DC Comics writer, Scott Sonneborn, gives readers this graphic novel in the TIGER MOTH series.

New girl, Honey Bee, at Antennae Elementary School many of the students  (but not, Tiger Moth- Insect Ninja and his apprentice in training – Kung Pow) in a trance. Honey Bee, who dresses in black and yellow horizontal striped shirts , is running for class president. She is using a special stinger to control the students until after they vote her into office.

Sonneborn uses insect facts interspersed throughout the dialogue to give his readers who know enough about insects the inside track on the humor. Example from page 16 – “That bee is giving me hives!”  and from page 11 – “She’s a shoo-fly-in to win the election.”

This book is very interesting.  It tells of the space program and the risks and accidents, and what caused them.  It is a easy to understand over view of over 20 years of the US Space program, and the challenges they face.  The text is easy to read.  There are good pictures.  It is longer, and probably better for children that are a little older.  It is a nice addition to our non-fiction library.

Great Pictures!  This is a simple book about a variety of snakes indigenous to Africa.  It is a quick read that would hold the attention of young readers, as well as older ones.  The font is easy to read.  The facts are clear and interesting.  A great book on snakes!

This story is about being friends with those who are very different than yourself.  I liked the main character and here different friend, but when it comes to their interactions with others I would have changed the story line.  I liked the beginning, but it seemed to go down hill as the story progressed.  The pictures are colorful but a bit strange, like the story.

This is a quick fun read, with interesting facts about outstanding animals.  The photos of the actual animal are nice and clear.  This is an easy read for young readers with a good glossary of words that may be unfamiliar.  Nice addition to our library.

This is an amazing two-fold book.  It is not only a simple step by step drawing book, but it is also an excellent science book about a large variety of sea animals.  This is a wonderful addition to our science and art sections of our library.  This book is both interesting and fun.

Beautiful oil and acrylic painted illustrations in this large picture book which help to tell the story of this polar bear cub and as his world expands past the known safety of his mother’s side.  The story is the perfect metaphor for young children as they discover the world beyond the safety of their mother’s side.  The large sized book would make a good group read-aloud or a cozy book to share with a young child.

Charming story and illustrations which tell the tale of the cat who was forgotten when the moving van was loaded.  By the time they came back, the cat was gone.  Lost and alone the cat tries to find a new person to adopt.  No one is quite as perfect as her previous owner with the fuzzy slippers.  Then, as she is watching shoes walking down the street, she spots a pair of shiny shoes and is compelled to follow them.    She follows the girl back to the new house of her grandmother–they are the shoes of the grand-daughter of her owner!  Reunited, she snuggles with the slippers on her favorite rug that night.

This everybody, fiction book was written by Cynthia Platt in the style of H.A. Rey.  This story is about George receiving a Chicken Little book from his friend in the yellow hat.  Even though he excitedly anticipates the story all evening, when bedtime comes George cannot sleep for fear that the sky will fall.  Many other books and distractions are tried by the man in the yellow hat, and then he takes George outside and they use a telescope to look up at the sky to make sure it’s not falling.  Then George can have sweet dreams.  Nice addition.

Excellent photographs leading the young artist through each step of the process to create paper mache’ projects.   The projects are simple enough to make, and yet challenging enough to create a nice a nice end product.  It wasn’t clear to this reviewer why the book is called “Earth-Friendly”, as there was nothing different about it and is the same glue, water, newspaper recipes that have been used for decades. Most projects are made from things you would find around your house, such as used egg cartons.   Some of the projects were animals such as bats, salamanders, and centipedes, while others were bracelets, microphones, and hats.

The resources listed at the back of the book had a website called www.dltk-kids.com which had a section on paper mache’ with helpful hints and tips.  Also, the index in the back of the book is very clever as it listed the crafts from EASY to HARD.    I’m sure that this will save many young artists and teachers, some frustration.  This book would make a nice addition to a collection of books.

Great beginner book on airplanes.  The font is very large and easy to read.  The vocabulary is simple, with a glossary at the end to help children understand unfamiliar words.

The photos are clear and interesting.  This book is great for young readers.  It’s a quick read.

This book is all about being creative and being you.  Young girls would have a lot of fun using this book.  There are pages of creative ideas with good clear directions.  The pictures make it easy to understand the directions.  It is a great book for encouraging the old addage my mother use to say.  ” Use it up, wear it out, make it due or due without.”  Or in the case of this book, make it do it over.  This book is a wonderful starting point for young girls to learn some basic sewing skills and crafting methods.

This is a cute book about two families who live next door to each other.  The one family brings home a speed boat.  Sammy’s father brings home a green bath tub.  What is special about a green bath?  Wait until you see.  It can do amazing things.  It ends up that the bath is way more fun than the speed boat.

The pictures are fabulous.  There is a lot to look at in each picture.

It is a great story about not bragging or showing off.

I loved this book of fishy/water poems!  The pictures are wonderfully funny and cute.

The poems are creative and teach about many water dwelling animals.  The large font is easy to read.

What a fun book!

This is a funny story about a zombie child, his mother, and his struggle to go to sleep at night.

For kids who enjoy zombie stories, this would be a fun read.  The pictures are simple and fun.

The story is written as a rhyme.

I liked it.  O think kids who like monsters will like it too.

This is a fun kids cook book, full of yummy things kids would enjoy making and eating.

The interesting science facts with each recipe is a great way to teach applied science, and helps kid see science is around them in everything.

The glossary in the back explains terms new cooks may not be familiar with.  The colored pictures of how to-do-it

This story is full of funny words to familiar tunes.  Kids would probably think they are funny.

The story was just ok.  The sibling bugs have a poor relationship with each other, which never quite gets resolved.

The font is easy to read.  The vocabulary is beyond beginner.  It was just OK.

This is a nonfiction book with a very conventional, traditional format.  There are occasional captions which offer explanation of photos.  Along with this are the Fun Fact! captions which include something interesting in one sentence.  It is a good addition to the dry text.  The glossary (Words to Know) are in red, which is nice feature throughout the book.  There are also pronunciation cues in the back of the book.  Also included is a Habitat Map, located in the back of the book.  I’d like to see it in the front of the book, but am impressed that they have included it at all, since too many nonfiction books do not include this crucial information.  The size scale, comparing humans to zebras, was a perfect compare and contrast skill.

Find Out More, which gives titles of books and the www.factsfornow.scholastic.com website offers additional resources.  The website’s face is beautifully simple (less is better) and it offers a Grolier encyclopedia article.  The best feature is the simple search engine, but the articles are more dry text.  I like the fact hound site better, where there is a variety of vetted websites, some including games and fun activities and variety of resources.

Well, organized and informative non-fiction book would lend itself to a student led research report on this breed of dog.  The chapters are outlined with all of the classic information and each chapter is free of distractions such as captions, colors, graphs, etc.  The traditional format may work well with learners are need a straight forward focus.  This series has the typical glossary, and index.  The bold faced vocabulary words throughout the book were a bonus.  Included in this series is the website feature.  www.abdopublishing.com.  However, upon arriving at the website I could not locate the information about Cesky terriers.  I recommend reformatting the website with an obvious link at the top which allows the student to easy enter the name of the book and the suggested links will appear.  It’s a useless activity for children to follow the general information provided in the back of the book about going to the publishing website and looking for our Book Links page. This reviewer wasn’t able to locate it, I wouldn’t ask a student to do it.

Spiders  is one of 32 books in the Level 1: Emergent reader series Backyard Wildlife.

There are nine pages of simple text dealing with an amazing amount of good basic spider information. Each of these pages has two sentences in a large font. Opposite the text is a high definition photograph, often showing the great detail of the spider’s hairy legs or the patterning on the spider’s body.

The excellent glossary page includes: arachnids, fangs, insects, prey, and venom among 8 other words.

Includes: Glossary, To Learn More, On the Web (www.factsurfer.com), and Index.

Monster Trucks is one of 6 books in the Level 1: Emergent reader series Monster Machines.

There are nine pages of simple text. Each of these pages has two sentences in a large font. These trucks are definitely not your everyday variety of truck!  They’re huge. “Their tires are taller than a kid!” (page 8) . Their paint jobs, super-sized tires, and “super-charged engines” command attention. Opposite the text is a high definition photograph of a monster truck , usually in action during a rally. Young truck loving readers will enjoy this book.

Includes: Glossary, To Learn More, On the Web (www.factsurfer.com), and Index.

Baby Penguins is one of 13 books in the Level 1: Emergent reader series SUPER CUTE! of baby animals. This book lives up to the series title Super Cute!

There are nine pages of simple text dealing with hatching from an egg, covered in down, and being feed by the mother.Each of these pages has two sentences in a large font. Opposite the text is a high definition photograph of a baby penguin(s). Three of the nine photos may actually be life-size!

Includes: Glossary, To Learn More, On the Web (www.factsurfer.com), and Index.

I liked how this nonfiction book placed the vocabulary words at the BEGINNING of the book, instead of the end.  It’s after the fact at the end.  Appreciated is the no nonsense explanation of the antaomy, food, and lifecycle of fireflies.  The phones with the life cycle was an exceptional touch.  Missing is a geography page where we can locate these creatures on the planet.  Also a scale of size would be nice, how about a page comparing it to a common house fly, bee, robin, etc. so that the students could practice compare and contrast. Also, this reviewer wasn’t able to get to the suggested website, http://readysetflow.org/activitysheets/index.html.  Additional purchase

This is a charming beginning reader chapter book which is twisted continuation of Little Red Riding Hood.  The big bad wolf ends up in the emergency room because he is choking on something, as the nurse comforts the little girl who can’t find her grandmother, the doctor squeezes with all her might.  Grandmother is saved, after much suspense, and a happy ending is enjoyed by everyone-except the big bad wolf.  Unfortunately for him, it’s against the law to eat grandmothers and the police were called to take him away.  Charming pictures contribute to this quality book! Recommended.

This book is affiliated with Amnesty International, which is a global human rights organization.  This book explores the psychology behind soldiers fighting their “enemies” and what they might have in common.  In this story the soldier is told that the enemy is evil and as soon as he can kill him he can go home.  He endures much discomfort, fear and trauma before he learns that the enemy was also told the he was evil and as soon as “the enemy” could kill him, the enemy could go home.  In the end he realizes how much in common they have and the soldiers end with a truce.  Time to go back to their families.  A message delivered in a delicate manner, sure to solicit good discussion.