The FBI is encouraging 13 year old Ollie to keep a low profile after his last adventure with his best friend Moxie (Moxie and the Art of Rule Breaking).  A little bit chubby and a lot asthmatic, Ollie joins a group at Wilderness Scout Camp, located on an island in Boston Harbor where legends of pirate treasures abound.  As he focuses on making friends, working on scout badges, and engaging in a ruthless game of tag, Ollie is approached by Ranger Johnson to help locate a lost treasure of pirate Ben Avery.  The chapters are short and flip between camp competitions, pirate clues, and Ollie’s interest in geocaching.  Ollie’s issues with asthma and the personalities of his tent-mates and fellow campers are realistic.   There are several references to Ollie’s adventure with Moxie in the first book.  While it is not necessary to read the books in order, it may help in understanding the whole picture of Ollie.  However, I found it a bit irritating to keep reading references to a book I have not read.  Readers will root for Ollie as he deals with bullies and his asthma, struggles with knowing who to trust with pirate booty, and develops into a leader.

Monkeys is one of six books in the Zoo Animals series published by Sandcastle.  The photographs are dazzling.  The simple text includes vocabulary that should be mostly accessible for early readers.  The book includes a contents page, Fast Facts summary, quick quiz and glossary.

This rhyming bedtime story chronicles the adventures of children who participate in a Night Parade, “while mothers and fathers lie sleeping.”  The children dance around stars, skip around signposts and “make cakes for the moon with an old wooden spoon and get frosting all over their faces.”  The magical verse and vibrant illustrations will make this book a bedtime favorite.

Sometimes Ruby needs just one more….one more minute to sleep, one more push on the swing, or one more scoop of ice cream on her cone.  This story, that every toddler and adult reader will relate to, is brought to life with GORGEOUS and engaging illustrations.

This simple story follows the path of a bouncing ball as it journeys from a small boy, to a small girl, and back again.  The illustrations are bright and engaging.

One of six books in the Big Machines series, this book describes a number of big floating machines and provides a few interesting facts about each.  Each “big” machine is rated Big, Super or Mighty!!!  Photographs are set off by illustrated text and sidebar information.  The book includes a table of contents, brief quiz, glossary and index.

Brachiosaurus is one of six books in this series.  It describes the dinosaur in relative terms–as tall as a four-story building and as heavy as 12 elephants.  His head was “small,” he ate “plants,” and the dinosaurs died “long ago.”  There are interesting illustrations, a table of contents and a glossary.

This is a lively tale about Nadine, a boastful cow who claims she isn’t afraid of anything.  Her skeptical friends ask if she might be afraid of lightning, or the woods?  “Not me,” bragged Nadine and she heads for the woods to prove her point.  The book, written in rhyme, describes Nadine’s adventures (and misadventures) in the woods; as darkness draws near, Nadine dashes for home to a hero’s welcome.

This whimsical bedtime story follows the antics of an octopus as he helps a boy get read for bed with a bath (in egg salad), teeth brushing (with paint), and monsters in the closet.  This quick and silly book will be enjoyed by young children, as well as the adult reading the story!

Ankylosurus is one of six book’s in Smithsonian’s Little Explorer Series.  The book provides a thorough description of the dinosaur, its behavior, and its historical significance.  Lively illustrations will captivate young aspiring paleontologists.  The book includes an index, glossary and recommendations for additional reading and internet resources.

Mike Evans, AKA Dino-Mike,  is the young son of world renown paleontologist Stanley Evans who are currently on a dig in Montana. When Mike finds the actual work involved in the dig tedious and boring his father suggests, ” Why don’t you go explore the other dig sites…but be back before dark…” (p. 19) Soon Mike is off in the nearby forest chasing down a mysterious girl. The girl, Shannon, is out hunting a real T.Rex, which Mike is having trouble understanding since, “they went extinct more than 65 million years ago!” (p. 31)Shannon reveals a boy, Jeff, has brought the T.Rex to this time. ” ‘ He thinks dinos should never have gone extinct. He’s trying to save them by introducing them into different time periods. Unfortunately, he doesn’t realize how much damage he’s doing or how many people he’s putting in danger. That’s why I’ve come back here to stop him…’ “ (p. 76) Shannon and Mike come up with a plan tricking both Jeff and the T.Rex into one of Shannon’s high tech gadgets capturing them both.  After Shannon slips off with Jeff and the T.Rex, Mike comes across a nest of dinosaur eggs just as his father is looking for Mike for dinner. It seems the T.Rex was storming around the area looking for her long lost eggs.

The story line is fast-paced and clever. Franco leads the reader along willingly, just like Shannon does Mike. There is just enough dinosaur information to make the young would-be dinosaur aficionado think he is in the know, mixed in with new dinosaur trivia to grab and ‘wow’ the reader. The dinosaur jacket Mike’s  father gave him is pretty amazing, as well, with its high tech gadgets. Add all this together with Franco’s numerous black and white story sketches and this new series should sprout wings and take off!

Includes a sewn binding, glossary, and Dino Facts about T. Rex.

A few years ago, building secret fairy houses was quite the rage.  Little girls loved using natural materials to build these hideaways outside.  However, I haven’t seen the interest in this for quite some time.  In Ocean Secrets, fairy houses built on or near the beach are part of the story, but not to the point of having a series named for them.  This book has a big variety of subplots:  friendship between two tweens, a much-loved older home’s questionable future, lobster pots being stolen, mysterious lights in a closed-down hotel on an island, underwater fairy houses, taking care of wildlife, and working together to beat the thieves.  The storyline itself is interesting but the audience it is written for is confusing.   The vocabulary is at about a fourth grade reading level and the fairy house bit is interesting to second graders, many of the subplots are appropriate for second-graders but the thieves have guns and are not so appropriate.  It’s just kind of a conundrum as to who this story is meant for.

Tree Frogs is one of  the 50 books in the Animal Safari series of non fiction books for emergent readers. The cover photograph reels the reader in with its big red-eyed, larger than life tree frog.  Once inside the book, the two-page spreads contain two large font sentences on white, opposite the larger than life  photo on the right. The book is divided into  four sections: What are Tree Frogs?; Climbers; Hunting and Hiding; and Males, Females, and Babies.

The nine bold type vocabulary words included in the book’s text and defined in the glossary include: amphibians, gills, pads, and predators. Three different habitats are pictured in small insets when the rain forests are mentioned. The tree frogs’ prey of moths, crickets, and flies are also given small insets.  A very brief mention the life cycle from egg to tadpole to adult living in trees is mentioned without using the term life cycle in the last section of the book.

Includes an index and www.factsurfer.com web address for further information and pictures.

The series title: Super Cute! nails it! Baby Orangutans is one of  the 25 books in this series of non fiction books for emergent readers. The cover photograph reels the reader in with its big eyed (life-sized) baby orangutan face. The baby might be smiling, too.  Once inside the book, the two-page spreads contain two large font sentences on a patch of white, overlay the photo.

There are three, four page sections in the book: Orangutan Infant!, Life with Mom, and Learning from Mom. The seven vocabulary words  in bold type can be found with their definitions in the glossary at the back of the book. These include: ” bond – a close connection”,  comfort, grooms, and rain forest. Page 6 states, ” The infant acts a lot like a human baby. It sucks its thumb for comfort.”

Though this book is more picture than words, it does inform the reader the mother orangutan shows the baby how to build a nest for sleeping and how to find food, among other activities.

Includes an Index.

Lights, Camera, Perry? is an abridged version of the Disney Channel show Phineas & Ferb, episode ” Perry the Actorpus” from season 3, but with easier vocabulary used. If your patrons are fans of the TV show they will be able to follow the plot more easily than if they do not watch the TV series. This is partly due to the way TV segues jump so quickly and partly due to the abridgement of this story.

The story revolves around Phineas and Ferb’s entering Perry the platypus into a contest to be Totally Tools spokesanimal and Perry won. Now there are Totally Tools ads posted all over town with Perry the platypus wearing a fedora. By shear coincidence, this is Perry’s disguise when he is fighting evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz as Agent P. Temporarily, Agent P ( Perry) is replaced by Agent S (Sergei the snail)  in the latest fight against Doofenschmirtz and his latest invention the Mustache-inator.

Meanwhile, Phineas and Ferb’s sister Candace attends a retreat- “Stop the Busting” in her attempt to be nicer to her brothers. Candace is making headway until she is informed the machine she is using was created by her two brothers. Smash! Candace eliminates the machine.

In the meantime, Perry’s picture in the Totally Tools ads around town have been replaced using Sergei’s photo in Perry’s place. Now Agent P is back on the job.

Shadow Squadron is “- a top-secret special missions unit. Assembled by the United States’ Joint Special Operations Command, the unit was comprised of elite soldiers from the Navy SEALS, Green Berets, Army Rangers, and the Marine Special Operations Regiment…From one end of the world to the other, the team had showed up wherever the US government required military intervention but couldn’t act openly for tactical, political, or legal reasons.”  (p.12)

Carl Bowen sounds like he has a recipe for middle school-aged boys who want modern day adventure! The story is just shy of 100 pages, written in five chapters, has nine full-page color-graphic illustrations, uses military jargon / lingo – “boots on the ground”, and begins each chapter with what appears to be classified computer screen intelligence listed as “com chatter”.

As this book in the series begins, Shadow Squadron is introduced to its newest member of the team, who just happens to be a woman. They are briefed on a ‘blind’ mission which will be taking them to Northwest Africa to rescue Senator Barren’s kidnapped son. Once Shadow Squadron locates Jack Barron, they find out Jack has not been kidnapped, but instead wants to use money from his trust fund to pay protection money to keep a village safe. Shadow Squadron sends  Bubaga’s band of slavers away from the village. Fearing Bubaga’s retaliation on the village, Shadow Squadron makes a big show of leaving the area, only to ready themselves to defend the village and stop the protection racket. Once Bubaga is defeated at the village, the Shadow Squadron hands their intel over to the local Malian Army. The Malian Army will stop the slave ring and graciously take the credit because the Shadow Squadron was never really there.

Includes: Author Debriefing with questions and answers and a 12 page preview of another Shadow Squadron book – Dark Agent.

This 6.5″ X 7.5″ counting book is one of the BEST I have ever wanted to use with young children!

The top 2/3s of each page captures the word “Nature” from the book’s title with  a bright, colorful, close-up look of an item from nature just begging to be counted by the young reader: mushrooms, bird’s eggs, acorns, tulips, dewdrops, icicles, and 14 more.

Below the photo are two sentences. The first sentence includes the name of the item to be counted. The second sentence states the number of items to be counted. “Lotus seeds grow in a pod. This pod has 13 seeds.”  (p. 16)

Below the sentences is a thee part display:  gives a display of dots, followed by an “equal sign”, followed by the numeral, followed by an equal sign, followed by the numeral written as a word.        ***  =  3  =  three

Finally, across the bottom of each page is a number line from 1 to 20. The numeral for each page is highlighted with an arrow pointing to it from below. YES, this book does count to twenty!

The only down side of this book would be the color selection for the book’s front cover. Mauve  and pinks while attractive to an adult might not make the book jump out to the young reader.

The Nethergrim is an evil force once thought slain but now, after many decades, has reawakened; it is a force so strong that it can grant everlasting life to those who choose to worship it.  In order for life to be given to a chosen individual, life must be taken from elsewhere, namely seven children.  As children begin to disappear and the search for them uncovers unimaginable terrors, the stories of The Nethergrim resurface.  A  trio of three unlikely friends join forces to solve the mystery of this hideous monster and to save the children of the village.  For reasons of their own, each of these friends has something to prove, and together they are a force to be reckoned with.  The Nethergrim is very well written; it is thrilling, exciting, thoughtful, sad, and a real old-fashioned page turner.  I can’t wait to read the next installment.

On a rainy day in the jungle, four friends, a moose, a zebra, a lion, and a sheep, are looking for a warm, dry place to play.  They settle in a cave, unaware it is already occupied by a cranky, sleepy bear.  Back outside in the train, they discuss how to cheer up the bear so he will let them back in.  Thinking about what makes them happy, the zebra suggests making him stripes, the moose makes a pair of antlers, and the lion suggests a golden mane.  Sheep waits outside while they take the gifts inside.  A loud ROAR chases the animals back outside.  Bear looks hilarious in his new attire.  As he rips it off, he grumbles that he just wants a quiet place to sleep.  Sheep is the only one to empathize.  She shears off half her wool to make a pillow for the bear.  He cuddles down to sleep and the four friends return to the warm, dry cave to play a quiet game of cards.  Jaunty rhyming text is illustrated by large, colorfully expressive artwork.  A fun read-aloud and a visual treat.

An easy rhyme tells of the adventure of a curious cat.  While exploring outdoors, a gray cat curls up on a chair in the back of a pick-up truck.  “Shake cat.  Quake cat.  There must be some mistake cat.”  Ending up far from home, the cat injures a foot jumping out of the truck.  A woman finds the cat and takes it to a shelter where her foot is bandaged.  Meanwhile, the cat’s owner, a little girl, hangs posters advertising her lost cat.  Eventually, the cat is returned to happily cuddle with her girl.  “Wrap cat.  Lap cat.  The only way to nap cat.”  Pencil, watercolor, and acrylic illustrations are large, simple and colorful.  Digitally rendered, they show the emotions of this little cat’s adventure.

Hazel has waited forever for her baby brother to be born so she could read to him.  She practices with her stuffed bunny, Rodrigo.  When Edgar finally does arrive, Hazel thinks he’s not that much different from Rodrigo, or a watermelon!  so, she goes back to waiting. Eventually, Edgar says his first word, “No!”  He gets a lot of practice saying it as he says “No!” to everything Hazel suggests.  Mom records Edgar’s “firsts” as Hazel unceasingly tries to interest Edgar in anything.  One evening, ever-patient Hazel once again takes baby Edgar onto her lap to read a story.  Edgar cuddles in and listens.  When she finishes, it’s quiet.  Then Edgar says his second word, “Again”.  And his third word, “Again, ‘azel?” to which Hazel happily replies, “Again”.  This story certainly rings true to little ones learning a language and asserting their wishes.  Illustrations are colorful, uncomplicated, and are rendered digitally.

“Beautiful” and “dung beetles” may seem like an oxymoron, but dung beetles are considered “ancient symbols of life and renewal”.  Found on every continent except Antarctica, these beetles are nature’s clean-up crew.  Waste of other animals mean life to the dung beetle.  They rely on dung for nutrients and water and use it to complete their life cycle.  There are three types of dung beetles: dwellers, rollers, and tunnelers.  Dwellers eat before it dries out, rollers push balls of dung away from the pat to use later, and tunnelers dig tunnels under the pat to store the dung.  Competitions can be tough, mates are chosen, and eggs are laid.  Plants also benefit from nutrients as dung is buried in the soil.  Young beetles (grubs) feast on dung.  Grubs evolve to pupa, which eventually grown into adult beetles.  Pages contain a simple narrative as well as a more detailed paragraph.  Watercolor and pencil artwork is stunning – a great match to the intriguing facts of this fascinating insect.  Additional facts, glossary, and bibliography are also included.

When one thinks of war heroes, one rarely thinks of a horse.  In 1952, during the Korean War, Lieutenant Eric Pedersen thought his platoon could use a packhorse to help transport munitions and equipment to soldiers.  He bought a reddish-brown filly from a racetrack in Seoul and named her Reckless after the recoilless guns.  Until the Marines bought horse feed, she ate whatever they ate.  She was trained to step over wires and kneel or lie down under enemy fire.  She trusted her handlers.  At the first blast of the recoilless rifle, she jumped high in the air, but didn’t bolt.  With each blast, she shook less.  For months, she delivered ammo to gun crews, sometimes by herself following the sound of the guns.  She followed her handlers even when wounded by shrapnel.  At the end of the War in 1953, she helped string communication wire.  In honor of her bravery and service, Reckless was promoted to staff sergeant.  In 1954, she was shipped to California to live at the Marine base in Camp Pendleton, near San Diego.  Artwork is large and colorful.  Although the horse and settings are realistic, the soldiers’ faces are cartoonish with button eyes.  Also included are a glossary, bibliography, website and 3 Common Core critical thinking questions.

Tucker MacBean, a promising 7th grade artist, takes on the school bully and the girls’ basketball team in order to secure a bulletin board for the Art Club.  One thing leads to another and culminates in an exciting and crucial dodge ball game.  Art Club members are few and not at all athletic.  The outcome appears to be a foregone conclusion.  However, the Art Club, with Tucker’s comic cartoon Beanboy, have a few ideas to try first.  Frequent illustrations, sketches, and handwritten notes are interspersed throughout the text.  This is a fun read with a satisfying conclusion.  The illustrations are digital.  Sequel to The Adventures of Beanboy.