The aim of this book is to provide fun, interactive lesson plan ideas for early childhood classrooms (Kindergarten or younger) that help to embed the different art content (Music, Drama and Visual arts) into rich STEM learning.  It focuses on learning through exploration, observations, questioning and simple investigations. 4-5 lessons for each section include open-ended tasks, opportunities for social interaction and opportunities for reflection and elaboration.  The activities and descriptions are fairly simple and traditional (no new earth-shattering ideas) but it does make clear how it connects to the learning standards for each section. The pictures are in black and white, small and not very helpful.   (Written by Michele Neely, SpEd Pre school teacher, Olympia School District)

Fred Rogers (1928–2003) had a tremendous influential on generations of children through his television program Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, a program which he created and played the title role. Rogers was on the ground floor of teaching compassion, equality, and kindness. He advocated for inclusion and against bullying. Rogers devoted his lief to children and he took their fears, concerns, and questions about the world seriously.

The Good Neighbor is the first full-length biography of Fred Rogers, tells the life story of this American icon. Drawing on original interviews, oral histories, and archival documents, the author, Maxwell King looks at Rogers’s personal, professional, and artistic life through decades of work, including his years as a Presbyterian minister. What the viewing public may not have known was that in the 1980’s on Rogers’ increasingly sophisticated episodes were written in collaboration with experts on childhood development. The book takes the reader through Rogers’ delayed retirement, at a point by which he was already ill with stomach cancer. The reader follows Rogers’ and his wife as they face is final days. This is a wonderful book that provides great detail into an amazing man.

This 75th Anniversary Edition is jammed with historical information, original illustrations and comments about the book over the years of its publication. It is perfect for fans of this inspirational little book.

Vampire movies, friends who feel uneasy around your other friends, parents who want to meet your friends’ parents, a wolf howling in the night, and a middle-school sleepover to celebrate the end of the school year. This book has it all.

Emily enjoys her nightly visits with the two home schooled teens across the street. Neither Emily, nor her parents have ever met Drew and Vicky’s parents. When Emily begins planning the end of the school year party with her school friends, Emily thinks it would be the perfect time to invite Drew and Vicky to meet her school friends. Problems arise, when Drew and Vicky’s parents are never available to meet Emily’s parents.

Oh, why is there a wolf howling in Drew and Vicky’s back yard? “The howling drifted through her window, as if somehow the creature knew that she was coming after it, and calling her to join in. Emily found it strange that this sound didn’t scare her. In fact, it didn’t even surprise her. She felt as though she had an appointment with the beast to settle their score. To end this.” (69)

Time is getting short before the party and Emily still has no word from Drew and Vicky’s parents as to whether they can come or not. Emily takes it upon herself to go to their house and talk to them during the day, but no one is home. Drew and Vicky are home schooled? Emily enters their house. She discovers coffins in a back room. Emily feels “duped, taken, lied to…” (99). Drew and Vicky will not be coming to her party. She wants nothing to do with them. Now, of course, Drew and Vicky want to come to the party.

On the night of the party, Ethan’s cousin Declan comes to the party, too. Declan shares a vampire story. Finally, Emily begins to connect the dots and assumes Drew and Vicky are in fact vampires. But it is too late for Emily. The real Declan was never at the party. The Declan at her party was Drew shape shifted to look like Declan.

In the Epilogue, “Years had passed since the night of the sleepover, and much had changed. Drew and Vicky no longer lived in the same town. As the two had done many times before, they moved to an abandoned house in a new town where no one knew them. Where they would be safe. And where they could make new friends.” (133)

P. J. Night writes this new series- Creepover. The top and bottom of each page is dripping in black ‘blood’ (it is printed only in black and white, after all) or perhaps paint.

It all begins with Abby and Leah grocery shopping for their sleepover. The sleepover is in the basement with scary DVDs and a game of “Truth or Dare”. Abby reluctantly reveals she like Jake, the boy who lives a cross the street. Then the other girls coax Abby to text Jake. Later that night, Abby is awakened when her cell phone receives a message saying, “LEAVE HIM ALONE. HE’S MINE!!! DON’T MAKE ME TELL YOU TWICE!” (32) All the girls are creeped out by the text. It sounds like it was sent by Jake’s former girl friend Sara, who was killed in a fatal crash. The text must be a mistake or a prank.

Back at school, the first dance of the school year is announced. It will be a benefit for the Sara James Memorial Scholarship Fund. Jake and Abby walk home from school and he asks if she’d like a ride to the dance. “Yes.” Awhile later, Abby sees a girl with long red hair running, could it be Sara’s ghost? Later the new blouse Abby plans on wearing to the dance is ripped and stuffed under her suitcase, but how? Abby Googles* “proof of ghosts” (76). She find an article on-line entitled- “When the Paranormal Gets Personal” (76). Though Abby does not want to believe in ghosts it is hard not to with all the creepy things happening to her lately. Plus, her best friend is not supporting her in this.

Abby and Jake do go to the dance, but leave almost immediately when Abby can’t handle the huge photo of Sara displayed at the dance. Jake follows her out of the gym. Abby shows Jake the texts. Jake has Abby text, “IS THIS REALLY SARA? PROVE IT!” The text comes back, “I’M @ ST. RAYMOND’S CEMETERY. COME SEE ME IF YOU DARE!” (122)

Spoiler alert: it is not Sara, but Sara’s cousin, Samantha, who is staying with her aunt and uncle while Samantha’s mother is working in Africa. Samantha’s and Sara’s resemblance is so great Aunt Stacy is having a hard time dealing with it. Samantha spends most time of her time in Sara’s old bedroom out of Aunt Stacy’s sight. Samantha is miserable. Eventually Samantha goes through all of Sara’s things including her diaries.

In the end, all of the creepy things resolve themselves, except one. Is it from Sara?

• Abby does attempt a seance in chapter 8.

Seven students trapped in their school after a bomb goes off must fight to survive while also discovering who among them is the bomber in this provocative new thriller from the author of the New York Times bestselling Testing Trilogy.

Featuring multiple perspectives, this riveting thriller explores the power of prejudice and assumptions through the lens of school violence. It’s revealed early on that one of the survivors is also involved in the bombing. From the school’s perfect Queen Bee to the tough-as-nails delinquent, each of the students has a different motive for being at school that day. Charbonneau builds suspense by subtly planting red herrings about the accomplice’s identity while also raising questions about others. The frequent shifts in perspective allow readers to see beyond each character’s stock exterior. While each one has a distinct voice, some narratives are more compelling than others. The most complex and developed character is Rashid, a Muslim teenager who feels he must compromise his family’s ideals in order to make his school life easier. Other students are immediately suspicious of Rashid after the initial bomb. While the book confronts this racism head-on and another character is ultimately responsible, the narrative feels stereotypical and exploitative in its casting of Rashid as a would-be terrorist based on his race and religion alone.

Time Bomb is a fast paced quick read, perfect for fans of This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp.

Storm-Wake is loosely based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Moss has grown up on the strangest and most magical of islands; the story moves from her childhood to her teenaged years. The island is covered with brilliantly colored flowers which seem to have some hallucinogenic qualities. Her father has a plan to control the tempestuous weather that wracks the shores. Pa uses the hallucinogenic flowers to conjure up storms and to create spiritual beings from the sea (first a white horse, and then a fish-boy).  But the island seems to have a plan of its own once Callan — a wild boy her age — appears on its beaches. Her complex feelings for Callan shift with every tide, while her love for the island, and her father, are thrown into doubt.

And when one fateful day, when teenaged boys from the outside world wash up on the beach, speaking of the Old World, nothing will ever be the same.

This novel is unlike Lucy Christopher’s other novels. I am not sure that it is actually a YA book.  The writing is very lyrical and mystical. I found it hard to concentrate and had to re-read pages to try to understand. It’s an interesting fantasy tale, but not one I would highly recommend.

In this sequel to One Word from Sophia, Noodle the giraffe has Sophia feeling happysad. Sophia’s One True Desire comes with giraffe-sized problems. Her family might overlook the sloppy giraffe kisses, but the giraffe snoring keeps everyone up and has them wanting a permanent solution. In her efforts, Sophia reaches out to experts and through trial and error comes up with an effective giraffe muffling device.

Interesting and nuanced vocabulary enhance the story. An excellent read aloud for intermediate grades with its STEM focus, clever female character, biracial family, and challenging vocabulary.

Endpapers include facts about giraffes and a glossary.

Monster Nanny by Tuutikki Tolonen

School has just let out for the school , when Mother wins a two week free trip to Lapland. The contest will send a nanny to take care of her three children. Mother is thrilled to be going to Lapland, but worries because the children’s father is still off on business in America. The nanny turns out to be a half-human, aka monster, aka troll. “Strange things were happening. Mom, who never went anywhere, was going away. Dad, who was never at home, was coming back. The children, who had never been left alone, were about to spend the night on their own. And in the hall closet slept a trained monster, though everybody had always been told that monsters didn’t exist.” (20)

The monster takes good care of the children. The children learn more about monster by checking out a very old book from the public library. From the book, which they read in bits and pieces, they learn to let the monster go into the woods at night to eat, it is a vegetarian. Between the book and the youngest child’s ‘talking bathrobe’ ( the siblings think it is an imaginary friend, but it isn’t) they decided they should go camping outside by their back fence next to the woods. Soon the children learn their mother was not the only one who won the contest. Fourteen other children’s parents are now on vacation in Lapland, too. Each child has its own monster nanny. Little by little, it is discovered the monsters are connected to each other and the monsters can not go back home to their own world until a missing monster in this world has been found.

Dad returns home by the first morning of the camp out. He seems fine with the monster situation (this is Finland) and at one point states, ” so what we have here is a monsters’ liberation camp”. (249) Dad is enjoying his role as camp director. He helps ward off the three strange ladies, perhaps witches, when they show up looking for the monsters. As the monster puzzle’s pieces continue to fit into place the missing monster is found, allowing them all to go back home to their own world, the last monster through the hole removing the key to the doorway.

In this fifth book in the Hank the Pet Sitter series, Hank agrees to watch Melissa’s 5 chicks. When he lifted the lid for closer look, all 5 escaped. Even with his sister’s help, he cannot catch them. Finally he gets the idea to answer their peeps with a bawk of his own. Soon he was leading the chicks back to their box. When Melissa returns, Hank is worn out, but the chicks are all safe.

The premise of the Hank the Pet Sitter series is that Hank is working to raise money to replace a bike that was destroyed by his carelessness. Both this premise and previous adventures are alluded to in this story so reading the first four books in the series will influence the reader’s understanding and appreciation of the plot.

In this nearly wordless picture book, a young girl would rather be using her small electronic device than going to the zoo with her mom and pesky toddler siblings. Sullenly she tags along through the zoo until her mom makes her climb up onto the Monkey Walk, an elevated platform. When she stops to look over the edge, something snatches her zoo hat. At first annoyed, she realizes she didn’t really want the hat, she wants to play on her device. When she pulls it out of her pocket, something blows on her. She sets her device down to deal with the blowing and something grabs the device. There is no way she’s okay with that. The story continues with her bargaining with the animals until her device is returned. The adventure has her leaving the zoo with a smile on her face.

Expressive engaging illustrations tell the story in panels large enough for a group read aloud.

My Beijing is a book with four stories about a sweet little girl, Yu’er, her grandfather and friends. Yu’er and her grandpa have a very close, loving relationship and he helps her navigate a world that is somewhat difficult for her, since she has a (unspecified) disability.  Her difficulty with walking doesn’t stop her from enjoying the world around her as her grandpa wheels her in a cart, on his bike or even on his back.  The reader will cheer for Yu’er and Grandpa in this lovely book.

This book of four stories keeps a slow, relaxed pace.  They have an almost dreamlike flow, where the author/illustrator mixes the magical elements casually among the everyday aspects of life. This is much different from many American graphic novels in that respect – both the fantastical elements and the  big plot happenings in general avoid being “in your face”.  The stories are a bit strange, but weirdly comforting.  If you have read stories of a similar genre, these aren’t surprising.  But, some readers might not really understand the flow or casual plot twists.  Even so, it’s good for kids to be exposed to lots of different types of storytelling and this is a fun way to do it.  

There are asterisks that explain different parts of Chinese culture in the story, which is helpful for those that are unfamiliar with it. The illustrations are gentle and sweet, with mute tones.  This book is highly recommended for all library collections!

Mouse, an avid outdoorsman, invites his friend Monster to go camping.  Monster isn’t too keen on the idea until Mouse assures him there will be…FOOD.  That clinches it for Monster and they are on their way.  Monster pulls the wagon load of supplies while Mouse darts ahead to scout out possible camping sites.  Unfortunately,  Monster eats something from the wagon each time Mouse runs ahead.  When they find a suitable campsite, Mouse discovers that Monster ate the lantern, tent and sleeping bags.  At least they still have food…nope, Mouse forgot to pack it in the box (conveniently marked “food”).  The hungry, cold friends sit sadly in the dark until they spot a group of humans around a campfire.  Yay! They rush toward the campers, who are in the middle of a scary story about monsters.  As one might guess, the human campers run screaming away, leaving behind a lovely campsite, campfire, food and tents. Mouse and Monster are puzzled at their sudden departure, but decide not to waste the lovely camping experience.  

This fun, colorfully illustrated story will delight young readers as they follow the two friends on their adventure.  The background of the illustrations darken as the story moves from day to night and  the readers will watch as monster continues to eat their supplies, although Mouse has no idea.  This will be a great addition to your library and a fun read-a-loud.

This is a story about Archie (who thinks he’s a bear) and a bear (who thinks he’s a boy).  Archie and the bear have a wonderful day together after meeting  in the woods.  Archie is there because he is fed up with people not understanding that he is not in a bear suit…he is a bear!  He and the bear learn so much from each other, like skimming stones and eating honey sandwiches.  

The illustrations are dramatic and bold.  The size difference between the boy and bear are quite evident in each two page spread.  More often than not, the reader does not see the entire bear – just rather large parts of him!  This is a very gentle tale of two friends who might be different, yet are comfortable in their relationship and learn so much from each other.    

This book, published by the National Wildlife Federation, is a wealth of information for kids who want to know all about camping. Each chapter begins with a question, which is answered with photos, diagrams and succinctly written information.  Bold face type is used for emphasis (important points) and unusual words.  Readers will enjoy the suggested activities – even the ideas for rainy days in camp (because, really…we have all had rainy days while camping, right?).  There is a helpful checklist near the end and a listing of National Parks and website reference.  An index is helpful for quick reference.  

Kids’ guide to camping : all you need to know about having fun in the outdoors is part of a four book Ranger Rick series.  This won’t be on your shelves for long.  It’s a fun, fairly easy read and will interest those readers that have an interest in the outdoors. 

Rory Tiger and Sheldon Turtle are getting ready for Christmas, when they change into their super hero gear to help out the woodland animals from Grumpus Bear. Grumpus Bear has been taking bees’ honey, rabbit’s carrots and squirrel’s nuts. Rory and Sheldon start by doing research on the internet and in books and discover, “I think I know the reason Grumpus didn’t hibernate. His red coat is so big and warm and puffy…”, says Rory. Sheldon finishes, ” …he doesn’t REALIZE that it’s wintertime!”

Rory and Sheldon decide to trick Grumpus into hibernating by offering a free show in a heated tent with free candy.  Once inside the tent, the usher (AKA Rory) takes Grumpus’ coat, as “Operation Bear-in-Underwear is about to get underway.” First comes the dancing squirrels, then the magic show with a disappearing tent and heater, followed by, “You are getting very sleepy… Hush, little baby… Time to take a beary long nap!” Mission accomplished. 

The graphic science novel ends with a “Super-Duper Animal Fact” about bears hibernating.

Story by Henri Meunier/ Illustrations by Nathalie Choux/ Adapted by Liza Charlesworth by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt / first published in France 

The Unwanted is a vivid description of life experiences that result in the people of Syria leaving their homes to find a new place in the world.  In this graphic novel it is easy to relate to the plight of the refugees and understand why they undergo risky and harsh conditions to flee the life threatening war in their homeland.  It is highly understandable as the refugees speak simple sentences about their viewpoints. This book describes the obstacles to finding a new home plus why other countries may not welcome them.  It talks about historical events and the underlying political forces. The stories do tend to be sad. Anyone who wants to build a wall to keep out immigrants should read this book. It is interesting and informative for all levels of readers and I highly recommend it.

A retired pigeon private detective is hired by a little canary to track down a feather thief. The feather thief turns out to be the detectives old partner. After solving the crime, the retired detective and the young canary are back in business again. This book would make a better one on one book versus a read aloud. There is some humor and play on words that adults would catch, but children probably would not. 

From the series, Just Like Us, this book compares how birds are just like humans. They make music, build and decorate homes, take care of babies, and teach their young. With color cartoon illustrations and text boxes with information, this book gives examples of how birds build nests, attract mates, and care for their young. It also gives gives examples for specific bird species. There is a glossary at the end titled “Say What?” and a Bibliography. 

Luka has smuggled himself out of a Nazi labor camp even though he had to leave his friend, Lida, behind. He makes his way towards the mountains trying to escape detection from the Nazis and the Soviets and find his way back to his father. He stumbles upon the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and decides that he needs to be with them and fight for the resistance. 

An action packed novel inspired by true events from the author of Making Bombs for Hitler. A recommended purchase for grades 5 and up. 

What happens after the Big, Bad Wolf goes down the chimney and is captured by the Three Little Pigs?  Look no further than The Three Little Superpigs to find the ‘rest of the story’!  This book continues the tale of the intrepid pigs and their nemesis, the wolf.  Our heroes, aka Superpigs, are keeping the local fairy tale residents safe from bad guys and basking in the glow of fame.  Unfortunately, the biggest, baddest guy, aka Big, Bad Wolf, escapes from “Happily Never After Prison” and acts upon his plan to take revenge on the Superpigs.  He easily captures the first two pigs, who obviously didn’t learn anything the first time around.  Luckily, the third pig is still smarter than his siblings and the wolf.  He rescues his brothers, captures the wolf and makes Fairyland safe again.  Whew!  What a great ending to the story…or is it really the end?? 

Fun illustrations and tongue-in-cheek text will make readers young and old chuckle and cheer at the eventual capture of the Big, Bad Wolf.  This book would be a great introduction to student writing – what happens next for other fairy tale characters/stories? Ex. Do the three bears see Goldilocks again? Does the Gingergread Man run away again?  Hmmm… Highly Recommended. 

Here is a new book on Roanoke by Torque- ” action-packed world … [of] mystery , and adventure.” There are seven modern color photos of Roanoke Island and six historic illustrations from the time period. The timeline sums up the known events beginning in 1584 and ending six years later in 1590.

“1584- England sends men to explore the area around Roanoke,

1585- An English fleet comes to Roanoke to build a settlement,

1586- The settlement fails and its men leave,

1587-New English colonists rebuild the settlement,

1590- The colony is found empty with no explanation” (16-17)

There are conjectures dealing with sickness, starvation, and battle, but nothing has been proven in over four hundred years. So do we need a new 24 page book, for a new generation of school children, saying we do not know what happened? Maybe, maybe not.

Ends with www.factsurfer.com.

The Princess in Black is like Bruce Wayne is to Batman or Clark Kent is to Superman, for she is a girl hero in disguise.

In book number 5, the Princess in Black  (AKA Princess Magnolia) is helping Goat Avenger send a monster back to Monster Land, but they do not notice another monster emerge from the hole a short time later. The new monster is a hungry shape-shifter. The Princess in Black currently smells like goats after helping the Goat Avenger, so the hungry monster secretly follows her back to Princess Magnolia’s castle, where she changes clothes. Now Princess Magnolia, still smelling of goats, is being followed by the monster disguised as a trunk riding on the back of her carriage, as the princess heads out for a playdate in the neighboring castle of Princess Sneezewort. Princess Sneezewort shows Princess Magnolia around her castle when a villager starts calling,’  “Help! Help! A monster is trying to eat my kitty!”  ‘(30) In Clark Kent style Princess Magnolia changes into the Princess in Black to rescue the kitty. Princess Sneezewort decides she must protect her kingdom and quickly transforms herself for the first time into the Princess in Blankets. Together they help the villagers, even though they do not know each others true identities. Eventually, the two princesses catch the monster and send him back to Monster Land.

Short chapters , colorful illustrations on every page turn, and scroll work around the text filled pages add an elegant charm which adds to the appeal of this book.

Girls who love math, science, girl scouting, are Hispanic, or just love a great true success story will love this book!

The struggles in this book are real dealing with living between two cultures.

Sylvia Acevedo began life in such an ordinary way. From a small town in South Dakota near Ellsworth Air Force Base born to a Mexican mother and a college educated United States Hispanic father, the family soon moved to Las Cruces,  New Mexico. They lived in an all Mexican part of town until her younger sister contracted meningitis. This changed their lives forever. Sylvia’s mother (Mami) only had a sixth grade education but she knew how to care for her family. Mami sensed her family would do better in the Anglo part of town and set off to make this move happen, even with her limited use of the English language.

Mami realized her children would need to know English to succeed in school, so Mami arranged to have a tutor for Mario and Sylvia.  After Mario entered first grade, Sylvia continue to go to the tutor by herself. Then a new program began- Head Start. Many of the mothers did not trust Head Start, but Mami saw its advantages and enrolled Sylvia. In Head Start, Sylvia was forced to use only one last name, that of her father, leaving her mother’s last name off, a bit of her culture taken away. “I would soon understand that it wasn’t just English that I was going to learn, but also a new way of life.” (79)

Sylvia learns to live between two cultures. Neither culture is put down. She learns to take the best of both and fly with them.

When Sylvia learns to read, she also learns she will be able to get her own library card. Her mother makes her save up $5.00 in a kitty bank, then deposit it in a savings account in a bank, in case a library book is damaged, before getting her library card. Sylvia does all of this, but sees at the same time her older brother not being made to do the same thing because he is a boy. Sylvia takes it all in stride. Just like her father (Papá) a chemist, whose at home time was spent reading, going to libraries, visiting his  father and mother, and with Sylvia’s older brother Mario, but not with her because she was a girl.

When Mami enrolls Sylvia and Mario in the Anglo school, she is automatically placed in the second grade remedial class by the principal because of the school from which they transferred. This does not happen to Mario because there wasn’t a remedial fourth grade. In this new school Sylvia feels alone until the day she wore her Brownie uniform to school. Now the whole new world of Girl Scouting and friendships opens up to her, Sylvia is automatically one in the sisterhood of Girl Scouts.

Girl scouting teaches Sylvia budgeting and planning through the cookie sales. Sylvia sees the value in these skills, along with the other badges, like science and cooking, that Girl Scouts allows her to experience.  Budgeting and planning ahead were skills Sylvia’s home life hadn’t taught her. Sylvia begins to start saving for college on her own, realizing this is not something her family will help her with financially. Girls get married and have families, they do not go to college.

Sylvia excels at school. Sylvia was inherently good at math, she loved reading, she won awards for her drumming (not an instrument usually played by girls in either culture), and basketball.

Domestic violence between her parents rears its head. Sylvia separates herself as much as possible from Papá and his temper. Arguments abound. Sylvia refuses to have a quinceañera, which Papá wants so much for her. “My family loved me, but they didn’t understand me, and I often felt like an outsider in my own home.” ( 263)

Eventually, Sylvia realized she wanted to be an industrial engineer. Here she had to prove to the people around her, the dean at New Mexico State University and their scholarship board, she knew what she wanted and was capable of succeeding at it. Sylvia credits much of it to skills she learned through Girl Scouts: people skills, organization, and planning.

While at New Mexico State University , Title IX came into effect. Sylvia had to prove to the  coaches, she was capable of succeeding at basketball though she had no formal training and had not played on any teams. She made the varsity team at New Mexico State University. Sylvia played one season, mostly as a benchwarmer, then gave it up to pursue her education.

While at New Mexico State University, Sylvia had a summer internship at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “The four-hour drive from Las Cruces to  Albuquerque was probably the best time I ever had with my father. He talked the entire way, but he gave me great advice about working in a laboratory, because he had worked in one too.” (284) The advice dealt with being the ‘victim of silly pranks’, never to complain, “not to get upset, even if my coworkers seemed to be taunting me… to perform flawlessly” (285) , being a woman, a woman in science and math, and being Mexican American.  Sylvia succeeded there, went on to Stanford, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

In the Epilogue on page 299 Sylvia states, ” I learned to create opportunities for myself.”