A simple choice to play outside is the apparent cause of disaster in Foreman’s picture book.  In only a sentence or so per page, the story shows the havoc that can ensue when a boy meets a rambunctious dog.  Throughout the tale, the boy states in the narration that these are all horrible turns of events.  At least, until the end.  This story has many strengths, including its relative brevity and its rollicking rhythm (while not in rhyme, the repeated use of the title words give the text a driving pace).

However, there are a few things which could be improved. The pictures themselves are of varying sizes, sometimes taking up just a small portion of the large pages, sometimes filling an entire spread.  While the text is extremely conducive for large group sharing, the smaller-scale watercolors would be difficult to see from any significant distance.

Although this title has weaknesses, children will enjoy the bright colors, fast-pacing, and wild build of events in the story.  This is a fun take on the formula made famous by Laura Numeroff in If You Give A Mouse a Cookie, and will be a fun addition for many libraries.

It’s Saturday and Froggy woke up early wanting to go out and play.  His mom wants him to go back to bed.  He heads over to a friend’s house only to find him gone, so is another friend, and another, until finally, Froggy is sad because all of his friends have gone somewhere.  Froggy’s dad has planned a play date for Froggy with Frogilina, and they are all going to the movies.  Froggy decides that since he really wants to see the movie, he’ll go, but he isn’t happy about having Frogilina tagging along.  Frogilina happens to be a little imp; she throws popcorn at Froggy at the movies, she’s kisses him as if he’s the Frog Prince, and she takes a bite off the bottom of Froggy’s ice cream cone so it drips all over him.  It’s the worst play date ever!   The whole business of a little boy and a little girl being friends and playing together is still a bit disconcerting–even kindergarteners don’t know what to think.  The girls giggle and look at the boys.  Kind of an awkward book for kids.

In this beautifully illustrated book, Miss Maple (think the size of Thumbelina) collects and nurtures orphaned seeds of all kinds.  She travels all over during the summer and collects the seeds, keeps them throughout the year, and when spring comes she launches them where they will thrive.  The illustrations are water color with some black ink outlining.  The voice of the story is calming and soothing.  The scenes of Miss Maple in her tree house make you want to be there.    Could be a great resource if tied with plant/seed science units.

Miss Fox is a teacher whose students see her several times with a police officer, including going into the police station.  They assume that Miss Fox has done something to get herself in trouble.  The rumor mill begins.  When the students see a brochure for Hawaii, they think Miss Fox is going to run away.  It’s nice to see how loyal they are to their teacher.  However, at the end, Miss Fox and her fiance announce their engagement and plans for their wedding and honeymoon in Hawaii.  The kids are relieved to find that their teacher isn’t a criminal.  It’s a simple story about how gossip can hurt someone.  Although for this message, I prefer Madonna’s book, Mr. Peabody’s Apples.

South Dakota is one in the completely revised America the Beautiful series. This book is divided into 9 chapters before the projects, timeline, glossary, fast facts, biographical dictionary, and resources found at the vary back of the text.The nine chapters include: 1- Land, 2- First People, 3- Exploration and Settlement, 4- Growth and Change, 5- More Modern Times, 6-People, 7- Government, 8- Economy, and 9- Travel Guide.

“FARMING AND RANCHING ARE STILL BIG BUSINESS IN THE STATE, BUT THE AVERAGE WORKER IS MORE LIKELY TO BE FOUND IN A FACTORY , OFFICE BUILDING, OR STORE THAN ON A FARM.” Banking and credit cards are big business in South Dakota because of the changes in the state banking laws.

South Dakota has the Black Hills with its gold, Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary, and Mount Rushmore National Memorial. South Dakota, also, has numerous museums and memorials for Native American history, mining,  and air and space.

This book is filled with charts, graphs, maps, and photos which will aid students in attaining the Common Core Standards .

Tennessee is one in the third series of AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL books. This book is divided into 9 chapters before the projects, timeline, glossary, fast facts, biographical dictionary, and resources found at the vary back of the text.The nine chapters include: 1- Land, 2- First People, 3- Exploration and Settlement, 4- Growth and Change, 5- More Modern Times, 6-People, 7- Government, 8- Economy, and 9- Travel Guide.

There is a great combination of vivid detail and a dense, concise overview of facts and information on Tennessee*. Tennessee’s history is a microcosm of the early history of eastern North America / United States. I found it interesting to read about this area in time in relation to one of the thirteen colonies. Tennessee is unique in having had the State of Franklin, the Watauga Association, the Trail of Tears, and the Civil Rights Movement’s death of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Author Barbara A. Somervill’s prose flowed keeping my attention to the end of the paragraph, before venturing off to read the added side bars.

* contributed by T.K. Owens

“You’re traveling through another dimension not only of sight and sound but of the mind; a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That’s the signpost up ahead–your next stop, the Twilight Zone!”  This book is an adaptation from Rod Serling’s original script. Read the book and then watch the episode on HULU !

On a flight from London to New York, there are a few passengers exchanging pleasantries and small talk, when for some unknown reason the plane begins to accelerate. Then Rod Serling, sitting in a passenger seat on Flight 33, says, “The plane is simply going too fast, and nothing within the realm of knowledge…or at least logic… can explain it.”  The plane lurches and is still accelerating, fasten your seat belts sign goes on, the captain makes a calming and reassuring intercom announcement, navigation and radio are both out, one passenger is oblivious, one passenger is sensing danger, and another passenger is clowning around with impossible scenarios. The pilot descends below the cloud cover to look for landmarks. Finally they are in contact with Laguardia, BUT this plane has traveled back in time to 1939. The pilot retraces his steps and the plane travels even further back in time to the days of dinosaurs. Once again, the pilot retraces his steps, this third time (is not the charm) they arrive in the future… a fourth try to get back from the ‘Twilight Zone.’

Here is a story dealing with the complexities of friendship. Two friends both sign up for the BIG RACE. They both want to win. How wiill Sox honestly help his friend Tab improve Tab’s running time when the outcome could cause Sox to loose the race. At the story’s beginning Sox is the faster runner.

As it turns out, friend helps friend to be his best. First, Sox helps Tab train for the race.  Then, Tab helps Sox make it to the finish line after Sox is injured in a fall during the race.

Includes discussion questions and an activity.

Young Scooby-Doo fans will enjoy solving this mystery by studying Duendes del Sur’s illustrations. They will also enjoy seeing Velma, Fred, Daphne, Shaggy, & Scooby-Doo, plus 15+ other words in rebus form during the reading of the story.

The gang is out in the field helping Velma’s Uncle Ted find dinosaur bones for the museum when the previously discovered bones disappear. Scooby-Doo to the rescue!

Chasing Evil is book two in this Beast Quest series, and as such, it does not stand alone; it is necessary to read book one in order to understand what drives Tanner and how Gwen came to the story.  The legend has it that whomever wears the Death Mask will control the five magical beasts of Avantia and, therefore, control Avantia.  After the death of the last Death Mask wearer, the mask was broken in four pieces and hidden throughout Avantia.  An evil army is now on the march to retrieve all the pieces of the Death Mask and thus rule Avantia.  Apparently the evil tyrant who last wore the Death Mask has a trace of mortality left and needs the Death Mask to become whole again.  Similar to Voldemort not being all there in the first few Harry Potter novels.  Tanner is revealed as the first ‘chosen rider’ to have a magic beast and is on a quest to find the other pieces.  The last words of his dying grandmother send him to a mapmaker of a nearby village who will help him.  There he meets Gwen, the second ‘chosen rider’ whose beast is a wolf.  Gwen’s jealous, competitive twin brother turns traitor and gives the evil General Gor the locations of the mask pieces.  This is all in book one.  Then, in book two, the one reviewed here, much of the beginning goes about explaining in a not so exciting way, the story from book one.  Here, Tanner and a disbelieving Gwen, go to rescue her twin brother, Geffen.  As they come to another village which has been destroyed by General Gor, they meet Castor, the third ‘chosen rider,’ who beast is a lion.  The three of them team up to go on the hunt for Geffen and the mask pieces.  Where they find him and events surrounding his rescue are exciting, there isn’t really quite enough in this book to give the reader a reason to keep going onto books three and four.  I am curious as to how the beasts play a part in Avantia, but it sure is taking a long time to get to the point.  Many, many battles with unkillable army leaders.

Author, Bridget Heos, sets to hook her readers by comparing and contrasting real spider silk with that in the Spider Man movies. She follows this by going down to the cellular level of spider silk for comparison. While spider silk is extremely strong the practicality of trying to collect it is not easy.

In steps the genetic research scientists to isolate the spider silk gene and implant it into goat embryos, alfalfa, bacteria,  and silkworms. Next they must extract the spider silk milk and be able to turn it into actual silk.

Heos introduces the reader to the scientists and their lives when not engaged in the laboratory work. For example, they raise the goats, playing with them, and giving them a normal goats’ life outside of the testing. Photographer, Andy Comins, gives us a close up of a spider named Piggy Two on page 45. The sidebar reads- ” Piggy Two is taped down so that silk can be extracted. It will make her tired but will not hurt her. She is given a sip of water and a cricket before the process begins.”

Heos brings up the ethical side of genetic research. All of this is done for the betterment of the world. Cruelty is not practiced. But one issue brought up is how others ( non-scientists) see this work. When working with genetically modified alfalfa, what happens when the neighboring farmer’s field is outside the testing area (say the farmer is trying to raise organic alfalfa) but the bees pollinating the field cross the fence line? Now the genetic test subjects are on both sides of the fence, whether that was the plan or not.   Three-quarters of the way through the book, there is a “Be a Part of the Discussion” section.

The ‘quest’ mentioned in the subtitle had not been reached at the time of publication, but this book is thought provoking!

As Book 3 of the Witches at War series begins, Sam has come along way from being an orphan apprenticed to an old witch, to being a gorgeously dressed, lavishly housed prisoner of Diabolica Nightshade. “On the night of the Midwinter Moon she[ Diabolica] is going to crown herself Wicked but Lovely Witch Queen of All the World. All this is very bad.” Diabolic taunts Sam about her being good and succeeds in enraging Sam. Sam decides to go NASTY even to the point of turning her best friend into a zombie-witch. Diabolica is convinced Sam is evil, after Sam offers and takes a ‘truth potion’. No one can lie after taking the truth potion, but while Sam is telling the truth, it is not the whole truth, because the right questions have not been asked of her. Diabolica’s coronation turns into a battle field with spells flying threw the air. Diabolica’s only competitor for the Witch Queen of All the World, Esmelia, is leading the battle charge against Diaboica, but it is Esmelia’a secret admirer, who leads the wizards into the fray, as the battle seems lost, that wins for the ‘better’ of two evils.

Tween girls now have a super hero group to call their own! The Ultra Violets!  The cover art by”Emmy-nominated animation character design artist, best known for his work on the hit Cartoon Network shows Dexter’s Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls, and Samuri Jack… ” Chris Battle  will draw in the readers. Next, the book is published in purple ink! The Fuchsia is now – dawns the cover.

Four 2nd grade best girlfriends , whose mothers all hold PhDs,  are being baby-sat in a lab at Fascination Laboratory, or FLab, when an accident exposes them to “blue-red goo splattered all over the ninja-princess-samurai-schoolgirls… Heliotropium, the liquefied post-atomic hybrid particle capable of genetically altering any bio-organism on earth.” [Reminds me of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]  Fast forward four years, the  BFF girls are now reunited in middle school and are having a sleepover. Perhaps its puberty, the author doesn’t say, but ‘freaky talents‘  are developing in three of the four friends: purple hair & the ability to change the color of objects, the ability to solve complex math equations with ease, and the ability to out dance anyone on the planet while doing cool ninja moves. The fourth girl has always been the quiet one of the group, but not having any super powers, soon becomes a problem. Then once her super powers emerge – she is the evil one.

Author, Sophie Bell, has captured ‘tween years. Sophie talks directly to the readers at times as on page 96,  “But yes! This chapter also involves a flash of brilliance. A hint of romance. A dash of jealousy. And a lavender dog.” There are numerous take-offs on famous books, characters, etc. : orange brick road, Forever Twenty Fun, Build-a-Girl Workshop, Victoria Shush [Secret] ,Cinnaubonpain, simple is as simple does, with great responsibility, Cher- I’ve got you babes…   And let’s not forget the ‘tween style of talking with IDK  &  NBD, shortened words, and combined words [viomazing] only ‘tweens can understand.

BeauTek housed in the Mall of No Returns, run by Develon Louder [Revlon & Este Lauder] has created mutants and is running tests on animals. This the Ultra Violets have to stop!  “The fate of an entire city in the hands of three sixth-grade girls”

Watch for Book 2 in this series!

Dragonbreath’s 8th book begins with eight pages of full-size graphic novel style illustrations of Wendell Iguana’s nightmares. Danny Dragon helps his friend Wendell overcome the nightmares (which do in fact look like horses) by going into Wendell’s subconscious using a portal inside the refrigerator with a dream-eater in tow. Wendell’s scary school related dreams are defeated by the baku, dream-eater, and “They rode the Night Mares out of the dreamlands.”

Students who have read the first seven Dragonbreath books will want to read this one, too, partly for the art work which accompanies the story.

Pip escapes from an orphanage and manages to sneak a ride on a coach headed for Hangman’s Hollow, a place he’s only heard about in stories but didn’t believe existed.  Once there, he thinks he may have made a mistake in leaving the orphanage and the seafaring future which awaited him, as Hangman’s Hollow is not kid-friendly.  Sam, the owner of a pub, befriends Pip and hides him with his own son who is hidden.  Pip makes his first friend ever and learns how to survive in a world where kids are hunted.  First of all, the illustrations in this book are remarkable.  They are generously placed in the book depicting the evil-looking characters that hunt children, the forbidden forest, the deadly animals, and even the town itself.  The story moves along quickly as Pip and his new friend try to find another child whose siblings and parents have been jailed.  Lots of action and drama and cliffhangers.  Writing is a strong element in this book; I love the vocabulary and the varying sentences.  I would use this book in teaching writing to show how sentences should be mixed up, short and long, simple and complex.  It seems that many UK authors have this ability.  Mould does an excellent of this book one of a new series.  I am definitely adding this and the others to my library collection.

In this fantasy/romance/horror novel, newly mermaid teenage Luce belongs to a tribe of mermaids that sink ships. After a cruise line interrupts a funeral of one of her friends, the mermaids are forced to sink the ship. Once a human hears a mermaid’s song, they must die. However, Dorian, a boy on the cruise ship, sings back to Luce, and she, breaking the mermaid’s covenant, rescues him. Newly orphaned Dorian wants to take revenge for his family and sets out to meet the mermaid that tore his world apart. When the two world’s collide it becomes more than just a simple story of revenge bringing into play the lives of all the mermaids and the traditions that they have been practicing since the dawn of the existence.

This is not a happy-go-lucky lovestruck mermaid story; it is a realistically dark tale. The characters appear to be people that one could see or meet any day. The writing is not complicated; it is easy to understand, but a haunting feeling still lingers after the last page. Readers of fantasy will enjoy this book for its depth and how it confronts every obstacle that would otherwise make the book seem superficial and not nearly as dark.

— Kit H.

In this adventure/mystery/supernatural novel, teenage Tessa is a variant; she can absorb the DNA of anyone she touches and become them. In a small town in Oregon, there has been a series of murders. Tessa is given the mission to play the role of recently murdered Madison who, the world believes “miraculously survives” the attempt on her life. But, in reality, Tessa has to find the murder while trying not to be murdered herself.

The writing style was not too complicated, but it still created an impact on the reader. The plot was fast-paced and flowed evenly until just before the ending where it stumbled, but picked up shortly after. Most of the characters appeared realistic, but a few were fan service. Readers will enjoy the combination of mystery, suspense and the supernatural aspects of this book. Note: One suspects a sequel.

— Kit H.

In this first in a series graphic novel, a young teenage boy has his life changed by events that he can not control. James is forced to join a secret government organization that uses kids to get information on terrorists. This story tells of James’s training and his first mission.

The writing style is written from a teenager’s point-of-view; the language is clear and one that a teenager would use. The artwork is outstanding; the anatomy poses of the characters are true to form and the backgrounds are detailed. The story hooks a reader immediately and can keep one’s attention throughout the entire book. Note that there is some violence in the book and a few actions that may not be suited for younger children (smoking, drinking). This book is recommend for those readers who enjoy action novels.

— Kellyn S.

In this graphic novel, there are three tales of famous war dogs from three different major wars. The first story takes place during World War I – Germany where Boots accompanies a medical assistant in the battle field. The second story takes place during World War II – Greenland where Loki helps a soldier get back to the air base when the soldier gets separated from his group during a mission. The last tale tells the story of Sheba, a war dog in Vietnam.

This book is very informational; the reader is able to learn historical facts about canine war dogs and how they were important during wartime. The creative writing style is continuous throughout the book. The artwork is realistic even though it is in comic book style form. Each story is fast-paced, getting to the point quickly but effectively. These stories are about war – death and blood are depicted. The stories are powerful and fascinating to read. I would recommend this book to mature readers who appreciate and understand the meaning of war. Dog lovers would also enjoy these tales.

— Kellyn S.

Here is a plotless book much like I SPY by Jean Marzolla. Curious George visits and explores 12 structures which are all jam packed with items a curious little monkey would love to touch and play with when left alone. As the reader turns each page of this 10.25″ X 10.25″ book, the top left corner shows a picture of the outside of the structure ( forest cabin, vacation trailer, desert adobe pueblo, tropical stilted bungalow, lighthouse, houseboat, medieval castle, zoo monkey house, high-rise skyscraper*, a tree house, a barn,  and the house were the man with the yellow hat lives) above its brief description told in rhyme, with 4 or 5 or 6 isolated pictures of items to find in the larger page and a half spread of the inside of that particular structure. Each rhyme ends with – “Where is George?”

Young readers will enjoy searching the pages of this book for George and the items!

Printed on heavy paper.

* Skyscraper is misspelled by omitting the second ‘s.

These are always fun book to look at, the pictures are really nice.  There is a little story that goes along with the pictures.  It is fun to try to find the pictures.

This book tells you a lot about a Hot Air balloon.  Even though it is very basic information it is very good information about hot air balloons.  The pictures are very colorful and go well with the text.

There is a table of context in the front and a glossary and “Further Reading”, a list of books and websites for more information.  There is also an index and a page of “fun facts” in the back also.

this is a cute story of a little girl, Zaira,  who has many imaginary friends.   The other children make fun of her.  One day Zaira’s  imaginary friends are gone and she is very sad, until she sees them again and is happy.

The pictures are colorful and interesting.  I like the name of the fairy “Take that”.  It is perfect when she takes the smiles of the faces of the children who are laughing at Zaira.

The cover offers: “Watching the Universe outside your window”, as a hook to catch your interest. I loved the images in this book: from NASA, The Hubble Telescope, constellation drawings, and so much more. The Contents are broken up into four sections ( with 9+ entries in each section) : Watching the night sky, Searching for the stars, Discovering amazing planets, and Galaxies and the Universe.

I did enjoy this book in small sections at a time. My finite mind would just begin to wrap itself around one three dimensional idea when another one was introduced into the equation of space. I found out quickly,  I am not ready to be an astronaut and travel off of this planet! I will need more than this book to help me remember and understand all of the wonderful celestial bodies in this book: nebula, quasars, nebula, globular cluster, black holes, blazar, cepheid , asterism, and more, which often we are made aware of in science fiction accounts, but in fact do exist.

The photos whether taken from space looking further into space or taken  from earth looking up into the night sky, they are breath taking!

Round star maps were presented from different locations on earth, not just from the northern hemisphere.  The constellations presented are viewed from flat star maps, viewed with the unaided eye from earth, viewed with telescopes in part and in whole, and small tidbits of their ancient names / origins.

Comes with a free digital book download.

Here is a book which will give intermediate grade students some of the background needed to better understand why the United States fought a civil war. There are 4 short chapters entitled: Seeds of Secession, The Birth of the Confederate States of America, The Confederate Government, and The  End of an Era. Each chapter is accompanied by historic photographs and lithographs.

From the very beginning of the United States there was lack of communication between towns and states. Each place created its own laws with little regard or effect on other places, but by the early 1800s this was changing. The U.S. government forced the Southern states to purchase Northern manufactured goods by placing tariffs on the cheaper imported goods. Slavery divided North and South even more, especially when new states or territories were added.  Southern states feared their control over the Supreme Court would lessen if A. Lincoln was elected president.  “Some states believed secession was the only way to preserve slavery against the threat of the abolitionists… the Confederacy was founded ‘upon the great truth that the Negro is not equal to the white man.’ ”  Southern states seceded after the election of A. Lincoln, but before he took office. They thought the war would end once Lincoln’s term of office was over, but he was re-elected.  And finally, the Confederate generals did not have the needed skills to compensate for each others short comings. “Jefferson Davis was known for being stubborn… [and] argued over how to proceed.”