Author, Helen Gregory, presents an easy to understand early physics science book which supports national science standards. It enjoyment all begins, with the smiling mother pushing her smiling daughter on a swing pictured on the book’s front cover. Often the  photos in these small 7″ x 6″ books are mediocre, but not so with this book. The photos accompanying each single line of  text are well composed and specific for the material being presented.   The information on the left hand page denotes a ‘pull’ and on the right hand page it denotes a ‘push’.

And so it begins, “A force moves things. You can move things with a push or a pull.” (p.4-5) The photos include a bathroom water faucet being pulled down to stop the flow and a door knob being pushed to open a door.  The ‘push’ pages include: moving a wooden toy box, ringing a doorbell, moving a shopping chart, and piano keys. “You push a ball when you hit it with a bat.”  (. 13)  The ‘pull’ pages include: pulling a snow sled up a hill, pulling a toy red wagon, pulling on a shoe, and playing tug-a-war. “You pull a bow across violin strings.” (p. 14)

Students may miss it, but on page 19 under the heading – NOW TRY THIS! there is a suggested activity for children to try, “Think of something you do everyday that is either a push or pull. Act out your example for the class. See if your classmates can guess what the activity is. Then let them decide if the activity involves a push or a pull- or both.” (p. 19)

Author, Adria F. Klein, presents a color concept book for very young readers using 81 words. Craig Cameron’s bright, cheery illustrations of the circus train are a perfect match with the circus animals all happily smiling .

As the circus train pulls into town each train car is a different color, “There were elephants in the gray car.” (p. 18-19) The yellow car has the lions, orange car has the tigers, the brown car has the bears, the red car has the monkeys, the white car has the dogs, and the black car has the horses in it. What could be in the last rainbow swirled train car? ” The clowns! ‘Time for fun!’ said Circus Train.”  (p. 28-31)

Mr. Mouse runs a motel all by himself. This makes for quite a bit of work when his motel is booked for a convention in town. Mr. Mouse is run ragged helping his guests with their luggage and room service: getting ice, extras pillows, food, helping with the TV remote, and more, for nine times in all. Soon Mr. Mouse is too tired to answer the phone. “The guests come to the lobby to see what is wrong. They see Mr. Mouse. They know they have to help.” (p. 17)

Peter Lubach’s humorous illustrations,  like a giraffe needing quite a few extra pillows and a polar bear fanning himself while he waits for a bucket of ice to arrive make this book enjoyable.

Page 24 lists three comprehension questions under the heading “Big Questions” and there is a small Common Core Connection box on the back cover of the book.

As Katie Woo works out what she will write her research paper on for school, there are “Katie’s Star Tips” at the bottom of 7 pages. These tips include information on brainstorming, sources, note cards, and revisions among other things.

Katie compares what she is learning about her topic of butterflies with the factoids her friends are learning about their topics of whales and airplanes.

Katie’s first draft is shown with its “spelling mistakes, but she could fix those later.” (p. 24) Her final paper is also shown with its revisions and Katie is excited about beginning research for her next paper on dogs.

Prior to the glossary page, there is a full page image of a handwritten sheet of notebook paper listing five ideas for research papers the readers might like to attempt themselves.

This is one of four Dino Detectives books for young readers.

“Dot [the Diplodocus]  is excited. It is her last day of swim lessons. She thinks she finally passed level one.” And the clues begin: mom baking, dad talking about balloons, brother mowing the lawn, and none of her friends are home. Dot writes down the clues before going to swim lessons. When Dot gets back there is no one around with which to share her big news. Then she spots and follows a trail of popcorn out to the back yard where a surprise party awaits for her swimming success.

Steve Harpster’s illustrations are cute, if not hilarious. Imagine a giant lavender diplodocus riding a small pink child’s bicycle. Or a diplodocus searching through her house for her family, where the house looks like a maze from an aerial view.

Chris Eliopoulos’s writing and illustration will make or break this book for you. His writing is very fluid and the dialogue, while not necessarily natural, is very delightfully playful and amusing. The illustration, on the other hand, is very natural and reminds me of the illustration from “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” which is always a fun read for kids. Comparing it to “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” though, I would consider the illustration in this book to be much more entertaining and evocative with a lot of little humorous details hidden in the background and a very good grasp on portraying action with such a limited style.

I did say that there could be some things that could “break” this book for you, though. Firstly, I’ll consider the relatively minor issue: the illustration. While the illustration is very fun to look at and finely detailed (at least for this particular art style), I don’t feel like the characters in the story are very memorable.This simply means that I would jump on anything written by Chris Eliopoulas, but I don’t see your kids waiting for the next Mr. Puzzle book. I have a feeling this is going to be a book that you would have to suggest to your kids to read or do a reading for them with a projector.

The much bigger issue is the writing and content of the writing. The comedic stylings makes me feel like this is targeted at grades 2-6, but there seem to be some questionable moral underpinning and the overall moral of each story is pretty vague. For example, there is a portion of the book where a kid has to get 100% on a quiz and the kid states that he is the only one in the school that can pull this off. While I like that the kid takes pride in his intelligence, I found it odd that we portray this kid as being alone in the school and not having other intelligent peers. It seems to encourage the sense of intelligence and superiority over others instead of encouraging cooperation with peers. Another example is when a group of women ogle Mr. Puzzle and say he’s a “real man’s man,” and the narrator later refers to the admirers as “lovely ladies.”  For this age group, I could see such dialogue to be a bit inappropriate, but not so much so that I would say it was bad. Just that you should be aware of the content before finding out who the book is appropriate for.

Additionally, and this is another double-edged sword, there are some words that I wouldn’t expect a young reader to know or really need to know, yet the rest of the writing is fairly simple and easy to read. As a result, I think 2nd or 3rd graders might have a hard time with such a book, but I think it makes this book wonderful for readers in later grades that are behind in their skills but are more mature. The writing and comedy could appeal to a broad audience and I think reading it out loud opens it up for all grades, but I think this book is best used as a beginner’s book for the higher grades, like 5th and above. The best part is that there are some words in here that are High School-level, like “polyvinyl acetate,” that will provoke the reader to ask for help. In a small reading group, I could imagine a short book like this being very helpful and efficient in getting your students interested and engaged.

submitted by T. Kalen Owens

Very interesting illustrations and photos tell the story of what can be found underground.  Everything from buried clay soldiers in Asia, to hidden tunnels and living quarters during wartime, subways, waterlines, etc.  This will surely engage the curious learners with lively discussion and great visuals.  Very nice addition.

This is actually a compilation of three separate books, placed into one.  The text and illustrations will draw the reader in, whether independent or with an adult and follow the interesting hands-on activities which shed light on the practicality of applied math, and the abundance of it around us in everything.  Well written, students, children, teachers, adults will all enjoy this bounty!  Recommended.

There are 26 delightful haikus about the seasons, brought to us by a delightful panda named Koo. Beautiful way to introduce this form of poetry in a way that children will relate to and enjoy.  Equally lovely illustrations.  Nice Addition.

American Sign Language is introduced by using illustrations of a 9 year old boy with arrows showing the direction of motion, each word is given in large bolded type, and written text directions in front of photo of the word. One of the sites listed on FACTHOUND, at the end of the book, actually shows in live action how to sign 100  common words. “Most ASL signs are understood wherever you go. But some signs may change depending on where you are. It’s like having a different accent.” (page 3)  There are twelve “at Home” categories, in addition to the signing alphabet chart for finger spelling, in this books. Each category contains 7 or more signs/words, for a total of 96 signs. The categories include: My Home, Bedroom, Clothes, Toys, Kitchen, Dining Room, Food, Bathroom, Living Room, Outdoors, Family, and Pets.

This is a book of vocabulary words, but does not show how to convey an entire thought, because not all spoken words are signed when signing.

This book could, also, be used without the signs using simply the written word and photo.

Short, sweet, rhythmical book which glimpses the life of astronauts in space: eating, sleeeping, working, etc.  Very young readers will enjoy the imagination this is sure to envoke.  Nice addition.

Beautiful, nonfiction book which unveils the mystery of numbers and patterns all around in in the natural world.  It will open the eyes of he reader to be looking for fractals all around, in their food, flowers, on a mountainside, in a river, tree roots, etc.  Easy for the reader to relate to and will surely support a development of appreciation of math.  Highly recommended.

Susan Swan’s bright, large, colorful cut-out artwork is reminiscent of Eric Carle and Lois Ehlert. Felicia Sanzari Chernesky tells of two children on a trip to a farm fruit stand on a hot August day which leads to counting of farm fresh produce , in rhyme:

1 watermelon, 2 egg plant, 3 bell peppers, 4 cucumbers, 5 squash, 6 berry boxes, 7 onions, 8 peaches, 9 tomatoes, 10 plums, 11 green beans, 12…” a dozen ears of fresh picked corn”, and a sunflower.

This little book is packed with big ideas.  The higher level thinker will enjoy this book, as well as kids who like to think about the possibilities and solutions to interesting problems.  There are 125 puzzles, questions, enigmas, and strange situations for readers to ponder.  In the back of the book, are the solutions.  I can see this book used as an opening question by a teacher, or written on the corner of a board for extra credit.  One on one or whole group, there are some really bizarre and fascinating ideas to ponder in this book.  Recommended.

This is an easy to read, nonfiction book, describing the ancient bird which roamed South America 15 million years ago.  The can be described as a walk T-Rex with wings.  The reluctant reader may enjoy this book as it describes what life must have been like for these raptors.  Great illustrations, with graphic images of this hunting bird will probably thrill many readers. Great addition for a library, and a must for a select group of readers.

Sam and Charlie and best friends and neighbors.  Charlie’s little sister happens to have the same name as Sam.  So she is referred to as “Charlie, too”  Probably because she tags along, even when not invited.  This beginning to read chapter book is broken up into stories, instead of chapters.  Each on a different topic.  Although, a theme of Jewish holidays and culture ran throughout the book.   Shiny, thick pages and solid construction of this book are a winning combination with the great pictures by William Owl.  Great addition to a library.

This is a great beginning reader chapter book series.  In this story, the two friends Lulu and Mellie are concerned about Lulu’s new neighbor, who is a new boy in their class and does not seem to appreciate his pet rabbit.  The girls are hoping to meet and play with the rabbit but Arthur believes his rabbit is boring! In the end the girls arrange a stellar rabbit party and everyone has a good time.

The debut novel of  young author, Jared Files, is an action, adventure, science fiction thriller, which after a somewhat slow opening, jets off at a rapid-fire pace that keeps the reader sitting on the edge of their seat to the very last page.  The seven spheres, as the title suggests, are seven different globes, each the size of a mango, that have fallen to earth in various locations.  These spheres attach themselves to the persons picking them up and gives them supernatural powers using the elements of the earth.  A high-tech alien race, which claims ownership of the spheres, has waged war against the world as we know it–they need a new planet to call home, and the retrieval of these spheres are the key to their success.  The seven people who now have earthly and unearthly powers must learn to use their new skills to their advantage, and work together, to save the world and those they love.  Although many books have been written about the earth’s elements, this novel is unique in the idea that the elements’ powers can be contained within a small sphere and can attach itself to a human body, and also be transferred to a different body.  The action jumps in chapter to chapter, from character to character, location to location, detailing the learning and action of each of the seven ‘superhumans’ in parallel time, and how they are using their new found powers to learn about each other and how to save the world.  As a side note, there is a commentary from Eskylious, the alien ‘general,’ that rings true:  humans are destroying their own planet through wastefulness and greed.  Files’ book is a winner that every school library should have on it’s shelves–it’s entertaining and perhaps a glimpse into what our future holds.

This book gives facts about the Egyptian Maus breed of cat. This book explains all the great things about the cat, including its history and specific characteristics. Large phptos are found on each page.

Andre was an all-star quarterback, but then was in a bike accident and broke his arm. He missed practice for six weeks, but when he returned to practice none of his family members would help him throw. He ended up playing with his dog and chasing him around his yard. In his first game back he struggled, and couldn’t throw as far as he used to. However, on the winning touchdown of the game, Andre ran the ball into the end-zone! This book is a primitive graphic novel.

This book explains all the different kinds of quiet throughout a child’s day. The illustrations uses colors that are more relaxed.

This a cute story about a baboon named Bobby who is bringing bananas to his class. On the way he goes through adventures with his friends, while trying to find out how many bananas he needs to feed his whole class. The illustrations are bright and colorful.

A dog explains all the things he will do to protect his house and the child he lives with. The illustrations are simple but adorable.

Pierre is a penguin that lives in a zoo and has no feathers. Pam finds a way to keep Pierre warm using a wet suit, and six weeks later Pierre’s feathers grew. This book is told through rhymes. The illustrations are attractive water color. It is based on a true story.