In Beastly Brains: Exploring How Animals Talk, Think, And Feel environmental educator and photographer Nancy Castaldo explores the minds of animals and explores how animals communicate, use tools, live in social societies, and show empathy. Using interviews and historical information, Castaldo looks at the  researchers from Charles Darwin to Jane Goodall, and many others, to look at the minds of animals. The reader will discover all kinds of fascinating information, including that dolphins are the animals with largest brains relative to body size next to humans. But dolphins have more folds in their cortex than any other animal, including man. Scientists believe that the folds provide more room for neurons.  

There are many more interesting facts and stories of animals, accompanied by wonderful photographs. The book includes sidebars, a glossary, source notes, an index, lists of recommended videos, books, and a Nobel Prize lecture, in addition to an extensive bibliography.

For those enjoying science non-fiction, Castaldo has two other books of interest, Sniffer Dogs: How Dogs (And Their Noses) Save the World,   and The Story of Seeds: From Mendel’s Garden to Your Plate, And How There’s More of Less to Eat Around the World.

Sherlock Bones leads the reader step-by-step through his thought process as he attempts to find who stole the museum’s Royal Blue Diamond. Sherlock Bones is a Tawny Frogmouth bird skeleton from one of the museum’s exhibits and his partner Watts is a stuffed Indian Ringneck Parrot, Blue Mutation from another exhibit. Together Sherlock Bones is sure he and Watts will be able to solve the mystery of the stolen diamond, otherwise all of the museum exhibits will be packed up and put into storage. They definitely do not want that to happen. Watts never says a word or moves, for that matter. Sherlock Bones has to carry Watts everywhere. But that does not stop Watts from being a great partner. Sherlock bounces questions off of Watts and either ‘hears‘ Watts’ answer ( no one else can hear Watts) or comes up with an answer on his own. Sherlock is suspicious of everything that moves in the museum after closing hours: the raccoon- Grace, the rats, and even the security guard.

While Sherlock Bones, Watts, and even Grace try to solve the mystery the reader goes on a very nice walking tour of the museum after hours. Educational, perhaps. There are several false leads before the mystery is solved on this inside job. The question now is, who solved the mystery first?

The graphic novel format makes for a hilarious tongue-in-cheek read.

Written by Alice Fay Duncan
Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie

In this historical fiction picture book, the author tells the story of the Sanitation Strike of 1968 through the eyes of a young girl that was there. Using poetry and prose throughout the dazzling illustrated book, Alice Fay Duncan recounts this tragic event. Ms. Duncan didn’t focus on the death of Martin Luther King Junior but on the strike and the fight for equality among the Blacks in the South. The text has been thoroughly researched and is cited. It is written in such a way that young readers will understand.

Rachael L. Thomas

In this information packed book, young readers will learn about Prairie Dogs. With great pictures, diagrams and easy to read text, readers will walk away with an abundance of knowledge of how Prairie Dogs live, why they are important to our ecosystem and how they got their name. The book includes a quiz and a glossary.

By Christine Peterson

Discover Rocks introduces readers to rocks; the different types, how rocks are formed and the rock cycle. With beautiful pictures, easy to read text and a wide range of examples, this book is a good supplement to any cirriculum.

This book is a great example of a nonfiction book with a table of contents, glossary and index. As an added bonus, this book includes a rock making activity.

By Rosemary Wells

Noisy Nora is at it again. In this whimsical book, Nora hears someone playing a violin. She is so intrigued that she convinces her parents to let her learn to play. She practices hard but the rest of the family doesn’t enjoy it. Nora has it set in her mind to be able to play a particular song for a very special day and person. Read this brightly colored book to find out if she meets her goal.

Written by Billy Aronson
Illustrated by Jennifer Oxley

Two unlikely girls meet in an unusual way. Melia, the scientist who likes everything orderly is bombarded by her new next door neighbor, Jo, who fancies herself a dancer. Jo enters Melia’s lab without permission and starts touching and rearranging Melia’s inventions. After the disruption, Jo dances her way home leaving Melia to clean up her lab. While cleaning up, Melia starts looking at her inventions in a different light. Melia reializes that her and Jo are more alike than she thought. Is there a collabration in their future?

In the back of the book, the author shows the readers how to make paper airplane. He also includes a check list for the Perfect Steam Dream Team.

By Jason Shiga

This book is a mixture of comic and choose your own adventure. It all starts with selecting a simple choice between chocolate and vanilla. That simple question branches out into a wild ride of different adventures that the story can take you on. The main character, Jimmy, whose every move is under your control, finds himself in a mad scientist’s lab, where he’s given a choice between three amazing objects: a mind-reading device, a time-travel machine, or the Killitron 3000. Each path you follow is filled with puzzles, clues or shocking revelations. The tabs move you through the book in a wholly new way and each read of the text provides tou with a new opportunity for adventure!

I fell in love with the similes Deb Caletti uses to describe various situations. That’s what kept me going until I finally realized The Weird in the Wilds: Tales of Triumph and Disaster! is Book 2. The background information from Book 1- A Flicker of Courage would have made this more enjoyable from the very beginning, but I am glad I stuck it out.

If you are a Harry Potter fan because of the magic and strange creatures, give The Weird in the Wilds: Tales of Triumph and Disaster! a try. The villain Vlad Luxor turns the school yard bully, Jason, whom he thinks insulted him into a gerenuk. Then, the heroes spend a good part of the story trying to turn Jason back into a boy again at the request of their teacher, Ms. Fortune. Our four heroes: Henry, Apollo, Jo, and Pirate Girl, are new to the business of being ‘spell breakers’.

To break the Bizarro Crueltildo spell placed upon Jason by Vlad the group must travel through The Wilds, a place all the locals avoid and for good reason. For one thing, The Shadow lives there. The gerenuk keeps wandering off in his continuous search for food, this makes him just as irritating to the heroes as when he was the bully Jason calling everyone and everything weird.

Deb Caletti has placed some pearls of wisdom along the way – “Weirdness is beautiful…But weirdness is powerful, too”. (208) Also, “Sometimes, cruelty is like a very strong cologne. a person stops smelling it on themselves. Other times, though, a person will tire of seeing everyone else crinkle their nose whenever they walk into a room. And then they decide to change.” (244)

Weirdness equals uniqueness which can be very uplifting and reaffirming. All in all, not a bad thing to be.

Please read Book 1 first because you’ll be sorry if you give up on The Weird in the Wilds: Tales of Triumph and Disaster! especially, if you are a Harry Potter fan.

Deb Caletti has sprinkled odd images throughout The Weird in the Wilds: Tales of Triumph and Disaster! has if taken from a very old Ripley’s Believe it or Not or sideshow acts from the early 1900s. Odd but fun. Yes, odd or weird is a theme of this book, so there you go. Enjoy!

Written by Jasmyn Wright
Art by Shannon Wright

I’m Gonna Push Through is a beautful book with an amazing message. Based on the author’s mantra written for her third graders, the Push Through Organization started. In this book, students will learn the importance of pushing through and what looks like. She introduces the readers to many famous people that had to push through to accomplish their dreams. Resiliency is a global movement and this book puts the idea into kid friendly language. Not only does it represent famous people who have pushed through, but given the diverse collection of student faces and abilities for the reader to relate to within the story. Included at the end is little snippets of the famous people the author introduced that had pushed through. The book concluded with the story of this incredible teacher and how she started the Push Though Organization.

By Jessica Hische

In a follow up to Tommorrow I’ll Be Brave, Jessica Hische introduces children to more inspirational words and ideas. On beautifully written and illustrated pages, she takes students on a journey of how what is done today can be done again and again and have a lasting effect. One spark of kindness will light up the darkness.

By Emma Bassier

Manners on the Playground is a great interactive book with QR codes for extra activities. It relays a good message about manners on the playground. The book includes a lesson plan for those interested in diving deeper with students. This is a great resource for those working with playground conflicts. It is also made in part with recycled materials.

These are not your dragons from fairy tale days. These are dragons on a mission. Dragons who do the bidding of the powerful evil Lennix family from Fortress Lennix. The Lennix want to rule the world and dragons are a huge part our this undertaking. The Lennix matriarch , D’Mara realizes she needs a special silver dragon to achieve her goal because some of the younger dragons are beginning to grumble. In comes poor orphaned Joss who literally has a silver dragon egg dropped from the sky into his life. Thrills, treachery, and hope follow as the silver dragon Lysander hatches, grows, and locks (bonds) with Joss, all while D’Mara is furiously having her family and dragons out searching for THE egg.

It turns out a few dragons are not savage and not all Lennix family members are cruel, but need to keep this hidden and play the part to survive.

The sub-plot plays a small role in this first book in the series. Sirin’s mother has shared centuries old dragon stories with her daughter and given Sirin the precious dragonstone to keep. Sirin is about to loose her mother due to illness. Sirin is able to visit her mother in the (present day) hospital while she lives in foster care.

Sirin’s and Joss’ / Lysander’s worlds come together just as this book concludes. Cliffhanger!

Book includes a set of nine game cards and directions inside the book’s covers.

What a wonderful collection of ten stories by ten different authors and all for the price of $12.99. What a deal! My biggest problem with this book is the title! If a person read each story in five minutes they would totally miss out on the illustrations which make the stories come to life because “A picture is worth a thousand words.” The text and illustrations are by their original authors and illustrators from their first publication dates, which run from 2004 – 2018.

The titles include: A Couple of Boys have the Best Week Ever by Marla Frazee, Space Boy by Leo Landry, Happy Belly, Happy Smile by Rachel Isadora, Guyku: A Year of Haiku Boys by Bob Raczka, Mustache Baby by Bridget Heos, Quiet Wyatt by Tammi Sauer, Kid Amazing vs. the Blob by Josh Schneider ( a Theodor Suess Geisel Award winner), Brothers by David McPhail, Curious George and the Firefighters by Margret and H.A. Rey, and Real Cowboys by Kate Hoefler.

By Jesse Wiley

A perfect “choose your own adventure” book for those students who love video games.

The reader picks the path to go on and follows the color trail, turning pages riddle with bright pictures and many choices. The end goal is to make it safe and sound to Oregon City while encountering the same trials and tribulations that the pioneers faced. With more than 50 scenarios, this book will take the reader on a long trek and provide many hours of entertainment.

Written by Einal Tsarfati

This book tells the story of a very imaginative girl who lives on the seventh floor of an apartment building. Daily, as she walks the stairs, she imagines who lives behind the doors of other apartments. She makes up creative stories about the occupants to divert her mind from her own boring apartment, which turns out not to be so boring.

Orginally written in Hebrew, Annette Appel translates this expressive tale for our pleasure.

Written by Kerry Lyn Sparrow
Illustrated by Guillaume Perrault

Kerry Lyn Sparrow introduces us to Duncan, the boy who likes the many preparations of getting ready for bed except the actual act of going to sleep. His exasperated Mom goes one step further one night. When Duncan complain again that he can’t sleep, Mom suggested counting sheep. In this hilarious story, Duncan encounters quite the flock of sheep. Thanks to a particular sheep, Duncan eventaully falls asleep.

Written and illustrated by Rashin Kheinyeh

This book is based on a memory of the author and depicts some of the differences between the United States and Iran.

After moving to New York City, Rashin’s parents take her and her brother to Coney Island. Along the way, Rashin reminisces about her family’s trips to the Caspian Sea and her favorite part, getting saffron ice cream.

Upon arriving at Coney Island, Rashin discoveries that many things are drastically different in America. Will she be disappointed or delighted with her new discoveries?

The bright folkart type illustrations do a good job reflecting the story and the author.

Written and illustrated Jennifer Black Reinhardt

Jennifer Black Reinhardt introduces us to Alfred, a nervous possum that couldn’t excel in most activities. Whenever he encountered an uncomfortable situation, Alfred played dead. Then Alfred notices Sophia an armadillo who curls into a ball when she feels nervous.

Together, they discover thaqt with patience, they no longer are nervous around each other. They start to notice other animals defense mechanisms. They try all sorts of things to overcome the other animals’ nervous habits and become friends.

The author includes a short essay on truth and imagination and a short glossary of animals.