Lots of students, especially boys, are interested in car racing.  This book gives them the history of auto racing as well as the numbers involved.  In car racing, the main number people care about is speed–how fast can a car go?  Car racing has been around longer than people think, as early as the mid 1890’s.  By the early 1900’s, cars were topping speeds over 120 mph.  Cash prizes were awarded to people who could build cars going great distances.  Large money prizes have always been awarded in big races.  In 1911, the first ever Indy 500 (500 miles) was held with a $25,000 prize; in 1912, the prize was $50,000.  Now, as it was then, money seems to follow the cars.

In this volume of the Swedish triplet series, the girls find and care for a stray dog.  When they take him back to his home, he returns to them again.  His owner realizes that the dog, Mike, isn’t suited for farm work and gives him to the three girls.  They are indescribably happy to have him.  Again, what a sweet story Lindman has written.  Young students will truly enjoy reading a story about kids that get to keep a dog they’ve found.  Some things never get old.

This story goes back to a time when life was very simple and simple stories were entertaining for children.  Flicka, Ricka, and Dicka are three Swedish triplets (dressed alike) who take care of their aunt and uncle’s cat while they are gone.  The story is somewhat unrealistic as it takes place so long ago and in Sweden.  But kids reading it won’t know that; they will be entralled that the cat had kittens.  This is a story in which the story is read to the child.  The story is simple and sweet, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

I recommended this book for third grade and up because I believe the information presented is so clear and understandable.  Kathy Allen gives suggestions of how, when, and why to use your cellphone and also gives examples of consequences for not following those suggestions.  Opportunities are given for discussions of what is the right thing to do in a given situation, as well as safety precautions to take.    Anybody new to a cellphone will benefit from reading this book.

This is a cute story about a dog who gets an outfit and is embarrassed. He is teased by the other dogs. Then he sees Dart who has an outfit and is not fazed by it.  In fact Dart seems to be better because of his outfit.  And Dart likes Zorro’s outfit!  They play together and have a great time.  Zorro decided that the outfit wasn’t so bad after all.

A chronology of Plains Indians using their love for horses as a key vehicle to their successful life on the Great Plains of North America.

This book is refreshingly presented from the Plains Indians side of history. Presented with vintage photographs by Edward S. Curtis and Walter McClintock, along side artifacts and present photos by William Munoz.

Eight chapters beginning with Chapter 1- Living in the Dog Days  tells of life on the plains before Columbus and the Spanish bringing horses to North America. Dogs pulling travois were used to help the people follow the herds before horses were introduced to America.  Chapter 2- The Miraculous Horse tells of the ill treatment of the Indians by the Spaniards. The Indians were frightened of these never before seen animals at first. Over the years, horses broke free from the Spaniards in some places and in other places the Indians acquired horses after driving the Spaniards off. The horse would now slowly work its way across the Plains as wild horses or by being traded between tribes. Once this began, Plains life became more mobile because horses could travel further, faster, and carry more with travois and dogs could carry. Chapter 3-More Than a Hundred Years of Horse Culture tells of  buffalo hunting, war horses,  horse-stealing raids, and the white encroachment of the Plains.  Then, in  Chapter 6-Tragedies Strike and Chapter 7- Life Between Two Worlds deal with separating the Indians from their horses. Much of this history is about Indians without their horses.  “The authorities believed that Indians without horses would be easier to control…” ( p. 65)  Indians are now on reservations, children are going to boarding schools, and some Indians are earning money performing in Wild West Shows around the country and in Europe. Chapter 8- Indians and Horses Today brings us to 1934 with the appointment of a new commissioner for Indian Affairs and the passing of the Indian Reorganization Act. Indians are allowed to own horses again. This leads up to the year 1986 when THE BIG FOOT Memorial Ride is begun in memory of the Wounded Knee Massacre on December 29, 1890.  The book closes with, “As they continue their efforts to keep their culture vibrant and meaningful in today’s world, the Plains tribes will always be sure to include their most important animal partner– the horse– in their plans and in their dreams.”  (p. 93)

In this series, a brother, sister, and best friend are members of a club, the Spotlighters, who consider themselves detectives.  They’ve had some experience in solving mysteries and work well together.  The story doesn’t say how old they are, but middle school age seems to fit by their actions.  In this episode, there was a famous artist who had lived in their town.  He loved puzzles and riddles and had left clues for his only daughter to find his treasures.  Unfortunately, she died young and the mystery was left unsolved.  With nothing to go on except the daughter’s diary, the Spotlighters put together the clues to piece it together.  There is some conflict with the ancestors of this artist not cooperating, and the possibility of ghosts in the cemetery, but the three friends test their various theories.  I enjoyed this book because it seemed to fill a need for students who read at a lower level than what their age would indicate.  The cover art of the book shows older kids, not young kids, which would also appeal to middle-schoolers.  The characters are believable and resourceful and the dialog is appropriate.  The story moves quickly and kids won’t get bored.  This would be a great addition to both elementary and middle school libraries.

What I thought was going to be a fractured fairy tale of the Frog Prince turned out to be much more.

This tale of being half frog and half human blends itself nicely into the graphic novel format.

While Pete enjoys living in the swamp with his frog father, he doesn’t always fit into the total frog lifestyle – he’s at least 10X bigger than the other frogs, plus he wears clothes. Then unexpectedly while his tongue is shooting out to catch a fly, it sticks to a speeding car and Pete finds himself in the city. Now Pete finds himself in a middle school trying to fit in scholastically, athletically, and at lunch socially. When Pete is revealed as half frog/half human he jumps through a window and finds himself at the edge of the trash-filled school pond. Suddenly, but effectively, Pete springs into ‘reuse’ , ‘reduce’, and ‘recycle’ mode. The students help Pete clean up the pond for  happy ending.

Some of the boxed time signatures are off and there is a misspelled word on page 7  (loose, should be lose).

Includes: Visual Questions.

Let me start by saying, “I work at a Native American school.”  That said, skip this book and go directly to the first and fourth web site listed on page 40 of the book. If by stories they mean bits of trivia, then this book is just ‘OK’, but if by story they mean tales that will engage the reader, this book falls flat.  Most of the stories are mere crumbs, four maybe five sentences, leaving the reader wanting more which is never given. There are five page long  ‘retelling(s)’  but the artwork on the opposite page looks more Eastern-European than Native American. Each turn of the page usually brings a photo of an artifact of something associated with Native Americans, but often as not, it is not tied to a story or legend. Four times the book tries to link American Indian myths with similar myths in other cultures: Africa, China, and Scandinavia , but each time they are grasping at straws.

American Indians are too vast and too diverse to be effectively covered in 47 pages.

Delightful picture book by Neil Flory. Drawings are cute and would surely appeal to the average 5 to 7 year old. The storyline is about a giraffe named Geri, the shortest giraffe who ever lived. Geri’s height causes all sorts of problems when Bobo the baboon tries to take a photo of the herd. Find out how one herd of giraffes learns how to get EVERYONE to fit!

Nice, large illustrations, good binding, make for a quality, informative book about making good food choices.  The first chapter discusses the “picky eater” and has he father taking his son to the locally grown organic section of the grocery story to shop for foods that are right in nutrients.  Chapter two brings to live the five food groups and even discusses sugar and how little and why you would want in your body.  Later in the book, food choices for lunches, desserts,  and snacks are examined as healthy choices.  There is a formulaic procedure listed in the back on how to create an energy lunch, complete with glossary and further resources.  Recommended, mostly because it’s challenging to find quality books with new nutrition information.

This book has many great features which include photos, captions glossary, index, a timeline and more.  The one piece that caught my attention and earned my praise was the feature called: Today’s persepctive.  It included that often overlooked piece of how we view history differently through the lense of time.  Fox example, the section which told about Pearl Harbor included that American’s felt that it was a “sneak attack” by the Japanese.  However, now historians are saying that is was more a critical intelligence failure on the part of the US.  They felt Japan wasn’t capable of pulling off an attack.  It was a disastrous error to underestimate Japan.  I like how the book is open to new ways of viewing history, and for this reason am recommending it.

A catchy title, nice graphics for lower readers which need high interest, very enticing topics, but probably not the content to support the average  student led science project.   This book could be used to motivate students who aren’t interested in science or completion of an experiment and need encouragement which allows them to use topics or language that isn’t necessarily appropriate or allowed in a school setting.  Topics such as poop, snot, smelly sneakers are used as subjects in the 11 experiments provided.  Although this isn’t the book most teachers or parents will grab, there will probably be some lower readers and challenging students who will enjoy looking through the book.

A hilariously funny everybody book which helps us to explain the origin of the Yankee Doodle tune and make sense of it all.  The story begins with the bored Yankee taking the suggestion from his pony that they go into town.  The horse suggests that he could go shopping for a feather and place in in his hat and call it macaroni.  The Yankee questions the logic in this plan.   The horse then enlightens us that the term “macaroni” was often used as a synonym for “fancy”.  They pony nearly makes a case for going into town when the Yankee hurts his feelings in a last ditch effort to win the argument. To make amends, he ends up going into town with his pony…in a sporty car.  Everyone’s happy by the end. Tom Angelberger has another winning book, besides his success with Origami Yoda books.

This is a great beginning drawing book.  It opens with some basic drawing warm ups, and some practice in looking at vehicles and seeing the shapes that make up the machine.  Then it goes into the basic ways to draw a large variety of vehicles.  There are interesting facts telling about each one.  This book not only teaches drawing, but has actual photos and a bit of history about each one.  Great book especially for boys who like to draw.

This book is amazing, and extremely interesting.  There are so many details about getting into space, and living there.  The book covers much of the history of the ISS becoming what it is today.  It answers may questions children ask about being an astronaut.  The book has clear pictures taken on and from the space station.  This is a great addition to our non-fiction section of our library!

This is a fun simple book for drawing characters.  The step by step numbered instructions are easy to follow.  The colored example at the end makes them look so professional.

I think children will enjoy learning to draw from this book.  There are fourteen different characters, and instructions at the end of the book for adding motion, dialogue, and emotion.

Nice beginning drawing book.

I liked this color book.  It is written as a rhyme, and teaches primary and secondary colors.  It is a fun way for children to learn about colors.

The pictures are bright and cheerful.  The font in large and easy to read.  It would be a quick easy read with a young group of children.

This is the second book in The Spindlewood Tales I’ve read and I have yet to come across any depth either in the story or the characters.  It’s pretty much a dark and dreary tale, and although it’s not stated, it must take place during the Dark or Middle Ages.  They call it a city, but it’s really a village, called Hangman’s Hollow… charming.  Children are nonexistent, banished, stolen, jailed.  Mr. Jarvis, the antaognist, lives for the sole purpose to find hidden children and drag them off.  Captain Dooley, a wooden toy sailor made from a tree from the woods, will answer any question posed to him and sniffs out children, who are then hauled to the woods.  The war is between the village’s Jarvis and the woods, with the children used as pawns.  The story is about three children hiding from the evil, and the constant threat of being discovered.  There is quite a bit of action within the 170 pages, which should please immature readers.  More capable readers will question the reasons for the misery, as well as want to know more about the children, and why there aren’t any people willing to stand up for them.  This story needs a true hero.

This is a funny rhyming story about dinosaurs and many styles of wrestling.  It is a funny combo, but lots of fun.  Boys especially would enjoy this book.  The pictures are colorful and expressive.  The vocabulary is simple, so young readers could enjoy the read.  The font is bold and easily read.  Fun story, especially for those who enjoy wrestling.

This was a very interesting read.  The book talks about the many different types of therapy horses, and the resulting helpful affects on the people they are serving.  It talks about not only the horses, and types used, but the vast number of people involved in this type of therapy.

The book is encouraging and interesting.  I am a bit afraid of horses, and could see by reading, how some types of horse therapy would help people like me overcome fears, and grow in confidence and courage.

It is a unique kind of book, that horse lovers, or someone looking for books on different carrier options would enjoy.  It has nice clear pictures, with large easily read font.

This is a great unique book!  It teaches shopping skills, and about marketing, and value.  There are thought provoking questions in boxes on many pages.  The end of the story teaches a bit about advertising, and has a project for the reader.

The story is fun, and something most kids could identify with.  The font is bold, and easy to read.

I liked how it covered a broad range of shopping options, and how the boy found the best one for him.  Fun way to talk about budgeting.

Opening and reading this book is a bit like opening a surprise package–something I had not expected, but what a nice surprise.  Homer Pudding, age 12, is a misfit in his family.  His father is a goat farmer who has prize-winning dogs, his mother is a prize-winning baker, and his sister is a self-absorbed teenager.  Homer hates going to the annual fair and his family loves it.  He would much rather spend his time poring over maps and daydream about treasure hunting.  His dog, Dog, is a basset hound and his best companion but is pretty useless as far as dogs go.  He does have a talent, however, for smelling  treasure.  Homer acquired Dog upon his Uncle Drake’s death, along with his uncle’s seat on the L.O.S.T. Society.  This Society stands for Legends, Objects, Secrets, and Treasures, and their goals are to hunt for treasure, not for personal gain but for the satisfaction of the hunt, and turn the artifacts and any treasure over to the appropriate museum for the public to view and enjoy.  Homer receives a letter asking him to attend the next Society meeting and off he goes.  The people he encounters are very unusual and bizarre, to say the least.  Zelda, a giantess, who flies a ‘cloudcopter,’ Hercules, a boy of similar age who is afraid of his own shadow but belongs to a family of extroverts, and Lorelei, an also same-aged orphan competing with Homer for his seat on the Society.  Together, the three youngsters set off on an adventure that includes skydiving, spelunking, escaping a grizzly bear, and form a steadfast friendship. When Homer returns home, his family hasn’t even realized he’d been gone, as they’d been so involved in the fair.  Book three of this series is out, and all three books would be an excellent addition to any elementary school library.

This is a strange story about a child and his/her father going to an imaginary fair.  The pictures make the story.  They are rather flat and geometric looking, but full of fun things to discover.

The story seems sort of slow, and boring, and disjointed.  It is like something a third grader wrote.  Maybe it lost something in the translation, but I found it to be uninteresting, with no real story line.  It just sort of wanders around the fair.

This is a cute, fun story.  It has a great lesson at the end, with a rather fun twist.  It emphasizes gratitude, and being polite to people who give you gifts.

The pictures are great, and the font is large and easy to read.  This would be a good read for young readers.