Category Archives: Recommendation

The Little Puppy

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Ollie was excited to have a play date with her grandma’s new puppy, Milo. She learned, however, that puppies need supervision or they can be destructive. After Milo chewed up Ollie’s drawing, Ollie needed time alone and went for a walk. Milo followed her and they ended up having a fun time playing fetch, going to the pond, and jumping in mud puddles.

Cute black and white illustrations with red accents. Some pages contain cut outs, connecting of the theme from one page to the next. Review by Kathy Beach, teacher.

In the Groves

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The story of Clara, a young girl visiting her family in California. They want to take her to all the touristy places but she wants to go to the citrus groves with her grandfather so she hides in his truck and tags along with him for the day. She loves seeing him work and hearing all of his stories. While sharing the day together, Clara’s imagination takes flight and the stories she creates with her grandfather are retold again to her family that night. This book includes a number of Spanish words in the text and explores the culture of a family of farm workers. Review by Kathy Beach, teacher.

This book is perfect for a unit celebrating family stories, immigration stories, or the important role of farm workers.

This is How We Play: A Celebration of Disability and Adaptation

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This is a very joyful book about disability and adaptations involved in the lives of those affected by differences in their bodies or minds. It emphasizes the concept that even though people have a disability, they are still able to play, sing, dance, and enjoy life with the help of others or some sort of tool or adaption.

Backmatter includes a helpful list of different disabilities, a guide for grown-ups, how to teach kids about those with a disability and an explanation from the authors about why they wrote the book.

Recommended for all age levels. Review written by Kathy Beach, teacher.

Delicious Monsters, by Liselle Sambury

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Reviewed by OHS Substitute, Victoria O.

Let’s be clear: Daisy does not enjoy being special. How can she when what makes her so unique is the fact she can see swarms of dead people wandering the streets of downtown Toronto, drawn to sadness and despair like clouds of gray flies to honey? And now, the one source of happiness in Daisy’s life seems to have abandoned her: After their first fight as a couple, her boyfriend, Noah, has been spotted around town with a pretty white girl on his arm and is no longer answering any of her texts. 

Meanwhile: Brittney, an ambitious young content creator and aspiring filmmaker, works a dead-end internship for a scummy media corporation to help pay the bills so she doesn’t have to rely on her abusive, wealthy mother for support. As she continues work on her surprise hit YouTube series, Haunted, she and her best friend, Jayden, begin investigating the house that made her self-help guru mother famous, hoping to uncover its dark secrets and solve the mystery behind the tragic loss of life that occurred there 10 years earlier: The unexplained death of a young black girl named Daisy. 

Author Liselle Sambury interweaves themes of generational trauma and coming of age within a framework of compelling supernatural mystery, featuring two timelines with two equally intriguing protagonists. This thrilling haunted-house-turned-ghost-hunter novel will keep you up at night until the wee hours of the morning as you turn pages in a race alongside Brittney to find out just what happened to Daisy on the night she disappeared all those years ago… Recommended for those who loved Netflix’ The Haunting of Hill House and Sadie. 

Skandar and the Skeleton Curse

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By A.F. Steadman

In book 4 of this epic fantasy series, Skandar must join his friends at the Eyrie to solve the mystery of the Skeleton Curse which is killing pegasus and their riders. Skandar’s sister, a rebel fighting to save her life and her pegasus’ life will do anything including cursing all others on the island. Not only that, the commodore of the Eyrie wants to destroy all spirit wielding riders including Skandar and his sister. Will Skandar survive against his sister? Will he help his sister survive?

This is an epic fantasy series that has the feel of Harry Potter but the perk of pegasus. It is also a series that MUST be read in order. This is book 4. I would recommend it for any who are searching for that next series to pull kids into reading.

A Little Like Magic

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Written and Illustrated by Sarah Kurpiel

Our narrator doesn’t like to try new things or venture to new places but when she spends the evening at an ice sculpting event she finds herself feeling okay with the crowds and noise as long as her mom is there. When she returns home she finds that she has lost her favorite horse statue and is sad that she will never see it again. After spending the day in sadness they once again go to the sculpting event to see the results from the day before feeling more familiar and comfortable only to see a beautiful sculpture of a horse that looks just like hers. Will she find her horse? Only reading this picture book will tell.

What a beautifully illustrated book about pushing past one’s fears. As the back cover says, “Sometimes you have to brave the cold to experience something special”

Brandon and the Totally Troublesome Time Machine

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Written by Seth Fishman, Illustrated by Mark Fearing

One day, Brandon decides to build a time machine. After doing all the things one must do when building this type tool such as: seeing dinosaurs wish upon a REALLY big falling star, and watching creatures learn to climb and live on land, he decides to venture into his own past and try to fix things like acing the test he failed the day before. He soon starts to depend on his future self to do everything for him. Cleaning, doing homework, and other things that his present self doesn’t want to do. Future self starts to sabotage past self and a humorous battle ensues. Will Brandon realize he is only fighting himself?

What a fun and well illustrated book that sends a great moral. I recommend this book for any elementary library.

Dinosaur Roar!

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Written and Illustrated by Paul and Henrietta Stickland

In a fun and well illustrated way, this book simply discusses opposites. First, what kid doesn’t like dinosaurs? Second, it’s cartoon-like nature will attract all. With two simple sentences on each page such as, “Dinosaur weak, dinosaur strong” as well as rhyming throughout, this book will attract all emerging readers. This will also be a great and short read-aloud for for any librarian or family member.

I strongly recommend this book for libraries who serve preschool and primary readers.

Perla the Mighty Dog

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Written by Isabel Allende, Illustrated by Sandy Rodriguez

Perla has two superpowers. First, she can make anybody love them. Second, she can roar like a lion. When she is adopted by the Ricos, she finds herself in the position to help Nico Rico who is being bullied. Nico learns how to roar like a lion against a bully at school.

Written from the viewpoint of Perla, this is a light story about how a dog’s love can support the boy who cares about him the most.

Stopping by Jungle on a Snowy Evening

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Written by Richard T. Morris, Illustrated by Julie Rowan-Zoch

A young boy adventures into a jungle, or is it the woods? He stumbles upon a house where he meets the poet, Robert Frost. From there the boy and the poet argue about his famous work, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”. The boy argues that the poem needs more action and needs to include his hippo in the jungle. The poet insists that the poem should be calming and meditative. An humorous adventure ensues with a jingling hippo, meteors, snakes and karate.

This book contains bright and vibrant illustrations. It has the original poem at the end as well. If one has a specific theme to focus upon or the actual Frost poem is a focus within the school, this would be a fun extra purchase for your library.

What Lolo Wants

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Written by Cristina Oxtra, Illustrated by Jamie Bauza

Maria and her Lolo (Grandfather) have a beautiful relationship. They spend a great deal of time together: in the garden, getting ice cream and especially drawing. Lolo can draw anything! But when Maria’s Lolo starts to feel unwell and forgetful, Maria gets worried. Soon, Lolo starts having problems remembering names of things and people. It is a struggle for Lolo to explain what he needs. How will Maria help her Grandpa remember and communicate what he wants?

This lovely picture book has threads of Philippine American traditions and culture within it. It carefully discusses Dementia in a kind way that children can understand. The illustrations are beautifully done in pencil and watercolor. I would recommend this book for any elementary library.

Wonder & Awe by Annie Herzig

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A little girl makes a snowman and names her Wonder. She and Wonder spend so much time together, but when spring comes it is time for Wonder to go. The girl is sad until she finds something else that sparks wonder. The color change in the illustration highlights the girl’s feelings. When she is happy and can see the beauty around her, the illustrations are colorful. When she is sad the illustrations are shades of gray and white. A sweet story of friendship and finding joy in everyday things.

Snow Is… by Laura Gehl

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“Snow is the feeling the moment you wake. Snow is a stillness before the first flake.” Through rhyming text, this book takes a look at the joy found in snow as a young boy and his family enjoys a day in the snow. The main colors in the illustration of blue, gray and white take on the feeling and look of snow, while the pops of red in the family’s house and clothing stand out. A sweet celebration of snow.

Roar-Choo by Charlotte Cheng

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Dragon tries to explain how fierce and frightening they are, but everytime the roar, they sneeze. Each sneeze becomes more powerful and dangerous. Phoenix tries to get Dragon to rest, but Dragon persists. Eventually Phoenix ends up sneezing too. The colorful, expressive cartoonish pictures bring the characters to life. The author’s note at the end explains the Dragon and Phoenix significance in Chinese mythology.

Planting Hope: A Portrait of Photographer Sebastião Salgado by Philip Hoelzel

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Sebastião Salgado grew up on his family’s farm in Aimorés in the forests of Brazil. He spent time in the forests and loved his home but eventually moved away. He soon discovered his love of photography and how he could show what he saw and how it made him feel through pictures. He took photographs for different news stories, but the weight of what he saw made him no longer want to take pictures. After moving back to his family farm and seeing the destruction caused by cutting down the forest, Sebastião and his wife Lélia decided to rebuild the forest of his childhood.

This beautifully illustrated book takes you through the life and work of Sebastião Salgado. Also offering the reader a chance to think about and reflect on human’s impact on the earth. The author’s note at the back offers further information.

Penguin’s Egg by Anna Kemp

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A papa rockhopper penguin falls asleep while waiting for his egg to hatch and is accidentally separated from his egg. He ends up very far away and has to use a variety of modes of transportation to make it back to his egg. He takes a train, a chopper, a pogo stick, an elephant and a hover board to name a few. The characters throughout the story are different animals, the text is rhyming, with some rhymes being approximate rhymes. The illustrations are vibrant and fill the page.

How to Cheer Up a Friend by Stephanie Calmenson

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What do you do when your friend is sad? How do you help them feel better? Do you offer treats, make them laugh, listen? Through rhyming text, the narrator offers suggestions of how to help a friend: make him laugh, take a walk, listen. A young boy tries to cheer up an elephant who really just needs someone to listen. The pages consist of 1-2 sentences per 2 page spread. The colorful illustrations bring life to the texts and convey the elephants emotions. Perfect for helping young readers learn about feelings and helping others.

May the Best Player Win

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by Kyla Zhao

May Li loves to play chess. After a competition where she won a trophy at the California State Middle School Chess Championship for being the top female up-and-coming player, winning and being on top gets a whole lot more stressful. Her school’s chess club has their sights set on Nationals, her teammate suddenly becomes her rival, and life gets more complicated when she becomes friends with a soccer player. May has to find her love of the game again and not just her nerves about always being on top. This sweet story is not only for those interested in chess, but also for anyone who puts too much pressure on themselves to meet others’ perceived expectations of us. I liked that May found balance in her life as she learned to re-embrace the sport she had loved since she was young. For those who also play chess, there is plenty of chess play, vocabulary and strategy in the pages of this book, too. The book confronts sexism in sports – both chess and soccer – and reminds readers that gender has nothing to do with whether or not you can play chess well or kick soccer goals! A great addition to a middle school library.

Hummingbirds (Pollinators)

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by Martha London

Hummingbirds describes the life and importance of hummingbirds. Facts are presented with accompanying photos and QR codes are interspersed throughout with added videos, activities and information. Unfamiliar words are bolded and colored with a glossary at the back of the book. There is a page of connections to consider, an index and further information as well.

This book packs a lot of information into 32 pages and the extras via QR codes make it a fantastic addition to your science collection. Photos are clear and brilliant, a timeline of the lifecycle is well-done and text spacing all make this book accessible for many readers.

It is part of a series called Pollinators and should be a first choice when updating your collection. It is geared toward upper elementary, but will prove useful (with guidance) for the younger readers. Free teaching resources are included. Highly recommended.

Sunken Ship (Tiny Habitats)

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by Amy Hevron

in 1733, a ship sank in a big storm as the crew swam to safety. As the years go by, we see the changing habitat, resulting in a thriving artificial reef that sustains a rich variety of marine life. Based on the sinking of the San Pedro (as noted in the afterward), this delightful book looks at Year 1, Year 10, Year 100 and the present day. Not only does the ship provide a wonderful place for the myriad of sea life, the wood itself enriches its resting place as it decomposes.

Students will enjoy the colorful, smiling creatures as well as the funny speech bubbles while they learn some solid science. The back of the book contains a note about artificial reefs and the original San Pedro shipwreck as well as additional reading suggestions and selected sources. Add this book, and the first book, Log Life, to your library. This charming book will hook your kids into more exploration of tiny habitats. Highly recommended.

Last Hope School for Magical Delinquents

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by Nicki Pau Preto

Vin’s magic is out of control and it has caused her to get kicked out of almost every magical school in the world. She has landed in the last possible chance she has: The Last Hope School for Magical Delinquents. This is her last chance to figure out how to control her magic without it exploding into disaster. She discovers loyal friendships and finally gains an understanding of how her magic actually works. This book is full of heartwarming characters who are quirky, but accepting. All of them have been a bit of a mess and found this welcoming home of last chances. The headmistress of the school is very kind and works diligently with her troubled students to find their confidence and control in a safe space while not giving up on them when the “oopsies” happen with their developing magic. I enjoyed this book a lot. Clever magic, kind, brave characters, and plenty of action made for a fun read. Vin’s fear of failure and of being cast out felt very real and tugged at my heart. I think lovers of magic & fantasy will really enjoy this book. The ending also left room for a sequel. I would definitely read another book if this were a series!

The Blood of Kings

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by Matt Myklusch

An action-packed graphic novel set in a medieval land surrounded by more modern kingdoms. It is being attacked by Night Lander warriors every evening. Skerren finds himself defending his kingdom and his king from this invading force and from enemies within as well. The story moves along with plenty of visual action and plot twists. I liked the map at the beginning of the book, but wished that it had included more of the kingdoms that actually appeared in the book. For instance, the Night Landers home location was not on the map.There are other books in the Imagine Nation world, so perhaps those books included information I felt was missing in this volume. Clearly, Skerren’s friends, Jack and Allegra, were in other volumes. This book alluded to earlier adventures with the friends. Graphics are bold & colorful and the pace of the story moves right along.

A Game of Noctis

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by Deva Fagan

Pia, a girl from the poor side of town, is recruited to play with a team in the Great Game of Noctis where the stakes are life and death. If she and her team win, she just might be able to save her grandfather, banished to the island of pawns who may no longer play in the games. I enjoyed this book of games, riddles and strategies and Pia’s quest to get ahead in life. All of the games had similarities to common, real world games like chess or tag, but all were unique and different. One scene reminded me a bit of the human chess board in the 2nd Harry Potter book, but again, every game and puzzle was something brand new with just an echo of a familiar one. The book is full of twists and turns, allies and enemies, and stakes worth playing for! I cared about the characters and was rooting for their success or downfall, depending on who they were. A rags to potential-riches story worth reading, and I think my middle schoolers will really enjoy this one.

The Forgotten Magic of Zoey Turner by Erin Stewart

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This upper elementary/middle grade novel is perfect for many readers: anyone managing an anxiety disorder, anyone who loves to write fanfiction or fantasy, anyone who’s been bullied, anyone who’s lost a parent, anyone receiving support from a therapist, or anyone who worries or fixates on worst case scenarios.  Zoey Turner lost her father to a bus accident and now struggles with debilitating anxiety. Her fears include but aren’t limited to buses, germs, crowds, cars, the deep end of the pool, and she spends her time googling worst-case scenario facts. She is obsessed with Raven M. Wells, author of her favorite fantasy series about a hero’s journey. Cleverly, this is exactly what Zoey finds herself embarking on after she obtains what she believes to be a “magic pencil” at the author’s signing event because when she proceeds to write with it, her stories come true. Readers will ponder what they would write if they had a magic pencil. Zoey’s quest includes: a supportive mother; book store owner, Jada; Derek, a boy bullied by others; and best friend, Lena, who loves and supports her, but who is also being pulled into a new circle of not-very-nice girls. During the course of her quest, Zoey learns that it’s okay to need others, courage means acting in spite of fear, “bad things…happen to all of us, be we decide how those things change us” (298), the magic is in us, and we can’t just be the hero; rather, we have to become one. All powerful and necessary messages. The twist at the end will delight readers while they cheer Zoey on during the final stages of her hero’s journey.

Heartfelt by Elaine Vickers

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What is love? How do you show love? The main character makes small hearts and gives them away after completing acts of kindness. The character uses their senses to describe love. Love feels like a gentle hand to lift you up if you fall down. Love tastes like warm cookies we take to the neighbors. The diorama illustrations are colorful and help carry the story. Many small acts of kindness are demonstrated through the words and collage illustrations of this book.