A Primary Source History of U.S. Independence uses newspaper articles, photographs, painting, speeches, maps and other primary documents to tell the story of the fight for U.S. Independence through the eyes of those who lived it. Primary source quotations are cited in red italic font throughout the text. There is also a selected bibliography with a number of titles, several website referrals, a glossary, and an index.
Intended for primary students, this non-fiction text defines what mountains are, how they are formed, and discusses life on a mountain. Included are chapters on the people who live in mountainous regions, their clothing and shelter, farming and transportation in the mountains, what school and work is like, fun things to do in the mountains, as well as mountains of the past and the future. The book includes fun facts, a quiz, glossary, index, and references to additional sources.
With colorful photos on every page, this colorful book would be a good addition to the non-fiction section of an elementary school collection.
Other books in this series include Living Beside a River, Living Beside the Ocean, Living in a City, Living in a Desert, and Living in a valley.
Farm Machines by Kathry Clay is a non-fiction book in the Wild About Wheels series geared towards pre-school – 2nd grade. Colorful pictures and large font text describe the various machines used on farms, including tractors, plows, seed drills, cultivators, combines, and balers. One photo shows a young woman driving a tractor, which is good role modeling for girls.
The book includes a glossary, an index, internet and printed text sources for more information, and Common Core questions (Key Ideas and Details, and Integration of Knowledge and Ideas).
Other books in this Wild About Wheels series include Construction Vehicles, Emergency Vehicles, and Military Vehicles. Kids love books about vehicles, and these would make good additions to the elementary school library.
Susan H. Gray, a zoologist, has written over 140 reference books for children, and enjoys writing about animals and topics that engage children. Animals Helping to Detect Disease is one that will be of interest to kids. It is full of photos of animals being used to detect diseases, such as dogs using their keen sense of smell volatile organic compounds (VOCc) from diseased tissues, and rats smelling samples to detect TB.
The book includes a history of medical diagnosis, how dogs have been used in other helpful ways (searching for lost people), and the technology being tested for ‘electronic noses’ to sniff out disease.
There is a glossary and index, as well as resources for further study.
Australia is part of the Benjamin Blog and his Inquisitive Dog series, which also include guides on Canada, England, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland, and the United States of America.
Each book contains maps, labels, captions, a glossary, bullets, table of contents, an index, experiments and activities, and fact boxes. The colorful photos and easy to read text features make these books interesting to young readers.
Benjamin Blog and his do, Barko Polo, travel through all of Australia, from the reefs of the coasts, to the opal mines, to visits with indigenous peoples, and into the big cities. History, geography, native animals, sports and recreation are all covered.
This is a fun, easy to read book.
SSBRC donation
How Effective is Recycling? is part of the Earth Debates series which also includes Are Humans Damaging the Atmosphere?, Can we Protect People from Natural Disasters?, and How harmful are Fossil Fuel?
Chapters look at the recycling of plastics, hazardous materials, metals, tires, packaging, building materials, water, and food. Color photos illustrate the vast quantities of garbage that would end up in the landfill or worse, in waterways, if not for recycling. There is also a chapter on reuse of materials.
The book includes a quiz, glossary, index, table of contents, and a “Find Out More” section which provides websites, print resources, and places to visit, such as the Museum of Science and Industry.
SSRBC donation
This book is a biography of Malala Yousafzai with an emphasis on her activism. It gives background information on Pakistan and the rise of the Pakistani Taliban, so it is accessible to entry-level readers unfamiliar with the issue. Malala is accurately portrayed as an active player in her own story and not as a helpless victim, with the assassination attempt on her being only one part of her extensive history of activism instead of being falsely portrayed as her sole achievement.
The back contains a glossary, an index, a short reference list for further reading, a link to the Scholastic website, and a ‘True Statistic’s list of key biographical information like Malala’s birth date and the names of her family members.
This is a story about a girl who wants more than anything to play the violin. However, Elva has to pretend, since her parents do not approve. Elva rehearses for make believe recitals in lieu of brushing her teeth, going to bed or learning her subtraction. The music stays in her head as she imagines being able to travel the world playing her violin. Many years go by as Elva grows up and her life fills with other jobs and satisfactions, but she remains true to her dream, takes a deep breath and follows that childhood dream.
This book details various environmental threats to rivers with a short description (usually about a paragraph on one page) of each one. Basic river ecology is covered in the first chapter and it’s stressed that humans depend on rivers as much as other animals. Key words are printed in red and are defined in text boxes on the same or next page. The book touches on a number of complex issues (ex: climate change, chemical runoff, etc.) and explains the basics in concise, simple language without skimping on meaning. The final chapter offers solutions and hope, which helps keep the book from being so depressing that environmental problems are made too scary for children to face.
The back contains a glossary, index, three Common Core discussion questions, a short reference list of related books, and a link to a publisher-sponsored internet search engine.
This book describes the biology and life cycles of scorpions. It contains lots of detailed information and quality photographs. Some of the technical terms may be intimidating for younger or less confident readers, but there is a glossary in the back for key words, and other terms (such as specialized words for body parts, etc.) are defined within the text itself.
In addition to the glossary, the back contains an index, a world range map for where scorpions live, and a short reference list for related books and a link to the Scholastic webpage for more information on scorpions.
This second edition contains a set of fully updated Big Kid Boxes designed to incorporate the latest scientific discoveries about Mars (First edition was 2006). This fun story of Max, space dog, helping his young friend Tori on the first human mission to mars, is sure to delight kids who enjoy dogs, space, and science stories. Max Goes to Mars is part of the Big Kid Science series, and includes Max Goes to the Moon, Max Goes to Juniper, Max Goes to the Space Station, and The Wizard Who Saved the World.
This book explains the various types of ores and how the ores are used to make copper, aluminum, steel, etc.
There is a glossary, and a list of ore types, but only a few of the types listed appear in the actual text.
This book is scant on information, although the photos are interesting.
If the other books in this series are as sparse as Ores is, they would not even begin to compared to the Rock-Ology series.
This is a very nicely illustrated picture book on the life of Frank Sinatra, starting with his youth in Hoboken, New Jersey. The story chronicles Frankie’s love of singing: at school, at work, everywhere. The story continues with Frankie’s move to New York City to study voice, his first appearance in concert, and his records being played on the radio. Moving on into his film career, singing and dancing on the big screen, and moving on to his international tours, Las Vegas tours, and awards, the reader gets a rosy view of Frank Sinatra, focusing on his talent and hard work, and omitting any mention of organized crime, womanizing, drinking, smoking, or any other vices.
The book includes an Author’s Note and Bibliography.
Talkin’ Guitar: A Story of Young Doc Watson by Robbin Gourley is a delightful story of the young Arthel Watson who came one of the most beloved and celebrated figures of folk, bluegrass and old-time music: Doc Watson. Set in his boyhood home in the Appalachian mountains, the story tells of Arthel’s attention to sound (train whistles, farm animals, the river rushing, his mother singing, his pappy playing banjo). His loved sound and music and couldn’t keep it inside, and taught himself to play harmonica, banjo, and guitar. This is a nicely illustrated story of a boy’s determination.
The book contains biographical information, and print and web resources.
This is a beautifully illustrated picture book about a child who loses a beloved stuffed animal, and how his grandfather helps him cope with the loss by using his imagination.
Flinkwater is a city similar to Silicon Valley in which most of the people are employed by a computer company. Those people are super smart and nerdy, as are their children. However in an attempted takeover, people are reduced to a catatonic state by watching the screen saver for the local school’s mascot. The founder and CEO of the town’s tech industry was actually the culprit. Hautman does a terrific job with the main character, Ginger, a 13-year-old girl. The dialog and self speak is snappy and funny, and goes off on tangents pretty much just like a 13-year-old girl. Kids will enjoy the humor and fast pace of the story.
Middle school boys see if you could keep up with Jack Sullivan if your world turned upside down with roaming monsters and zombies!
Jack has not had the easiest of lives being an orphan and shifting from one bad foster home to the next, but then the monsters and zombies take over. “But one thing I’ve learned about life after the Monster Apocalypse: nothing’s quick and nothing’s easy.” (p. 4) Now, Jack lives in a tree house which he has fortified. On one of his trips to the CVS to get replacement parts for is walkie talkie, Jack runs into BLARG, a monster who will make several appearances for revenge on Jack. Jack spends his days calling out on the walkie talkie trying to make contact with his one friend Quint. [Foster kids don’t make or keep real friends easily.] Jack new life philosophy “Ever since the Robinsons peaced out– that’s forty-two days ago, now–I’ve been forced to survive alone in a world of monsters. That’s pretty much the plot of a video game, right?! So I said, y’know what, I’ll treat life like a video game.” (p. 23)
In video game fashion, Jack finds his best friend Quint. Jack helps move Quint and all of his science stuff in Quint’s mother’s suped up pickup truck, they call BIG MAMA, back to the tree house. They have a fine life eating Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop-Tarts, drinking Mountain Dew, along with other junk foods. All the while, Jack is looking for June Del Toro, a girl from his former middle school, whom he wants to save as a damsel in distress. This is one of Jack’s Feats of Apocalyptic Success! video game style. While looking for gas to keep Big Mama running, Jack meets up with a humungous pet monster (perhaps a dog- soon to be called Rover). On another trip out looking for June, Jack runs into the former middle school’s bully – Dirk. Dirk is not having any trouble fending off the monsters, but Jack talks him into coming and living with him in the tree house. BLARG makes an appearance, but between Dirk and Jack they are able to escape in Big Mama.
Quint makes a saddle for Jack to use to ride Rover. While riding Rover, the monster pet, Jack spies June’s sweat shirt stuck in the grating of a middle school window. Jack, Dirk, and Quint go to rescue June. As it turns out, June ends up rescuing them inside the abandoned middle school when BLARG makes yet another appearance. June does not want to be rescued. She’s trying to make contact with her parents. She saw them evacuating the city when the Monster Apocalypse began, but she was not able to reach them at that time. Once again, Jack is able to talk another person into joining Quint and him back at the tree house fortress. Quint, Dirk, Jack, and now June deck themselves out in the school’s protective sports gear before going out to face the zombies and BLARG so they can return to the tree house. They are almost to Big Mama when Jack starts running away to lead BLARG away from the group. The rest of the group make it back to the ree house, but Jack is cornered by BLARG. Rover bounds in, in the nick of time. Back at the tree house, Jack and friend use all of the fortress’s defenses to defend the tree house. Jack Slays BLARG. “I completed the ULTIMATE Feat of Apocalyptic Success! and now? Well, now, I think it’s time we all relaxed. At least for a little while…[until] the next giant monster comes around the corner…. THE END! (for now…) (page 255)
Douglas Holgate’s graphic novel style illustrations are generously spread throughout the book making this a middle school boy favorite.
I have always enjoyed counting books with pictures little children can physically touch and count along with the story.This book fits that bill.
Little chicky is showing off her counting skills for Nana by counting from one to five. But when Nana tries, she starts off fine, then she puts in numbers higher than five. After reading Marika’s dedication, it must be that Nana is just having fun with little chicky. Little chicky takes it all in stride and shows Nana how to count again and again. Then little chicky brings in items to count for a happy wordless conclusion to the book, counting all the way to ten.
1 snail, 2 butterflies, 3 mushrooms, 4 flowers, 5 bumble bees, 6 frogs, 7 leaves, 8 lady bugs, 9 ants, and 10 clouds
This is a reissue of a book originally printed in 1953. There is a reason why this book hasn’t been reprinted in over the last 50 years. It’s old! The illustrations are simple, the colors are dull and muddy. There is no challenge for kiddos to name various things beginning with the assigned letter; there’s just one image. I believe that today’s technology in book making and in general have made kids too sophisticated to make one of these ‘vintage’ books one of their favorites.
This is the traditional Sleeping Beauty fairy tale, but Sarah Gibb has added her own distinct style. Her artwork is beautiful and the twisting vines and flowers seem to take you from one page to the next. She uses black silhouettes on many pages, just as she did in Rapunzel. There is no lingering fright in this story; the evil fairy is quickly mentioned and then quickly a quick-thinking fairy helps to soothe things. This is a lovely version of the scary Disney fairy tale and won’t cause any nightmares.
This is a story about a divided family, a family affected by divorce, told from the point of view of the child, Cardell. Cardell had a perfectly good mama and a perfectly good daddy, but they lived on different sides of the desert, and Cardell spent time with both of them. Cardell was a coyote. Daddy had remarried and Cardell’s stepmother and stepbrother were fine. But now a new neighbor, Otis, was coming around and trying to court his mother, and he wasn’t sure that was okay with him. His mother had chased off other suitors but Otis was different. After a time, Cardell got to know Otis and found him to be a good guy and good for his mother. This story takes a difficult situation and makes it easier for kids to understand. A great read aloud for younger and middle grades.
Gordon Korman is a popular author among third through seventh graders. It almost feels like you are eavesdropping on conversations while reading his books, the dialog is so natural. Unleashed is book 7 in the Swindle Mystery series. Korman’s popularity is oftentimes based on having so many series with multiple books in them; kids enjoy getting to know the characters and then want to read another story that is based more on the plot. In this episode, as in all other episodes, there are a number of side stories intertwined. The kids’ school is having an ‘Inventa-palooza’ — an invention contest. Griffin gets sucked into entering by his arch nemesis, Darren, namely because Griffin’s dad is a professional inventor. But Darren’s ploy is just to make a fool out of Griffin; he already has what he thinks is the winning invention made with the help of his father’s company. Griffin is stumped; his dad’s creativity just didn’t passed along with the genes. He hopes to rope in his brainiac friend Melissa, but she has already entered the contest herself. Her invention is a system to keep Luthor, a Doberman dog, from chasing a truck down the street. The first time it’s used, it works brilliantly, but then it gets stolen. They can’t figure out why or by whom. Griffin’s invention involves a household appliance, and although it seems to work, it causes power outages whenever its turned on. The humor is pervasive throughout the whole story, especially during the blackouts and Darren’s hysteria. Those familiar with Korman’s other books will enjoy this one as well.
This is the newest in the beloved Encyclodedia Brown detective series (# 13) . In The Case of the Midnight Visitor, Encyclopedia solved ten baffling mysteries, including the case of a kidnapped millionaire, a dangerous dog and it’s mean owner, a well known big-town crook, and more.
As is usual in this series, at the end of the book are the solutions to each case.
Kakapos are the largest parrots on earth, endangered, and living on an island off of New Zealand. These large birds are nocturnal and cannot fly. These birds have been indigenous to New Zealand for at least a thousand years, since records started being kept. This book has some highly detailed photographs showing these unusual birds and their habitats, traits, and life cycle. I’m not sure that the kakapo qualifies as one of the world’s weirdest animals, but certainly in the endangered series. It seems to be merely a holdover from a time long ago. This book will make an excellent addition to the bird shelf in an elementary library.