Colonial Traditions is one of the books in a series about colonial life from the 1600s to 1776.  Beginning with a labeled map of the 13 original colonies, each chapter is focused on one aspect of life.  Because all work, farming, building, cooking, and sewing, had to be done by hand, this book lends a variety of perspectives of the work needed to be successful in a new land.  It touches on slavery and Native Americans but does not go into much detail.  Bolded words are defined on the page as well as in the glossary.  Many “Did You Know” bubbles provide additional interesting facts.  Simple and colorful illustrations are well-placed within the text.  Two companion books, one by Verna Fisher, provide projects and activities that can be paired with the whole series on Colonial America.  These books provide a realistic look at life of a colonist in the 1600-1700s.  Other books in the Colonial series include: Clothes, Food, Homes, Jobs, Families, Farms, and Towns.  Recommended for elementary school libraries.

Beasts are described as wild animals and are divided into chapters depending on features.  Aimed toward reluctant readers, the photographs are large and the text minimal.  Most photos show only the head so all animals appear to be the same size.  The page layout and muted background color choices are pleasing.  Basic information may lead to further investigations.  Some words are in bold font but not all are found in the glossary.  The word “bounce” is defined but “crustacean” is not.  There is a short true/false quiz at the back.  No index or recommended books or websites for further information are included.

If you live in the United States, you probably know that Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese military in 1941, an act which triggered America’s involvement in World War II.  You probably DON’T know, however, that the Japanese invaded Alaska’s Aleutian Islands six months later.  This meticulously researched book tells that story.

The packaging here is masterful.  The cover is enticing and edgy, the book is shaped like most novels, primary source photos pop up on many of the pages, and the font size is large and readable.  Seiple, who has worked as a competitive intelligence specialist for a Fortune 100 company (according to the flap), includes fourteen pages of source notes and image credits.  She also gives the reader wonderful finding aids, including both a table of contents, and an eight page index.  In between, she tells the story more-or-less chronologically, from the perspectives of a wide variety of participants in the events.  The information is based not only on formerly confidential documents from the United States government, but on interviews with some of the witnesses of the events who are still alive.

The only downside to this title is that the narrative is not always as engrossing it could be.  Seiple sticks to the facts and primary testimony, and that can at times make this a dry read.  The unique strengths of this title, however, outweigh the weaknesses, and those strengths make this an essential purchase for any library, particularly libraries serving a military population.

Children love books about creatures.  Illustrated, diary-style chapter books are one of the hottest trends in youth literature today.  The Mystic Phyles combines these two elements to tell the story of Abigail Thaddeus, an outsider who is asked by a cat to research mythical creatures.  The presentation of this book couldn’t be much more attractive.  The whole book is in full-color, and pictures, clippings, photographs, and “hand-written” notes fill its pages.  Abigail tells her story in journal form, including the event of the mysterious request that she learn about mythical creatures, and records her findings in this book.  The information about creatures varies in length – some entries have only a single spread, some have pages of alternate illustrations and theories about the history of the creature in question.  This title would be stronger if the information on the creatures was more consistent.  The appeal factors override the weak elements however, and kids will eagerly look forward to the next installment of Abigail’s story.

Robert Goldstrom’s whimsical illustrations star in this journey through dreamland.  This is Goldstrom’s first picture book, and his illustrations already feel classic.  A father and son leave their home in a giant paper hat.  They sail through clouds, stars and galaxies, meeting ghost-like constellations, winged cats, a UFO, and a smiling moon which is really a balloon.  The text is lyrical and old-fashioned, using words like “cur” and phrases like “give chase,” and repeating the refrain, “Dream away, dream away, sleepyhead, love. / Set sail for the ocean of stars up above. / You be the captain and I’ll be your mate. / We’ll journey together, the heavens await.”  The pictures and the words don’t always connect – for instance, the second half refers to being “back on the sea” several times, and the pair never actually touch water.  But this can be excused by the surreal quality of the book at large.  Goldstrom is an illustrator to watch, and this is a lovely quiet journey through the night.

Interactive picture books with low word counts are fewer and further between than some might think. In Chew, Chew, Gulp!, readers are invited to pretend to consume food using a total of twenty-four different methods, from swirling to burping. Each page features a different kind of food, consumed by one of four multicultural children. The low word-count is conducive for large-group sharing and there are three natural endings to the text, which facilitates an adjustable length. The illustrations are bright and clear, depicting a wide variety of foods. The simplicity and direct approach of this title is deceptively minimalistic. In a field filled with complicated stories of hamburger people and counting potatoes, this is an essential food-themed acquisition for any library which presents storytimes for toddlers.

This sweet gem of a book invites the reader to take a contemplative journey through the seasons of the year by reflecting on one haiku for each month…and one accompanying, gentle and beautiful watercolor.  I, personally, felt the world actually slowing down from the race-a-day world, as I read and pondered the mental and visual images.  Being in nature has that same effect on me, so I was not surprised how the haiku, which is almost always about the natural world, transformed my experience.  The book opens with winter’s frost laden window panes…

“Each window pane’s a

masterpiece, personally

signed:  Your Friend, Jack Frost”

Then comes the wily robin, the dandelions, the tadpoles, and so on until we come full circle, and ” Lawns call a truce with mowers and slip beneath their white blankets to sleep.”  An explanation of haiku, The Cycle of Life, and seasonal descriptions are included in the back matter.  This book would be an obvious segue into the students’ composing their own seasonal, nature haikus.

This is a solid non-fiction fact book about Blue Sharks that would appeal to upper elementary students interested in the topic for research or curiosity.  There is information about habitat, diet, threats, physical description, migration and regions.  There is a glossary and index as well as additional resources.  The text is clearly written and the primarily underwater photographs are clear and vibrant.  The series also includes The Whale Shark, The Great White Shark, The Mako Shark, the Oceanic Whitetip Shark, and the Sand Tiger Shark.

This is a solid non-fiction fact book about Whale Sharks that would appeal to upper elementary students interested in the topic for research or curiosity.  There is information about habitat, diet, threats, physical description, migration and regions.  There is a glossary and index as well as additional resources.  The text is clearly written and the primarily underwater photographs are clear and vibrant.  The series also includes The Blue Shark, The Great White Shark, The Mako Shark, the Oceanic Whitetip Shark, and the Sand Tiger Shark.

This series does an excellent job with country books for elementary and early middle school students, this volume regarding North Korea included.  Topics include primary events in the country’s history; information about the regions, resources, and wildlife; government; culture and cuisine; and current events.  Handy resources in the back include brief country facts, the words for the national anthem, a timeline, glossary, sources for further research, the flag, index, and map.  The text is clearly written and the plentiful photographs and maps are excellent quality, relevant and enhance the text.

This is a beautiful true story of Ms. Patricia Polacco’s young school years and the wonderful art teacher, Miss Chew, who encouraged her and helped her to develop her talent.  Touching and emotional, Patricia overcomes obstacles and misguided teachers, to be better understood as a student.  The illustrations are bright and expressive.  Students who learn differently or who are artists would especially enjoy this book.

This is the story of Warduff the cat who saves the day when the farm animals are in danger of being eaten by the hungry fox.  The text and illustrations in this story are hilarious, making it a fun read-aloud.  The story is pretty simple, so I think it will appeal most to a younger audience, perhaps Kindergarten to 2nd grade.

How refreshing to come across a picture-book biography other than the pat same-ol’, same-ol’ that fills our shelves.  Zitkala-Sa (born Gertrude Simmons), a Native American Sioux born in 1876 in South Dakota, was taken from her tribe, at age 8, to be educated at a Quaker Indian Boarding School in Indiana.  Despite the loneliness, foreign customs, and homesickness, she blossomed from the love of music, writing, and public speaking.  She learned to recognize and speak against injustices and eventually became a well respected fighter for Native American civil rights in Washington DC in the 1920’s.  The acrylic illustrations are embellished with sheet music, maps and photographs, emphasizing primary source aspects of this adapted, heartfelt retelling.  “She was the first Native American writer to receive national acclaim; the first Native American violinist to perform before a U.S. president; and the first Native American to write an opera and have it staged.”  Comprehensive back matter includes suggested readings, websites, and more detail.

Nardo does an excellent job of organizing this massive topic.  He begins with an overview of Greek mythology and ancient history, relying on the Greek epic poet Hesiod (same era as Homer who is better known) to give his thoughts on the subject.  He then moves into Chaos and explains the beginning of time, the beginning of the Titans and then the Olympians.  Nardo is able to cleverly and clearly explain the totally twisted and confusing relationships of the gods and goddesses.  He accompanies this explanation with a story, or myth, of the entity.  I would have liked to have seen how the Greek myths are still represented in today’s world.  The book ends rather abruptly with a graphic in color-blocked spaces of the Titans, Olympians, Minor Deities, Muses, and Nymphs names.  I wish there was a smoother transition to the next phase of their glorious history.

A simple and delightful personal narrative of a young sister’s admiration for her older sister.  Not so much a story as a list of all the ways that “My Olive is the best in the world”…compared to herself.  “My Olive is the best in the world at tying her long stripy shoelaces.  My fingers are in knots!”   Gentle, doll-like digital illustrations placed on wallpaper and photograph backgrounds add  much visual interest.  Useful as a primary writing model, teachers can share this title in a mini-lesson on personal narratives.  Lovingly, at the end, the big sister acknowledges her little sister for being the “best in the world at giving big, BIG hugs!”

Not being a Chinese language expert, I had an Chinese ESL specialist from our district look at this book to give me her take 0n this publication.  The Basics explains the four tones of Mandarin along with a graph of “It Sounds Like”, with consonants, vowels, and vowel combinations.  Each phrase is presented in English, Chinese characters and pinyin transliteration.  The phrases are organized into themes such as, Schools, Meals, Months, Seasons, etc.  Bright, colorful, digital, illustrations add to the visual appeal.  Unfortunately, frequent typos in the pinyin transliteration make it questionable to have this title on the shelf.  Errors like extra letters, wrong letters, missing letters, as well as incorrect tone marks appear in about seven different places throughout the text.  I ended up making the corrections right in the book with a black pen, instead of not adding the book to our collection.  Aside from the errors (which were corrected in an unorthodox way), the ESL specialist thought the book was still worth having.

Students who are interested in history or geography or travel, will love this book.  It includes the seven wonders of the ancient world as the seven wonders of the newer world.  The first seven are all located in the Mediterranean Sea area and the structures of the newer list include countries such as India, China and Brazil.  The history behind the structures is amazing.  Plus it’s interesting to see how these ancient structures have influenced today’s building and architecture.  Activities to make the structures are also included.  I paired this book up with a novel by Peter Lerangis titledThe Colossus Rises and the series is Seven Wonders.  It is an adventure based on the Colossus of Rhodes.  Each of the seven books in the series will be based on one of the seven wonders of the world.  It is a terrific way to teach history as well as read a brilliant story.

Based on the Marvel comic book series THE INVINCIBLE IRON MAN, Tony Stark is a rich man who likes to have fun, but he is also a brilliant inventor.  When an enemy army captures him, it leads to the invention of the first Iron Man. Now, both Iron Monger and Titanium Man ” use Tony’s technology for their own evil purposes– Tony feels it’s his responsibility to stop them!”

More picture fills the page than text, but the colorful bold highlighted words provide the meat of the story.

This non-fiction book illustrates that large dinosaurs, in this case – stegosaurus, SHOULD NOT be shrunk down to ‘graphic’ size!

The illustrations are too repetitive and lackluster.

Book consists of 57 sentences total. Page 18 states, ” four sharp spikes…” but the illustration on page 13 definitely shows more than four.

When is a graphic novel, not a graphic novel, nor a comic book? When it is written in short chapter book form with full page single picture illustrations.

Joker, the Crown Prince of Crime, takes over one of Wayne Enterprises ships. In the ship’s hold, Joker unpacks professional grade fireworks which he intends to use to destroy Batman. Joker ignites the fireworks after Batman and Robin board the ship and capture them both. Joker has Robin ‘walk the plank’, but Batman has somehow escaped. Then, ” ‘ Foiled by a flightless fowl… I will return… to have my revenge.’  ” Joker giggles.

Very descriptive using minimal words!

Includes writing prompts, discussion questions, and www.Facthound.com.

Young readers learn about the largest turtles in the world.  Simple text tells about the physical characteristics of the leatherback, what it eats, and where it lives.  Because these turtles are endangered, suggestions are made to help reduce the threat of extinction.  Close-up, colorful photographs are sure to attract readers.  Recommended books for further reading are written at a similar reading and interest level.  Glossary and index are included.  Good addition to elementary libraries.

For such a complicated process, this easy non-fiction does a good job of explaining to young readers how a bill becomes a law.  The comical illustrations make the topic fun and the example of free ice cream on your birthday is easy to relate to.  There is also a diagram of the process at the back of the book and a glossary.  This book is one in a series of six also including A Dollar Bill’s Journey, A Germ’s Journey, A Monarch Butterfly’s Journey, A Plastic Bottle’s Journey and A Raindrop’s Journey.

This is a wonderful picture book biography of Juliette “Daisy” Gordon Low, the founder of Girl Scouts.  The book describes not only her accomplishments and benefits of the Girl Scout program, but her character, dreams and values as well.  I enjoyed the picture gallery at the back of the book of other famous women who were also Girl Scouts.  We have many students who participate in Girl Scouts and who will be interested in this illustrated biography to learn more about Ms. Low and the origins of the Girl Scout program.

This is a “you choose” book set during World War I.  There are three story paths including resisting the Germans in Belgium, joining the British military, or enlisting in the American forces.  With 41 choices the reader can enjoy this book with a new story ending 21 unique ways.  This book should appeal to boys as well as girls as the Belgian storyline is a female nurse, the British and American ones are male soldiers.  I enjoyed the many and various battles and settings which kept me interested and wanting to keep reading the various pathways.  Between a several source bibliography and author consult with a university history professor, the historical facts were well researched, making the stories believable.  There are also several illustrations and actual war time photographs sprinkled in to bring the story alive.  There are several other books in this interactive history adventure series which I would like to purchase for our library.

The characters from DISNEY”S movie Aladdin are off on an adventure.

Jasmine wants to purchase the only missing coin from Aladdin’s rare desert coin collection and give it to him for his birthday. To do this, Jasmine and Rajah fly off over the desert to Zagrabah on Magic Carpet only have it crash leaving them alone in the desert. With time running out on Jasmine to get the coin and get it back to Aladdin for his birthday party, Jasmine learns the secret to keeping Magic Carpet health. The party is a huge success.

The story and dialogue flow nicely and everyone will be able to visualize the characters and events, whether or not they have seen the movie.