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.

Piper knows she’s cynical.  Falling in love is not something she aspires to do. In fact, she usually walks away before she can every really get to know a guy.  Enter her two best girlfriends with a love potion plan to find boyfriends by Feburary 14th.  The fact that her single mother of three owns a floral shop and that Piper works for a candy shop owner only makes the weeks leading up to Valentine’s day a stressful combination of angst.  But the character Heather Hepler develops in Piper is surprisingly insightful, respectful, and not as melodramatic as the chic lit cover filled with candy “consternation” hearts might lead one on to believe.  Piper gets her man, but does she really want him?  Her soul mate might just be closer than she imagined.  The predictability of the ending is one small flaw. Another is the “thrown in” conflict of Piper’s real father coming into the picture.   This read is more about realizing that repressed feelings can put all relationships at risk until the eventual implosion or explosion that is necessary to move on.

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.

Ralph is a dog who can answer questions, such as, “How’s the path feel on your paws…” and ” What’s on that tree?”

Ralph’s responses are 1.5 inches tall, in this 12″ X 8.25″ book where large creatively adorable multimedia creatures inhabit the pages. Ralph has two buttons for eyes, a pop top nose, a zipper for a mouth, a tin heart dog tag on a woven rainbow braided collar, and rough textured paper constitutes his body.

Young independent readers will enjoy this four chapter book about friends, Mouse and Mole,  preparing for Halloween. Yee’s illustrations are scattered throughout the text often three per page just like the falling leaves of autumn.

As Mouse hangs up a plastic skeleton, Mole is having a nightmare about being chased by a skeleton. Then Mouse and Mole find the perfect pumpkin for the pumpkin carving contest. Mole carves his right away, but Mole waits until the last minute to carve hers. Mouse’s jack-o’-lantern wins for silliest and Mole’s wins for ‘sc-scariest’. Later, Mouse shares a story book with Mole to help him realize Halloween “is scary, YES– but exciting too!”

This beginning chapter book of four chapters is a fast moving, realistic story of friendship with illustrations interspersed  throughout the text, sometimes three per page.

After moths made holes in Moles clothes Mouse tries something “new” at the diner for lunch. Followed by Mole buying a “new” style of shirt. Then the friends go fishing together. Mole uses a worm for bait because he likes to eat worms himself and Mouse uses cheese for the same reason. When they don’t catch anything but an old tire, they play in the pond. In the end, Mouse fixes Mole’s old holey clothes making them “new” and Mole uses the old tire to make a “new” swing.

Albert, the mouse, tries to train his newly found pet snail, Flash, tricks, but  finds patience instead. Young readers are exposed to the concept of ‘position’ when Albert demonstrates all the tricks he’d like Flash to learn. A cute surprise ending when Albert discovers Flash has done all of the tricks during the night by following Flash’s slime trail. Delightful illustrations!

‘Positions’  included in bold type: in/out, on top of/ at the bottom of, on/off, under/ over, behind/ in front of, far/near,  and next to / beside.

“Fun Activities’  parent and/ or teacher will enjoy doing with their young reader to reinforce the position concept are included at the end of the story.

The cover, featuring a handsome shirtless lifeguard, gives the reader the impression that The Lifeguard will be a romantic beach read. But the reader may be disappointed. The characters are poorly defined; for instance the reader learns next to nothing about the lifeguard, Pilot, other than that he is handsome and has supernatural healing powers. Sirena, the main character, doesn’t articulate what it is about Pilot, other than his good looks, that has her so obsessed with him.  It may just be the supernatural “presence” that read people can’t understand.  And everything about her is extreme — the high to low roller coaster of her emotions makes for a bumpy ride.  The best character is Pilot’s grandfather, from whom Sirena learns the most about life.  The plot defies believability but the novel likely will appeal to the most die hard romance fans.

Shift is the sequel to Shade and is the second book in the Shade Trilogy. Shift takes up two months after Shade ends and continues the story of Aura, her dead boyfriend Logan, and a new love interest Zachary. This paranormal love triangle romance is full of action, dangerous and sexy entanglements with twists and turns. An intriguing, steamy romance that will have the readers turning the pages with anticipation.  Note: This is a very mature Young Adult novel with erotic images.