I love the illustrations:  they evoke the time period well and draw the reader in.  Unfortunately, the writing doesn’t live up to the illustrations.  The story is not told very well, and this reader was left wondering why I’m supposed to care about this particular bit of obscure American history. Questions are left unanswered.  After the big build up of acquiring the locomotive and explaining its purpose, it says it went three miles on its first run and had to turn around because there was a bridge it couldn’t fit under, but it never says whether they resolved that problem or not, whether it ever actually served its intended purpose or not.

In rhyming verse, this tells the story of a boy who likes to explore. When his mother protests his tendency to bring bugs home, he brings a mouse home instead.  As mom continues to protest, he continues to escalate, bringing home a pig a moose, an elephant, and a whale.  In the end mom decides bugs aren’t so bad after all.  The illustrations are cute, the story is one that will make kids giggle (even if it never does explain where he acquires his pig and elephant, etc.); it would likely have earned an R* if the rhythm of the poem read a little more smoothly.

A young rabbit who’s nervous about his upcoming baseball tryouts listens to his dad’s stories about what he and his friends did for luck when he was a boy.  On the way to tryouts, young Luis stops at the market and enjoys a free sample on offer, and does really well.  The stops at the market become part of his routine at the beginning of a very successful season, but one day when there are no samples left, he seems to lose his mojo, and becomes superstitious that his luck is dependent upon his pre-game snacks.  His dad assures him that success comes from listening to your coach and working hard, but young Luis is not convinced until the very end, when he concentrates and hits the ball even though he didn’t stop at the market.  It may come across a wee bit preachy, but it gets its message across.

I very nearly gave this a “recommended.”  The riddles are generally quite clever (all school themed, as the title indicates), and these types of play on words are good for developing children’s vocabulary.  The reason I hesitate is based on bang for one’s library buck — given the cost of reinforced library binding, I’d like to see more than 20 jokes in the entire book — but if you can afford it, it is a fun book.  I do however disagree with the publisher’s target audience.  They list it with a reading level of K-1 and an interest level of PreK-2.  Though preschoolers do tend to show an interest in the concept of riddles, they rarely “get” them, and it would take a very advanced kindergartener to read this.  I would suggest it for grades 2-5.

It’s charming.  The text is simple — one sentence per page, arranged in rhyming pairs, all starting with “I see…”  It lists all the things one might see around them to indicate the season is fall (both in nature and in society), a good tool for young classes studying the seasons.  The color palette reflects the season, and the illustrations both support the text and charm the reader.

I’m afraid I didn’t like it as much as I hoped to, given that it was by Patricia Reilly Giff.  It’s one of those early reader books that tries to build a bridge between picture books and chapter books, about a girl and her friend who notice something new happening next door, and jump to the conclusion that a witch is building a Hansel & Gretel house.  When her dog escapes the yard, Jim & Jilli set out to rescue him from the clutches of the evil witch, but in end, they come to find out it is a school being built by a very nice teacher.  It was an adequate story, but there’s nothing about it that makes it stand out as a must-have.

Every library needs to have some books in the new-baby-joining-the-family line, for parents to help prepare big brothers and sisters.  If you’re looking for something to fill this niche, this one is adequate, though the very simple, short sentences limit the target audience to the very young.

I’ve started noticing most Bible stories have a similar look to the illustrations, and this one shares that same typical artistic style.  I found the text of the story a little stilted, lacking story-telling fluency.  It’s fine, but I think there are better options available in this line if you look harder.

If there were more jokes for your money, it would probably have gotten a “recommended” rating, but hard-back books aren’t cheap, and there’s only 20 jokes in the whole books (though I believe technically they’re actually riddles).  Most of them are really quite clever, but there are a few duds that fall flat, so you’re pretty much looking at $1 per joke.  Also, I disagree with the publishers as to the reading level & interest level.  They declare it to be a K-1 reading level, and a PreK-2 interest level; though jokes and riddles appeal to all ages, they must know some very advanced kindergartners — I feel it’s more like a 2nd grade reading level, and likely to appeal to students up to grade 5.

It’s a rather flat little story that feels like something you read as an assignment, rather than because you’ve been drawn in to care about the characters.  In the last week of the swim season, shortly before the final meet, a foreign exchange students joins the team.  As soon as the announcement is made, one of the other swimmers raises the question, “Who joins a team at the end of the season?”  And the reader never does find out the answer to that question.  When the newcomer befriends one of the team’s champs, he explains how much he wants to win a medal, as he never has before, and seeks help in training. At the last minute, the two boys find themselves competing in the same event.  It’s rather predictable and simple, and I’d probably rate it as “not recommended,” except that I do have one student who has repeatedly checked out others in this series, so I’m willing to consider it may hold some appeal for students that I just don’t see.

The chapters are short so as to not be too intimidating for young readers.  The characters are believable, and well-developed, so the reader becomes emotionally entanged The plot is gripping enough to keep the reader always wanting to read one more chapter.  The historical setting allows teaches while story-telling.  As an adult I was drawn in, and finished the book in 2 days, and learned a lot along the way, and I know I’ve got a lot of boys who are interested in war stories, so I’m looking forward to recommending this one to them.  It tells the story of a twelve-year-old boy coming of age in the midst of WWII’s Nazi-occupied France.  With his father stranded in England and his older brother in a Nazi prison, he is working to keep his mother and sister safe while also assisting the dangerous and secretive work of the underground resistance movement working to get downed airmen out of the country, under nazi noses, and back into the war effort. Along the way, he experiences personal growth as well, learning to place being proud of himself over worrying about the opinions of others.  Historical notes, timeline, and glossary in the back help place the story in historical context for students who may be unfamiliar with the time period.

To be honest, I’m not particularly a fan of the Rookie Ready to Learn series in general:  I find the activities in the back of each are often formulaic and only tenuously related to the story; each one ends by telling you someone’s version of what you just learned by reading this story (besides being patronizing, they often don’t hit the mark).  But if you do like this kind of thing, or you’re willing to ignore the extra features that don’t enhance them, the central stories are often good little stories, with redeeming qualities of their own.  This one in particular I’m afraid has little to recommend it.  It has none of the repetition or rhythm or rhyme that other books in this series have to help support emergent readers.  It does have illustrations that support the simple text.  It tells the story of a cat coming to wake up a young girl, which I guess will be content that some young children will be able to relate to, but it makes for a rather bland story.

To be honest, I’m not particularly a fan of the Rookie Ready to Learn series in general: I find the activities in the back of each are often formulaic and only tenuously related to the story; each one ends by telling you someone’s version of what you just learned by reading this story (besides being patronizing, they often don’t hit the mark). But if you do like this kind of thing, or you’re willing to ignore the extra features that don’t enhance them, the central stories are often good little stories, with redeeming qualities of their own.  This spanish language story uses lots of rhythm and repetition in the text to describe what it’s like to have a loose tooth.  Fun illustrations support the text for emergent readers.

To be honest, I’m not particularly a fan of the Rookie Ready to Learn series in general:  I find the activities in the back of each are often formulaic and only tenuously related to the story; each one ends by telling you someone’s version of what you just learned by reading this story (besides being patronizing, they often don’t hit the mark).  But if you do like this kind of thing, or you’re willing to ignore the extra features that don’t enhance them, the central stories are often good little stories, with redeeming qualities of their own.  With one to two simple sentences per page, this one outlines how life is different for a young girl after her parents divorce, listing things she does with mom, things she does with dad, and things she does with both, assuring readers that they both still love her, just like always.

To be honest, I’m not particularly a fan of the Rookie Ready to Learn series in general:  I find the activities in the back of each are often formulaic and only tenuously related to the story; each one ends by telling you someone’s version of what you just learned by reading this story (besides being patronizing, they often don’t hit the mark).  But if you do like this kind of thing, or you’re willing to ignore the extra features that don’t enhance them, the central stories are often good little stories, with redeeming qualities of their own.  This one uses simple rhyming text, supported by the illustrations, to list all the things a big brother doesn’t want to do, but he does, so that he can set a good example for his baby sister.  It’s a cute book, helpful as a tool for emergent readers.

To be honest, I’m not particularly a fan of the Rookie Ready to Learn series in general:  I find the activities in the back of each are often formulaic and only tenuously related to the story; each one ends by telling you someone’s version of what you just learned by reading this story (besides being patronizing, they often don’t hit the mark).  But if you do like this kind of thing, or you’re willing to ignore the extra features that don’t enhance them, the central stories are often good little stories, with redeeming qualities of their own.  This one is a Spanish translation of another book in the series.  In order to preserve some of the rhyme of the original, they needed to make small adjustments to the meaning, so it is not a direct translation, but it still serves the same function: to use the story of a girl’s construction of a rocket to build shape vocabulary.

To be honest, I’m not particularly a fan of the Rookie Ready to Learn series in general:  I find the activities in the back of each are often formulaic and only tenuously related to the story; each one ends by telling you someone’s version of what you just learned by reading this story (besides being patronizing, they often don’t hit the mark).  But if you do like this kind of thing, or you’re willing to ignore the extra features that don’t enhance them, the central stories are often good little stories, with redeeming qualities of their own.  This one uses rhyming, somewhat repetitive text and shape vocabulary to describe how a girl builds a rocket ship to take her to the moon.

To be honest, I’m not particularly a fan of the Rookie Ready to Learn series in general:  I find the activities in the back of each are often formulaic and only tenuously related to the story; each one ends by telling you someone’s version of what you just learned by reading this story (besides being patronizing, they often don’t hit the mark).  But if you do like this kind of thing, or you’re willing to ignore the extra features that don’t enhance them, the central stories are often good little stories, with redeeming qualities of their own.  This one uses simple, repetitive text in the form of prepositional phrases,   accompanied by illustrations that not only support the text, but expand upon it, completing the story.  Together text and illustrations describe the day of a rather forgetful and clumsy girl, from the time she leaves the house for school until she returns.  It’s a good tool for developing prepositional vocabulary, and teaching students to observe both illustrations and text to make meaning.

To be honest, I’m not particularly a fan of the Rookie Ready to Learn series in general:  I find the activities in the back of each are often formulaic and only tenuously related to the story; each one ends by telling you someone’s version of what you just learned by reading this story (besides being patronizing, they often don’t hit the mark).  But if you do like this kind of thing, or you’re willing to ignore the extra features that don’t enhance them, the central stories are often good little stories, with redeeming qualities of their own.  This one uses simple text, with some repetition, using numbers and shape vocabulary to describe a family’s selection and carving of a pumpkin, ending with the contrast of showing another pumpkin made into a pie.

To be honest, I’m not particularly a fan of the Rookie Ready to Learn series in general:  I find the activities in the back of each are often formulaic and only tenuously related to the story; each one ends by telling you someone’s version of what you just learned by reading this story (besides being patronizing, they often don’t hit the mark).  But if you do like this kind of thing, or you’re willing to ignore the extra features that don’t enhance them, the central stories are often good little stories, with redeeming qualities of their own.  This one uses repetitive, rhyming text, and a pattern of opposites, with illustrations that support the text, to suggest different types of work that people do.  One inconsistency in the artwork, not explained in the text, could provide opportunities for discussion as to possible explanations:  the ending illustrations depict the narrator of the story in a wheelchair, but earlier in the book, the page that states, “People work below my feet,” shows the narrator’s feet standing at the edge of an archeological dig.  It allows for speculation as to what might have happened to put the girl in the wheelchair, and whether or not she will need it permanently.

To be honest, I’m not particularly a fan of the Rookie Ready to Learn series in general:  I find the activities in the back of each are often formulaic and only tenuously related to the story; each one ends by telling you someone’s version of what you just learned by reading this story (besides being patronizing, they often don’t hit the mark).  But if you do like this kind of thing, or you’re willing to ignore the extra features that don’t enhance them, the central stories are often good little stories, with redeeming qualities of their own.  This one uses repetitive pattern, rhyming text to describe things balls do, and inviting the reader to count balls in certain illustrations.  The use of varied verbs will be useful for vocabulary development and grammar discussions.

To be honest, I’m not particularly a fan of the Rookie Ready to Learn series in general:  I find the activities in the back of each are often formulaic and only tenuously related to the story; each one ends by telling you someone’s version of what you just learned by reading this story (besides being patronizing, they often don’t hit the mark).  But if you do like this kind of thing, or you’re willing to ignore the extra features that don’t enhance them, the central stories are often good little stories, with redeeming qualities of their own. This one uses repetitive, rhythmic, rhyming text, supported by the illustrations to share safety tips with young children.  One concern to be prepared for is that the effort to stick with the rhyming pattern relies on some unusual use of vocabulary that may need to be discussed in order for students to understand the meaning (e.g. “Sit in your chair right, or you might get tossed”).

To be honest, I’m not particularly a fan of the Rookie Ready to Learn series in general:  I find the activities in the back of each are often formulaic and only tenuously related to the story; each one ends by telling you someone’s version of what you just learned by reading this story (besides being patronizing, they often don’t hit the mark).  But if you do like this kind of thing, or you’re willing to ignore the extra features that don’t enhance them, the central stories are often good little stories, with redeeming qualities of their own.  This one uses repetitive, rhythmic, rhyming text, and silly illustrations to tell about a disastrous attempt of a young girl to help her dad bake a cake.

To be honest, I’m not particularly a fan of the Rookie Ready to Learn series in general:  I find the activities in the back of each are often formulaic and only tenuously related to the story; each one ends by telling you someone’s version of what you just learned by reading this story (besides being patronizing, they often don’t hit the mark).  But if you do like this kind of thing, or you’re willing to ignore the extra features that don’t enhance them, the central stories are often good little stories, with redeeming qualities of their own.  This one tells of a ladybugs search for her missing spots.  It uses repetitive and rhyming text that is supported by the illustrations, and invites the reader to interact with the illustrations by helping in the search for the spots.

To be honest, I’m not particularly a fan of the Rookie Ready to Learn series in general:  I find the activities in the back of each are often formulaic and only tenuously related to the story; each one ends by telling you someone’s version of what you just learned by reading this story (besides being patronizing, they often don’t hit the mark).  But if you do like this kind of thing, or you’re willing to ignore the extra features that don’t enhance them, the central stories are often good little stories, with redeeming qualities of their own.  This one uses repetitive and predictive text that is good for emergent readers, in a counting story with opportunities for discussion of colors and animals.