There is more to living in a pack than mere survival or safety in numbers. Hannah Salyer showers us with her colorful images and sprinkles us with her words to inform us of the wonders of togetherness.

“Together, we are better.” Together various animals: harvest, speak, hunt, nurture, travel, work, sing, build, dance, and sleep.

The various animals included: wolves, bison, penguins, dolphins, monarch butterflies, ants, bats, lions, goldsaddle goatfish, wildebeest, bees, frogs, coral, flamingos, mongoose, zebras, crocodiles, and humans are better, together.

In her author’s note, Hannah Salyer, urges the readers of this book to be inspired to help save these animals and the planet we live upon together.

If You Love Cooking, You Could Be… offers the reader and food lover a few ways to enjoy their passion. They may not know there are other ways to enjoy cooking in addition to being a cook or chef. One, two, three, say, “CHEESE!”

Chapter One does indeed talk about being a cook and/or a chef. There is no need to wait until the young reader is older to learn their way around a kitchen. They can read and watch cooking shows. Cooks must be strong when working with the big pots and use teamwork because in a restaurant each team member cooks only at one station, cooking only one type of food. The young person can start learning now by taking a cooking class and/or working with an adult.

Chapter Two informs about recipe developers. Recipes have to come from somewhere. They are not all handed down from relatives. The recipe developer works much like a scientist experimenting with ingredients, cooking times, temperatures, and taking exacting notes so the same food is made every time.

Chapter Three deals with food presentation. Food Stylists, like a hair stylist, make the food look wonderful for photos in cookbooks, websites, advertisements, and more. They are not necessarily the photographer. The food stylist also must deal with the plates the food is present upon and the environment around the food. Is the food being eaten at a fancy dinner party or at a picnic? The food stylist must take all of this into account. (Take out your cell phones. If You Love Cooking, You Could Be… does not suggest this, but a young reader could get their beginning here.)

As a parent have you ever wanted to tell your child, ” Stop playing that video game! How will you make a living?” This is the book that will give your primary-aged child an educated and profitable clue to answering that question.

This book is a winner. Natalie Kwee’s illustrations are simple enough to not cloud the issue of what is be conveyed and advanced enough to convey what is being stated in the text.

The book begins with the Glossary page next to the Table of Contents page. The three chapters are: Video Game Writer, Video Game Animator, and Video Game Programmer. As a parent, you will be happy to hear that a video game writer must be a good reader and good writer of stories prior to working with video games. As a parent, you will be happy to know a video game animator needs to be good at math. And as a parent, you will be happy to know a video game programmer must be a good problem solver and learn how to code computers.

As a child, they will see how to make their stories come to life, how their drawings can be made to move, and how to keep mistakes from happening in the final product.

This is book one in the series Dragon Kingdom of Wrenly. A curse has come upon the land and has a young dragon sets off to find the king for a cure. At the kingdom, she stumbles upon the prince’s pet dragon. They end up setting off on an adventure to save the land from the curse.

The story is geared towards younger readers and there is not a lot of text on the page, but the font is small. The illustrations are colorful and the frame size varies on the different pages. I story line and content make this a good choice for younger graphic novel fans.

This sweet book shows different ways that we can be friends. Each page only has a few words on it describing things that friends do together. The pictures compliment the gentle text. The text is written in a curlicue font that may make independent reading difficult for readers. This could be used as a read aloud and then a discussion of friendship.

Vinny is a dog. Every day his mom goes to work everyday. When Vinny asked his adopted brother, a cat, where Mom goes, he learns what a job is and decides he should get a job. He tries a restaurant but he started licking the plates. He tried a florist shop and was asked to water the plants, but that didn’t work out. Finally he tries a museum, but he ends up taking a large dinosaur bone because it looked so delicious. When he finally returns home, Mom tells him his job is to be a dog.

The story is funny and sweet. It would be fun to read to a group and use for a lesson on prediction.

Book was new and bright and shiny. It went on many adventures until one day Book was moved to a lower shelf where it was lonely and forgotten. One day someone picked up Book and it was so excited to go on new adventures, but instead it was tossed in a box. Then suddenly Book was chosen again and went on new adventures.

The end notes includes places to donate books. The author’s note says that he has so many books that they are in boxes, which is not place for a book to live. During a school visit one day, the librarian mentioned that they donate excess books to readers who do not have a lot of books and that inspired him to research places to donate books.

Space is all around us. You find space in between words, buildings, and in the sky. Space can be useful. This short picture book causes readers to pause and think about empty space in a different way. The illustrations are diverse and inclusive, but does include and anthropomorphic gorilla.

The book might be useful in looking at perspective or trying to look at things in new ways. It would probably be best in an individual or small group setting.

Photos and drawings illustrate the large-font text that averages 3 sentences per page with 10-20 words per sentence. The book begins with a glossary and contents page It also includes a map of Tigers’ range and a graph comparing their maximum weight to that of other animals, ranging from house cats to polar bears.  The illustrations are engaging and relatable. As the title says, the text contains many facts about tigers. This would be useful for younger readers doing a research project or older readers wanting some quick information.

Eva so very much wants to dance but her physical limitations keep her wheelchair-bound. When one of her moms reads about a dance class for “…all abilities, all ages. All are welcome” Eva is excited about the chance to pursue her dream. She is also nervous about stares and whispers, and about being rejected. Eva gives class a try and discovers she CAN dance as part of a group of all abilities. Soft watercolors illustrate both typically abled and dancers with varying needs for physical accommodations. The illustrator manages the difficult task of representing dance in a two-dimensional work. One way she shows the interconnected nature of dancing is through the use of stars floating on a blue swirl intertwining around and between the dancers. The charming story is inspired by a child named Eva who learned to dance at the actual company, Young Dance. The book ends with an author’s note and a note from the executive director of Young Dance.