The final book in the Avatar Chronicles trilogy, Edda‘s story follows immediately upon the previous books, Epic and Sage. As very little back story is presented in Edda, it is best read after the first two books. The main character, Penelope has known no world beside the video game universe of Edda her entire life. She is the only human avatar in a land of electronic beings, and has been virtually abandoned by the humans of her planet. The main plot of Edda concerns the threat of war emerging between Edda and Saga. Secrets come out about Penelope’s past, and loyalties are tested.

This fantasy contains the same main characters as the first two books and makes it easy to keep track of the characters over the course of the series.

The sequel to Trickster’s Girl, Traitor’s Son continues an intriguing adventure story, full of non-stop action and interesting characters, including a likable teenaged hero. Blending magic and science with Pacific Northwest Native mythology, this fantasy novel will appeal to teenage readers.

The introduction explains Democracy and it’s various elements, with an well done chronology of the evolution of democracy. Readability is good and the book is divided into components explaining various aspects of democracy with solid examples provided. There are interesting historical references to the development of the Bill of Rights, Amendments, and the Athenian Model. The illustrations are good and various graphics provide additional information, as does the timeline and easy to use large print index.  One improvement would have been to include a glossary of terms. There is additional information provided in sections on the electoral college, poll tax and election spending.

This nonfiction book on reptiles has extreme coloring amplifying their visuals. Too much.  It has an air of inaccuracy with the bright coloring that was used with photoshopping the animal pictures.  It’s exaggerated.  It doesn’t feel authentic.   I’m sure that primary kids will haves their eyes caught, but they really don’t need this encouragement for a book about animals.  Why enhance the colors on animals?  The graphic layout around it is bright enough, and it didn’t need the animal colors enhanced.  Addition.

This is a simplified, well-done, nonfiction book explaining select military machines and their uses.  One of the things that I do like about this book is the simplified explanations without glorifying guns.  Some of the nonfiction military books are bombarding the reader with photos of big guns, bright colors, and eye catching visuals which entertain rather than teach.  With a topic as serious as service people sacrificing their lives, I appreciate the tone of the book.  Which isn’t a visit to a discotheque, but rather to explain what the equipment is in a realistic manner.  Recommended.

Great visual layout of this nonfiction book featuring dinosaurs.  The pictures look 3-D and realistic, along with a paragraph including the physical description of the animal along with other interesting facts.  In the back is a glossary and additional websites, other books, and index.  Recommended.

This is an easy non-fiction for very young children about the eight day Apollo II mission to the moon in July 1969.  Written with rhymes and descriptive vocabulary, each word is chosen carefully and sparingly to tell the reader or listener this exciting story.   The illustrations are cartoonish with action detail that will interest young readers.  At the end, the Author’s Note gives a summary of events of the mission and explains with more detail than the narrative of the main story.  There is also an actual photo from NASA of the lunar module ascent from the moon to the command module with the earth looking tiny on the horizon.  The bibliography page at the end lists books and kid-friendly websites for more information.

On Christmas Eve, ten little mice are huddling out in the open, shivering in the cold snow.  One by one, each mouse finds a warm little spot to sleep.  The problem is that then they are each alone.  In the end, one clever mouse discovers a hollow log that will accommodate all ten mice.  They snuggle together warm and happy.  With beautiful, rich illustrations and a rhyming narrative, this delightful read aloud trips off the tongue.  The opportunity presents for counting practice and/or a discussion about the importance of friendship.

This easy picture book is fun, colorful and silly.  It’s about Zoe, a girl with a closet full of lovelies that certainly would impress even Fancy Nancy.  Most days, her parents get to pick out her clothes for school or soccer but today is Saturday and Zoe gets to decide.  What a dilemma!  Mom is calling up to her that it’s time to go but Zoe just can’t decide.  After all, each outfit will determine what kind of day she has, from a pocket day to a twirling day and everything in between.  She finally decides to wear it all and heads out for her day.  The illustrations are bright and comical, full of delightful details.  The language is descriptive and whimsical.  Many children can relate to Zoe’s desire for adventure as well as the dressing dilemma.  I think youngsters will enjoy hearing this book as a read aloud.

Kids with a goofy sense of humor will get chuckle after chuckle with each turn of the page in this book on dog breeds.  At first this book looks like a nonfiction title but put your tongue in your cheek and read on…Starting on the cover there are clues…two ring marks that looks as if someone set a coffee mug down on the front of the book and ruined the cover.  Also note that the book is Not by Zebedee Helm.  Kit (a cowboy from Montana) and his dog Willy love discovering interesting things.  They happen upon a dog show and begin describing dogs: “Labdradors come in the colours: black, yellow and chocolate.  Obviously the chocolate ones are the rarest as a lot get eaten and those that don’t quite often, melt in the sun.”  Fact hounds will be totally frustrated that they will learn nothing about dog breeds in this book.  Goofy kids will love it.  Oh…”Try not to get too fond of your balloon dog as they only last about a week, even less if you have a cactus in your house.”  Childlike artwork and handwriting, complete with cross outs, add to the ambiance of youthful silliness.  Surprisingly published in Great Britain…a long way from Montana! (On the back cover, an arrow points to the “bark code”.)

This book is very informative about The job of a Smoke Jumper.  It tells about the wildfires that the jumpers need to help put out.  There is information on  what a smoke jumper needs to do to help put out a wildfire and some of the training they go through.  The smoke jumpers are always in danger and need to know how to handle the danger.

There is a lot of  interesting information in this book.  There is a glossary in the back and a section “To Learn More”.  Also an index.

This book is a bit creepy.  A child would need to like to be scared to read this book.  I would be careful reading it to young children. Waga is a monster who cannot find his scare.  He looks everywhere.  Waga has left his scare in your room.  The picture of the author on the back flap on the cover is quite scary.

This is a fun book that shows a lot of different skies.  I didn’t know there could be so many different skies.  The pictures and very colorful and bright.

And it is fun to see what the people are doing at the bottom of the pages.

Kindergartners are introduced to scientific investigations in this new Foss related series , Investigate Materials.  In this title, learners find the answers to…What is cotton?…Where does cotton come from?…How is Cotton made into fabric?…What does cotton look like?…How does cotton feel?…Why do we use cotton?…What do You have that is made from cotton?  Each two page spread includes fun, engaging photographs of age appropriate, multiracial kids responding to the distilled, two sentence text and colorful photographic visuals about cotton.  However, I do question whether because cotton is soft, it makes “you feel happy!”  Interesting fact…”Old denim from blue jeans is even used to make dollar bills.”  Includes Challenge Words, listed upfront with the Contents.   Other titles in the series…Nylon, Silk, Wool.  Overall, a well executed investigative series for the very young.

This is a humorous graphic interpretation of Rudyard Kipling’s How the Camel Got his Hump.  It tells the story of a lazy camel, relaxing in an oasis in the Howling Desert of India.  When Ox and Dog and Horse discovered camel and how he was not helping with the work on the farm, they tried to convince him to join them.  Despite their efforts, camel just said “Humph!”  So the desert Djinn came down and punished the camel by giving him a humph (now pronounced “hump”) from which to live off so he could work for 3 days at a time without taking a break to eat.  Camel to this day remains crabby and uncooperative and embarrassed by his hump.  This is one in a series of four remakes of Rudyard Kipling’s tales.  The other titles are How the Elephant got his Trunk, How the Leopard got his Spots, How the Rhinoceros got his Skin.

Our students love craft books and this one takes items which might otherwise end up in the trash and demonstrates how to turn them into treasure.  There are seven projects, each using items and supplies commonly found around the house.  The instructions are clear and simple, with photographs for each step of the project, including one of a sample finished product.  The emphasis on recycling is also positive for our young people.  I expect this book to circulate frequently in our school library.

I LOVED this darling picture book!  The story is about an adorable bird named Blue who woke up one morning to an “egg” landing in her nest.  The setting is Central Park, NY, with children having a snowball fight below her tree.  Blue welcomes Egg but decides they must find her mother.  They search high and low but no one claims the missing “egg”.  Blue and Egg settle into a fun life of adventure around New York City until spring comes and Egg mysteriously starts to shrink.  Blue tries everything to help, but alas one morning wakes up to Egg missing and a puddle below her nest.  She discovers in that puddle a beautiful pink flower which she promptly plants, deciding that Egg must have simply bloomed.  The illustrations are colorful cut-paper and the reader will delight in all the wonderful details.  This would be a fun read aloud for elementary.

This is a great book!  It is a simple description of what an amphibian is.  The illustrations are funny and creative.  The book makes you laugh while learning. It is written in clever rhymes.  Very good for young science students.  There are questions in the back to help with your understanding.

This is a cute poem about a family”s love for a baby.  Each family member reaches in some way that relates to the baby.

It’s a story that makes you feel love.

I enjoyed the peaceful happy feeling shared in this book.  The pictures are beautiful.

This would be a good gook for young readers wanting to get into chapter books.  The end is a fun turn around for children.  The story is meant to have a element of suspense, but is not too much for small children.

The pictures are fun and colorful.  The details of the story make it come to life.

This book is written as a poem.  It is fun and colorful.  This would be fun to read to younger children and to find the rhyming words.  It is a cute quick read just for fun.  It’s full of rhyming words.