantic story with an obvious mission: namely to encourage children to recognizing the abilities, rather than the disabilities of kids in wheelchairs.  It lacks the humor of the original stories, in which George’s curiosity lands him into some kind of disaster. There’s nothing bad about this story, but there’s nothing exceptional about it either.

In simple text, supported by color photos, this book does an adequate job of describing different kinds of currency, including cash, checks, and credit cards.  It points out the historical use of shells and stones and beads and beans to serve the same purpose. It explains that most countries have their own kinds of currency, and goes into details describing the different bills and coins of American currency.  It ends with a final “chapter” about using money wisely, discussing the differences between needs and wants, and encouraging the wisdom of avoiding debt.  It’s fine for what it is, but given that it’s intended for early readers, the simplicity of the text limits the depth of the information.

It’s got a sturdy binding, and it does a decent job of clearly and accurately defining a circle, providing lots of color photos of real-world examples, with the circles brightly highlighted.  The examples are ones small children will easily recognize:  wheels on a car, pizza, hula-hoops, etc. But really, how much is there to say about circles?  It seems a bit pricey to spend over $100 and invest the shelf space to buy 6 different books to describe 6 different shapes.  If you’ve got the room and the dough, this series at least doesn’t seem to erroneously include incorrect examples (including spheres with circles, for example).  What I would be particularly curious to know is whether the rectangle book includes squares, as it should, and whether the hexagon and triangle books are careful to include non-regular shapes.

Illustrated by somewhat cartoonish water colors, this picture book biography of our third president is suitable for all ages.  Returning often to Jefferson’s love of farming and making things grow, this book draws many parallels between this passion of his and how it influenced his many roles in government.  From planting the first seeds of independence as author of the Declaration of Independence, to growing America’s economy and sharing it’s natural riches with the world, while seeking new varieties abroad, as minister to France; from his experiments and inventions in support of agriculture, to doubling the size of the young nation with the Louisiana Purchase and the exploration, everything is presented as different manifestations of the same theme of nurturing and seeking growth, sprinkled with quotes of his own writing throughout the illustrations.  An end-note does share the controversial contradiction of his role as slave-owner who declared, “all men are created equal,” without trying to justify or explain it away — simply recognizing it as another facet of this complex man, leaving the judgments to the reader.

The illustrations are cute, photos of 3-D scenes created with toys and miniatures, the main character a hand-made sock bunny, whose expressions are drawn with marker on face swatches that get switched between photos. The scenarios in the books (mom insisting that bunny get ready, and bunny fulling intending to, but continually distracted by the events of his imagination) are certainly situations young children would relate to.  But intended for the very youngest, I fear the book will find limited audience in school settings.

A solid little non-fiction beginning reader.  On the one hand, the topic may seem more suited to older students, while the text and format are definitely targeting beginning readers, but it will still have its uses as a beginning introduction to civics in the United States.  Where as some beginning readers tend to over-simplify information for the sake of simplifying the text, this one manages to convey a clear and concise explanation of the three branches of the Federal Government, explaining the division of power, and the ways the power of each branch is limited by the others.  The text is limited to 1-3 sentences per page, well-supported by relatively up-to-date color photos.  Though it certainly doesn’t go into great depth, it does capture the basics.

A good, solid little beginning chapter book.  It doesn’t sacrifice character development or believability for the sake of simplicity.  The main character is part of a group who volunteers each Saturday at their local pet shelter, and at the beginning of this tale some newly rescued dogs from Puerto Rico have arrived, seeking homes.  Suzannah and her team each get to name one of the new arrivals, and help prepare them for adoption.  As the only member of her squad who doesn’t have her own pet at home, Suzannah is faced with the conflicting feelings of wanting her favorite to find a good home, but also not wanting to give her up.  Meanwhile, at school, her class is planning a pet day as  all her classmates write stories about their pets and plan to bring them to school to show off.  Again feeling like the only one who doesn’t have her own pet (although she comes to learn she’s not alone), Suzannah chooses to share Paloma’s story.  I think the characters in this book and the feelings/problems they face will be things that readers will really relate to.

Intended as an early-reader non-fiction piece, it does an adequate job of providing some basic information about desert conditions and about how plants and animals adapt to those harsh conditions.  It did a good job of clarifying that the distinctive characteristic of a desert is its lack of precipitation, not its heat, drawing distinctions between hot, cold, and polar deserts.  It provided a decent world map, showing locations of different types of deserts.  I just wish it had done a better job of providing pictorial support when listing types of plants and animals that are likely to be very unfamiliar to most American children.

All-around a rather awkward tale.  It’s more or less told in rhyme, but the rhythm of the rhyme is inconsistent and difficult to read fluently.  The artwork appears to be trying to invoke traditional Russian folk art, except it includes modern-day cars.  It seems to imply that he somehow uses his ladder to fling himself up and over the road way to reach the cherry tree he wants to harvest, but the illustrations make in unclear exactly how that supposedly happened.  Then, for some reason, after collecting his cherries, he forgets to use his original technique to cross the road, instead walking out into on-coming traffic and getting hit and smashed to bits.  His wife attempts to put all his disembodied bits back together, but he goes home with parts in all the wrong places, ending with what is supposed to be the clever remark that, “As for Ivan…he’s beside himself.” The whole thing seems rather pointless and difficult to follow.

It’s okay.  Advertised on the back flap is another book entitled, “The Problem with Not Being Scared of Monsters,” and perhaps this book would be better as a companion to the other, but as a stand-alone story it leaves me a bit flat.  Most pages consist of one sentence describing some failure or another of monsters trying to make friends with kids who are cowering in fear or running away, until at the end they meet one boy who isn’t scared, so they have no problem.  I’m guessing I might like the other book better, as there is a distinctive twist on the usual expectation that most kids are scared of monsters, and as I said, as a companion this might work.  But since I don’t think most of us have any expectation that monsters are afraid of kids, this book lacks the same twist.  It’s not bad; it’s just not particularly compelling.

Too often our students’ understanding of the civil rights movement is limited to the big names of Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and maybe Ruby Bridges.  This would be a solid addition to any library collection to broaden the picture we offer our students.  Told from the perspective of a young boy reminiscing about his father’s store, this book tells about Harlem’s National Memorial African Bookstore, and the roll it played as a community gathering place.  It also stresses the importance of spreading knowledge through literacy and discussions to empower people to bring about change.  The end papers and the main body of the text are sprinkled with words of wisdom from a man who had little formal schooling himself but knew the power of learning.

A solid little book that pacts a reasonable amount of information into the constraints of an early reader, clearly outlining the distinguishing characteristics between two easily confused animal groups.  Before reading this, I couldn’t have told you what the difference was, but now I know.  The book addresses traits such as size, tails, noses, family behavior, and intelligence.  It also offers a map showing regions in which both types of animals live, and discusses the relationship both have to humans as fellow primates.  It’s got a solid binding, all the usual non-fiction text features, and color illustrations that support the text.

Yes, the photos are “super cute!” just as the cover proclaims.  And as a beginning reader, it has a certain draw, as it only has a sentence or two per page, supported by the photos.  But because it is an early reader, the information it provides is minimal.  Although, hey, I did learn that a baby giraffe is taller than me when it’s born.  That was interesting.  And it does have a good sturdy binding.

Beautiful color photos illustrate this scientific success story of bringing back this species of monkeys from approaching extinction to a viable population.  Crossing fifty years of concern and study and attempts and failures and more attempts, the book teaches about the needs of golden lion tamarins, about the growth of environmental science, about the interrelationship between animals and their environments, and about how humans can impact that relationship, both for ill and for good.  It honestly shares the complexities of trying to release animals born in captivity into the wild. It’s a book to inspire.

Wow! Fabulous! Amazing! Totally cool! Every library should have this book.  It is basically a history of our understanding of our place in the universe.  The main story is told in first person, from the perspective of the collective human race, beginning with the earliest observations seeming to indicate the earth was flat and the sky a dome above.  It continues on, explaining how further observations led to more and more complex models of the universe, and in so doing shows how knowledge comes to be, as something that grows rather than something stagnant.  On every page, captioned diagrams, photos, and illustrations help to explain the thinking of the times.  It ends not with our current understanding of the universe, but with the questions still to be answered.  It’s a beautiful book, sure to spark curiosity and wonder.

Informative blurbs at the beginning and the end of the book tell about the man who was Davy Crockett, and about the time period in which he lived, and how legends grew out of the truth of the time.  Sandwiched between these blurbs is a tall tale describing how Davy wrestled to the death a gator who was longer than two steam ships, and had been terrorizing the Mississippi River until he met his match in Davy.  It’s a great example of voice, being told in a folksy drawl that sounds like an old-timer rocking on a front porch somewhere telling the tale, full of colloquialisms that suit the era.

Very readable.  Very informative.  Does a good job of recognizing many ways in which the roll of president was shaped by George Washington, and many ways in which the young country was still feeling it’s way at the time of his presidency.  We so often hear in today’s politics people arguing about what the “founding fathers” believed, but this book does a good job of illustrating how much disagreement their was among the founding fathers, and showing that George Washington purposely set out to make sure he would hear from opposing sides before making his own decisions:  the idea of the President having a cabinet of advisers was not in the Constitution, but was instituted by Washington, and has continued ever since, for this purpose.

Okay, I can’t say I’m a fan of encouraging students to think they can wait to the last minute to do their homework, and many of the projects suggested are really more activities than experiments, but they’re still (mostly) good activities, with solid science behind them, and the section after each activity where it lists ideas to, “Keep Exploring — If You Have More Time!” really do offer solid experimentation ideas to extend the initial activities. Also, even though the series is arranged around biomes, and this one claims to explore Temperate Forests, most of the activities are really applicable to anywhere one finds deciduous trees, not necessarily forests.

A good, solid biography of Columbus, it neither glorifies nor vilifies the explorer.  In addition to sharing the facts of Columbus’s life and adventures, it shares many of the misconceptions that have surrounded the explorer, debunks them.  But it does so in a very balanced approach: while shooting down the notions that Columbus “discovered” America, or proved the world was round, and acknowledging his mistakes and failings and cruelties, it also recognizes his talents as a navigator and the lasting impact he had on bringing Europe and the Americas together.

This is not a stuffy science book that’s getting weighed down with such things like the scientific process or school-like topics in which to organize the projects.  This is just science for the fun of it.  All the projects use simple-straightforward materials easily found.  The directions are easy-to-follow and not terribly time-consuming.  There are “icky explanations” offered for each project that explain the underlying science or broader applications.  But mostly they just look fun.  Entertainment for the scientifically minded.

A good beginning text about the Navy Seals in Spanish.  The text is limited to 1-2 sentences per two-page spread, accompanied by large, full-color photos that support the text.  The information is simple and straightforward.  Though the text is limited, the information is solid, although admittedly, more of an introductory text to spark curiosity rather than truly quench one’s thirst for knowledge.

La Llorona is a famous Mexican legend, and is a worthy selection to be included in school libraries, and if your library already has other versions, this one would make a reasonable addition for offering different versions of the same story.  In particular, this one is useful in introducing students to reading script formats.  But if you are only going to have one version of the folktale in your library, I wouldn’t recommend this be the one, as the script version can be a bit confusing, with sometimes Older David speaking as narrator, as he tells the story as a memory, and sometimes Younger David speaking within the memory.  And it’s got a story within a story, which is another useful literary device for teaching, but in combination with everything else going on in this story, it just adds to the muddled feeling of the retelling.

It’s a worthy topic, and the collection of photographs brings it to life, making it real for students.  I just wish the writing was stronger.  It’s adequate.  All the facts are presented.  I just wished they had been strung together more coherently, to actually make a story of the events.  It’s like they were constructing the text to fit the formatting (it all fits very nicely into outlined text boxes, with titles over each paragraph), instead of designing the formatting to enhance the story.

It’s your basic don’t-give-up-on-your-dreams story, in Spanish.  Santiago dreams of becoming a performer, but at the audition for the school play he freezes.  When he confesses to his dad that he didn’t get the part, dad tells him not to give up on his dreams, so he keeps practicing on his own time, which makes him ready to jump in and save the day when the lead in the play is suddenly ill.  It’s fine.  It’s a good little story, with a good message. Just perhaps a bit of a cliche.