This informational text about the Hubble Space Telescope covers how the telescope works, what missions it is has been apart of and what it is. Informational text features complement the text and add to the learning. There is even a diagram of the Hubble Space Telescope. The end of the book includes a section of books and websites to learn more about it.

The illustrations and simple text were the first things that attracted me to this book. It starts out with a view from space and the words, “The world is full of great big things:”. It goes on to show really big things: a canyon, billions of stars, the wide desert. And then it focuses on one mouse who travels throughout the book in the wind, on a massive train, through a forest, with only a crumb and at the end reaches another mouse and gives them the crumb. The message is that great big things are very small when you go through them for someone you love.

A fox sees a snowflake floating through the air and wonders what he should do because winter is coming. Each animal that the fox meets gives suggestions based on what they do to get ready for winter. The squirrel gathers, the bat hangs by its toes and goes to sleep, and the snowshoe hare turns white to match the snow. Each time the fox says, “That won’t do for me.” At the end, the fox meets another fox and they dance in the snow. The text is engaging as well as informative about animal behavior. The illustrations are beautiful and work with the text to create a soft tone reminiscent of winter snowfall.

A Nosy Fox opens a box to find robot parts inside. Different characters come along to try to make to robot work, but are not successful. “the Eager Beaver pulled the lever, the Wicked Witch flicked the switch…” After each character does something to the robot, the robot makes a noise. Finally a child comes along and takes charge, directing the animals what to do to create the robot.

The text is cumulative and rhyming. The onomatopoeia and illustrations contribute to the chaos that is going on. The confusion and chaos continues, as the last line states “and the robot went.” and he walks off into the sunset.

This text gives an overview of how chocolate is made. Two to three sentences are on a page and each two page spread includes a photograph related to the text on the page. The text includes many informational text features including words in color, a map, glossary, and an index. There is also a code for abdokids.com which has a video, activities and links to other information about how chocolate is made.

As a young girl goes over the rules and manners for attending a tea, she is continuously interrupted by a toot. They go through the suspects and the reasons why they could not of tooted. “Owls don’t toot, they hoot.” She decides to cancel her tea party since no one will tell her who keeps tooting and as she walks back to the house, she discovers that it is the teakettle. They decide to have the tea and then the young girl toots. There is an afterword about how to make tea and what to include at a tea party.

Plankton happens upon Mussel and says hello. Mussel does not reply and Plankton feels that Mussel is being rude. Plankton goes on to explain that Mussel should reply, yet Mussel remains silent further frustrating Plankton. When Mussel finally opens, Plankton can’t hear him, so he gets closer and closer until… SNAP! Mussel closes over Plankton. The entire story is told as a one sided conversation and from the point of view of Plankton. The illustrations give us clues to how Plankton is feeling.

Written in the third person point of view, The Lost Causes tells the story of five teens who are just that: lost causes. Or so their parents, teachers, and counselors describe them as such. One is a rich depressive, another has OCD, one is a hypochondriac, another a drug abuser, and there is athlete with serious anger management issues. All are chosen for intensive group therapy because other options have been exhausted. The reader is surprised when they are tapped by the FBI to help with a murder investigation and help find the killer whose grisly crime has turned their small town upside down.

The teens think they are assigned to a therapy group, but in fact, the beverage the therapist (actually an FBI agent) gives them is a dangerous serum that erases their teen past problems and unlocks a psychic ability within each of them. Suddenly, Z can hear other people’s thoughts, Andrew becomes a genius, Justin can throw people off with his mind, Gabby can see people’s past by touch, and Sabrina can see dead people. Their new powers will help them uncover clues and follow leads that have eluded the authorities. Their outsider status gives them the perfect cover.

Their earlier problems have vanished, but their new freedom comes with a price, as the same traits that make them excellent investigators also make them vulnerable. As they close in on the murderer, they expose a larger conspiracy that puts them directly in harm’s way and makes them wonder if there is anyone at all that they can trust.

The Lost Causes is a page turner that mingles science fiction with mystery, and ends with a completely unexpected cliffhanger that will leave the reader longing for a sequel.

Neal Bascomb, author of The Nazi Hunters, presents another griping true story of spies and survival as Norwegian commandos sabotage Hitler’s industrial fortress at Vemork, on a mission to prevent that Nazi’s from using their own nuclear bomb.

Using alternating perspectives of the Germans and Norwegians, Bascomb tells the story of the Nazis invasion and occupation of Norway, the martial rule they impose upon the Norwegians, and the Nazi’s production of “heavy water”, the essential ingredient for the weapon that could end World War II: Hitler’s very own nuclear bomb. The story reveals how the Allies discover the plans for the bomb, how a British operation fails to destroy Vemork, and how a band of young Norwegian commandos take on the mission. The reader is intrigued and anxious as these young men, armed only with their skis, explosives, and tremendous courage, survive months in the bitter cold wilderness, elude a huge manhunt, and carry out two dangerous missions.

This story of WWII espionage will appeal to teens who enjoy historical fiction, military works, and narrative nonfiction. Bascomb uses primary source documents including journals, diaries, and first hand interviews. He also includes photographs and maps which add authenticity and drama to this story. Teachers will appreciate the exhaustive 29 page bibliography.

One Whole and Perfect Day, written by Australian YA award winning author Judith Clark, tells the story of Lily, who wishes she could be like the other girls at school. But doesn’t know how she can be, what with her embarrassingly eccentric family, who she considers “freakish”. Lily has never even met her father, who returned to America before she was born. Lily laments that she is the only sensible person in her family, and with her home responsibilities, she doesn’t has time to hang out with friends.

Lily’s anxiety increases when her grandmother, who has an invisible friend, invites the whole family to a party. Lily doubts that they will make it through the day. She worries that her mother will bring some strange person from her work. Lily worries about what her racist grandfather might say, or how the family can attend when the grandfather has disowned her brother.

Compounding her anxiety, the day when she made eye contact with Daniel Steadman, she felt woozy inside. Could that be love? If it is, she isn’t sure she likes the feeling. As the party approaches, all Lily can hope for is one whole and perfect day.

This book is full of satisfying coincidences and serendipitous occurrences. It’s also fun to read the Australian dialect / dialog.

Against the ominous backdrop of the influenza epidemic of 1918, Annie, a new girl at school, is claimed as best friend by Elsie, a classmate who is a tattletale, a liar, and a thief. Soon Annie makes other friends and finds herself joining them in teasing and tormenting Elsie. Elsie dies from influenza, but then she returns to reclaim Annie’s friendship and punish all the girls who bullied her.

Elsie wasn’t a scary ghost. She wasn’t an all that sympathetic one either. All she really did was annoy me as a reader so much that I sped through this book because I didn’t want to interact with her anymore. I made One for Sorrow just an okay read because there really weren’t any sympathetic characters in here. They were all just mean little girls, I’m not into reading books about mean children.

A very basic introduction to the moon. Although this book contains 1-2 sentences per page and geared towards younger students, the words used are not as attainable to those students. There is an educator note in the front of the book suggesting that the questions posed on some of the pages could lead to discussion, so possibly the intent of the book was to be used in the classroom. There is a picture glossary at the end that helps explain some of the words like astronaut and telescope, but the definitions could have been included in the text or with the corresponding picture in the text. The author did not use bold words, so readers would not know they could look up those in the picture glossary until they got to the glossary.

The main character, a mermaid named Cora, fails a spelling test and is kicked off the Singing Sirens group. She can return to the group if she passes her next spelling test, otherwise she will lose her spot to one of beautiful Vivian Shimmermore. The book is written from the point of view of Cora writing in her diary. Hilarity ensues like Cora finding a tiny shrimp under a barrel of toxic sludge. Some of the sludge spills as she tries to free him. She finds it odd that the shrimp is glowing, but leaves him to get home. The shrimp grows and follows her home. She tries to get rid of him by throwing a tuna tied to a coral stick for the shrimp to chase. She misses him as soon as he is gone and then finds herself surrounded by a gang of sharks that are bullies. It seems that when Cora solves one problem another one pops up and she is again distracted from studying for her spelling test. Although the illustrations are limited to black, blue and white they add to the story.

In this short, easy to read biography we learn very basic information about Mary Pope Osborne. The text features compliment the text and some are more interesting than the text itself, like the fact that she planned the Magic Tree House series to be only four books. This would be great as a read aloud for younger students who are learning about text features, while the text is accessible to 2nd and 3rd graders. Readers who love the Magic Tree House series may be interested in learning more about the author.

This book is a basic introduction to what Earth Day is and a few ways that we can care for the Earth. There are only 1-2 sentences per page. There are many nonfiction text features including bold words, glossary, headings, index, and maps. In the back there is a page where readers can find out more in print and on the internet. The photographs are relevant to the topic on the page and directions for how to plant lettuce seeds is included.

Every year Houndini appears in Kitty City to give a show and he draws a mustache on the portrait of the town founder, Davy Crock-cat. Officer Katz wants to catch him. After Houndini’s show, Officer Katz gives him three chances to escape. If Houndini does not escape, he will leave Kitty City forever. Officer Katz chases him around the city. Eventually the two stop fighting like cats and dogs and join together.

An informational text full of nonfiction text features. Many of these features include a table of contents, photographs, bold words, headings, diagrams, maps, index, and glossary. Each page contains one – two sentences. The pages are colorful and engaging, but should not be distracting for young readers. There is a section in the back where a reader could find out more through books or the internet.

The book starts with an explanation of what mass is and how to conduct an experiment and work like a scientist. Following that are six experiments. These experiments are not only simple, they use materials that are easy to find. At the end of each experiment is also an explanation of why the experiment works. The book utilizes many text features including illustrations, photographs, bold words and a glossary.

Fans of MY LITTLE PONY will enjoy this visually graphic read about The Equestria Super Chef Competition which Pinkie Pie wants to win and how Applejack is mistakenly entered into the event.

Pinkie Pie gets stage fright once the spotlight is on her and Applejack is trying to explain she is not who they think she is.

Once Pinkie Pie and Applejack realize Toffee Truffle wants to win so she can reopen her town’s only restaurant, they try to loose, to help her out. Toffee states, ” ‘ I don’t want you to LET me win. I want to BEAT you fair and square…’ ”

Toffee wins the dessert round on her own merit just as Marine Sandwich tries to take revenge on Applejack for impersonating her.

Cute, play on words, with real emotions and feelings.

Even though I have not read books 1-4, this was a good read. It helped to have a synopsis on the title page.

Danny went to the mansion to help his deceased grandpa. Danny is now trapped inside the mansion and needs to get out. He achieves this by jumping out of a window into a cemetery , a long way down. Once outside the mansion, the ghostly captain’s curse is broken, allowing all of the other ghosts to leave the mansion. The captain now plans to pillage New Orleans. The captain wants Danny to help him find the treasure that was supposed to have been inside the mansion, but was not there.

Danny “let [his fear] drive and motivate [him] instead of control [him]” when he jumped from the window, freeing all of the other ghosts. When captain rethreatens Danny and the ghosts, the ghostly bride Constance throws a battle ax at the captain ending him.

“The mansion itself is the treasure…but he was so obsessed with being rich that the captain never saw that.”

Grandpa reintroduces Danny to his ghost grandmother, before they  leave to haunt the world. Then Danny returns home and helps his parents grieve together as a family, instead of separately.

Thanks to the synopsis on the title page this book could be enjoyed by itself, but I am now wondering what lies inside the first four books.

Book #3 finds Nate and Patrice riding their bicycles, with the peashooters and squash, being chased by zombies. They are surrounded until Uncle Dave drives up and over some of the zombies. Uncle Dave will take Nate and Patrice to the mansion to start the wind machine, which will blow away the BIG cloud from the city, and thus energize the plants.

When Nate and Patrice get to the mansion the zombies are already there. They get through the zombies to start the machine, but not without a struggle.

The plants are winning until “Zomboss” takes charge. Nate ans Patrice flee. Uncle Dave shows up in a wooden fire-breathing T. Rex sending the zombies  and Zomboss  on the run.

“Citizens of Neighborville,

Your continued antagonism against our rightful claim on your city and brains is noted. Action will be taken at another time.       Sincerely,

Dr. Edgar Zomboss”

Considering this is book 3, and a conclusion of this series, it is a little lean on plot.