Amelia, a small girl, and Nilson, a giant blue gorilla, are always together.  Usually both play happily, but occasionally something goes wrong and Nilson throws a huge fit.  Amelia calms him by saying, “No fits, Nilson” and distracts him with something positive (banana pancakes, favorite froggy coin purse, etc.) As they go through the day doing errands at the grocery store, Post Office, and standing in lines, Amelia is able to help Nilson cope with disappointments.  At the end of the day when there is no banana ice cream, Amelia needs Nilson to calm her down.  That night in bed, Amelia hugs her small, stuffed toy gorilla as she wishes “No Fits Nilson” sweet banana dreams.  Everyone needs to control one’s temper at one time or another and this story of Amelia and Nilson show how a favorite toy can be a successful coping tool.  The illustrations resemble woodcuts and are large and colorful.  Text is large and in simple sentences.  Good addition to libraries needing books for young readers on being in control of one’s emotions.

I was pleasantly surprised at how easily the entire alphabet fit into this ABC concept book. Only “X” (ax) and “Z” ( Oz) did not appear as the first letter of the word for the letter being represented. “ Letter A is for Aunt Em. B is for a balloon ride. A cyclone spins a letter C. D is Dorothy no surprise! ”      ( pages 4-5) Notice how the color pops out and matches the ‘letter’ and the letter in the word.

Timothy Banks light-hearted characters are darling.

If I were to change anything, I would have the word ‘straw’  on the S page and the word ‘Winkies‘ on the W page begin with the colored letter,  in addition to ‘scarecrow’ and  ‘wicked witch of the West.’

A quick one paragraph retelling of the Wizard of Oz  story is told at the end of the alphabet.

AND by checking the book’s Index the entire list of ABC words is recapped.

Characteristics about the giraffe are presented in simple text, with 2-3 sentences per page.  Color photographs are well chosen to illustrate each fact.  One will learn about giraffe necks, what they eat and how, the spots, knobs on their heads, speed and where they live.  Details are very appropriate for young readers wanting to know more about the giraffe or creating a report.  Other books in this series are: elephant, manatee, panda, sea turtle, and shale shark.  Based on Giraffe, this series appears to be a good addition to an elementary library.

This humorous basic retelling of the traditional Little Red Riding Hood tale contains a surprise ending.  The text is simple and the red and black illustrations are sketchy with jagged lines on a clear white background.  Although the sentences are also spare, they are written in cursive which may require an older audience.  Text for the wolf is written in black; text for Little Red is in red.  She points out the obvious large ears, big eyes, sharp teeth and when he says “all the better to eat you with”, Little Red responds with an unbelievable “No”.  When questioned, she tells him he has stinky breath and offers him a sweet.  The candy is poisoned.  As the wolf topples over in a red death, Little Red’s last word is “Fool!”  No need to be rescued by others for her.  Sweet ending?  Not?  Either way, it is a new take on an old tale.

Trains seem to remain popular for the youngest readers and this book is no exception.  Written for the very beginning reader, this book uses simple vocabulary and repetitive phrases.  The emphasis is on order: first, next, and then, and last.  Illustrated with beautifully saturated colors and published with a sturdy binding, sure to last.

100 Hungry Monkeys is a counting book, each page full of monkeys first looking for something to eat, then running into a monster, and then escaping.  Each pair of pages offers small items to find and read.  Kids will enjoy counting all of them.

Lots of students, especially boys, are interested in car racing.  This book gives them the history of auto racing as well as the numbers involved.  In car racing, the main number people care about is speed–how fast can a car go?  Car racing has been around longer than people think, as early as the mid 1890’s.  By the early 1900’s, cars were topping speeds over 120 mph.  Cash prizes were awarded to people who could build cars going great distances.  Large money prizes have always been awarded in big races.  In 1911, the first ever Indy 500 (500 miles) was held with a $25,000 prize; in 1912, the prize was $50,000.  Now, as it was then, money seems to follow the cars.

In this volume of the Swedish triplet series, the girls find and care for a stray dog.  When they take him back to his home, he returns to them again.  His owner realizes that the dog, Mike, isn’t suited for farm work and gives him to the three girls.  They are indescribably happy to have him.  Again, what a sweet story Lindman has written.  Young students will truly enjoy reading a story about kids that get to keep a dog they’ve found.  Some things never get old.

This story goes back to a time when life was very simple and simple stories were entertaining for children.  Flicka, Ricka, and Dicka are three Swedish triplets (dressed alike) who take care of their aunt and uncle’s cat while they are gone.  The story is somewhat unrealistic as it takes place so long ago and in Sweden.  But kids reading it won’t know that; they will be entralled that the cat had kittens.  This is a story in which the story is read to the child.  The story is simple and sweet, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

I recommended this book for third grade and up because I believe the information presented is so clear and understandable.  Kathy Allen gives suggestions of how, when, and why to use your cellphone and also gives examples of consequences for not following those suggestions.  Opportunities are given for discussions of what is the right thing to do in a given situation, as well as safety precautions to take.    Anybody new to a cellphone will benefit from reading this book.

This is a cute story about a dog who gets an outfit and is embarrassed. He is teased by the other dogs. Then he sees Dart who has an outfit and is not fazed by it.  In fact Dart seems to be better because of his outfit.  And Dart likes Zorro’s outfit!  They play together and have a great time.  Zorro decided that the outfit wasn’t so bad after all.

A chronology of Plains Indians using their love for horses as a key vehicle to their successful life on the Great Plains of North America.

This book is refreshingly presented from the Plains Indians side of history. Presented with vintage photographs by Edward S. Curtis and Walter McClintock, along side artifacts and present photos by William Munoz.

Eight chapters beginning with Chapter 1- Living in the Dog Days  tells of life on the plains before Columbus and the Spanish bringing horses to North America. Dogs pulling travois were used to help the people follow the herds before horses were introduced to America.  Chapter 2- The Miraculous Horse tells of the ill treatment of the Indians by the Spaniards. The Indians were frightened of these never before seen animals at first. Over the years, horses broke free from the Spaniards in some places and in other places the Indians acquired horses after driving the Spaniards off. The horse would now slowly work its way across the Plains as wild horses or by being traded between tribes. Once this began, Plains life became more mobile because horses could travel further, faster, and carry more with travois and dogs could carry. Chapter 3-More Than a Hundred Years of Horse Culture tells of  buffalo hunting, war horses,  horse-stealing raids, and the white encroachment of the Plains.  Then, in  Chapter 6-Tragedies Strike and Chapter 7- Life Between Two Worlds deal with separating the Indians from their horses. Much of this history is about Indians without their horses.  “The authorities believed that Indians without horses would be easier to control…” ( p. 65)  Indians are now on reservations, children are going to boarding schools, and some Indians are earning money performing in Wild West Shows around the country and in Europe. Chapter 8- Indians and Horses Today brings us to 1934 with the appointment of a new commissioner for Indian Affairs and the passing of the Indian Reorganization Act. Indians are allowed to own horses again. This leads up to the year 1986 when THE BIG FOOT Memorial Ride is begun in memory of the Wounded Knee Massacre on December 29, 1890.  The book closes with, “As they continue their efforts to keep their culture vibrant and meaningful in today’s world, the Plains tribes will always be sure to include their most important animal partner– the horse– in their plans and in their dreams.”  (p. 93)

In this series, a brother, sister, and best friend are members of a club, the Spotlighters, who consider themselves detectives.  They’ve had some experience in solving mysteries and work well together.  The story doesn’t say how old they are, but middle school age seems to fit by their actions.  In this episode, there was a famous artist who had lived in their town.  He loved puzzles and riddles and had left clues for his only daughter to find his treasures.  Unfortunately, she died young and the mystery was left unsolved.  With nothing to go on except the daughter’s diary, the Spotlighters put together the clues to piece it together.  There is some conflict with the ancestors of this artist not cooperating, and the possibility of ghosts in the cemetery, but the three friends test their various theories.  I enjoyed this book because it seemed to fill a need for students who read at a lower level than what their age would indicate.  The cover art of the book shows older kids, not young kids, which would also appeal to middle-schoolers.  The characters are believable and resourceful and the dialog is appropriate.  The story moves quickly and kids won’t get bored.  This would be a great addition to both elementary and middle school libraries.

From the Eye on Art series, this text accomplishes its goal of chronicling the history of comics in its many forms.  From being unrespected and then rising as an acclaimed and legitimate art, comics in cartoons, strips, comic book and webcomics are covered.  Of note was the attention given to female artists and the explanation about African American comics.  Colorful illustrations and sidebars break up the text and provide good balance.  A fine resource for students who want to view the beginnings from which superhero comics, graphic novels and webcomics of today evolved.  Resources, bibliographical references and an index are included.

This Hot Topics series title provides up-to-date and well referenced information on the enormously passionate issue of gun control.  Support for the “pro” and “con” stances are the usual, predictable rationales:  Gabby Gifford’s case in Arizona, a right to carry state; the “stand your ground” defense of George Zimmerman in Florida; stand and defend.  A surprise was to read of gun control as a form of racism since certain classes are prevented from exercising their 2nd Amendment rights due to the costs and fees of gun ownership.  Without the financial resources, many cannot access the ammunition nor even the weapon itself, whereas the well-to-do can.  Another concept that seemed novel was that bearing arms can be seen as an equalizer.  It evens the playing field for a woman versus a man or a small man versus a larger man or an individual versus a group.  Great layout with highlighting, text boxes and colorful illustrations.  For a thin book, it is thick on material.  Excellent bibliographical references, discussion questions for each chapter and additional resources provided.

James Whitman, teenage poet, confused, anxious but hopeful, creative soul, longs to understand the horror of living with parents whom he calls The Brute and The Banshee, and how they could kick his beloved, abused sister Jorie out of their home without regret or forgiveness. As James begins to question just what Jorie did to deserve such punishment, which also included expulsion from school her senior year, his quest to know her and himself better through ‘therapy’ with an imaginary dove named Dr. Bird, then a real and effective therapist named Dr Dora, is the pulse of this sweet debut book by Evan Roskos.

James, inspired by Walt Whitman, finds it is poetry and friendship that ultimately save him and bring him to reckon with the hard lessons of living. Jorie’s struggles become clear, too, as James makes his way past his own guilt and anxiety to build a healing relationship with her, out there on her own by choice, helping him carve out a way forward with parents whose inept parenting is nevertheless what he is stuck with. James’ ultimate celebration of all things life brings the book to its hopeful fulfillment. The poetry and prose move the plot forward with joy that never flags, even in the darkest of times for James.

Highly recommended.

A happy central character with a life plan and the confidence to see it through: That’s Margo McKenna, high school musical theatre talent, promising musician, who usually gets what she wants. Enter Vicky, lackluster non-actress who gets the lead role Margo ought to have had, and Oliver, Vicky’s mysterious companion, and suddenly the known world is very odd indeed.  Why are people so blind to Vicky’s acting inability? Why do they dote on her? And who is Oliver really?

Lindsay Ribar’s first book is engaging, believable magical realism, brightly written and well developed. Oliver, a gentle genie, comes into Margo’s life summoned by the wishing ring Vicky has abandoned. As Margo begins to understand the power Oliver offers, she also begins to fall in love with him, leading to an ultimately surprising consequence when she defeats the dark genie that wants to end Oliver’s life, thus changing her own forever. The inevitable but unexpected ending promises sequels.

This easy to absorb novel creates a whole new world of genies and ‘masters’ for the modern world. It will be interesting to see what Ms Ribar has in store for Margo and Oliver is the next phase of their existences in this paranormal romance.  Recommended

What I thought was going to be a fractured fairy tale of the Frog Prince turned out to be much more.

This tale of being half frog and half human blends itself nicely into the graphic novel format.

While Pete enjoys living in the swamp with his frog father, he doesn’t always fit into the total frog lifestyle – he’s at least 10X bigger than the other frogs, plus he wears clothes. Then unexpectedly while his tongue is shooting out to catch a fly, it sticks to a speeding car and Pete finds himself in the city. Now Pete finds himself in a middle school trying to fit in scholastically, athletically, and at lunch socially. When Pete is revealed as half frog/half human he jumps through a window and finds himself at the edge of the trash-filled school pond. Suddenly, but effectively, Pete springs into ‘reuse’ , ‘reduce’, and ‘recycle’ mode. The students help Pete clean up the pond for  happy ending.

Some of the boxed time signatures are off and there is a misspelled word on page 7  (loose, should be lose).

Includes: Visual Questions.

Let me start by saying, “I work at a Native American school.”  That said, skip this book and go directly to the first and fourth web site listed on page 40 of the book. If by stories they mean bits of trivia, then this book is just ‘OK’, but if by story they mean tales that will engage the reader, this book falls flat.  Most of the stories are mere crumbs, four maybe five sentences, leaving the reader wanting more which is never given. There are five page long  ‘retelling(s)’  but the artwork on the opposite page looks more Eastern-European than Native American. Each turn of the page usually brings a photo of an artifact of something associated with Native Americans, but often as not, it is not tied to a story or legend. Four times the book tries to link American Indian myths with similar myths in other cultures: Africa, China, and Scandinavia , but each time they are grasping at straws.

American Indians are too vast and too diverse to be effectively covered in 47 pages.

Delightful picture book by Neil Flory. Drawings are cute and would surely appeal to the average 5 to 7 year old. The storyline is about a giraffe named Geri, the shortest giraffe who ever lived. Geri’s height causes all sorts of problems when Bobo the baboon tries to take a photo of the herd. Find out how one herd of giraffes learns how to get EVERYONE to fit!

Nice, large illustrations, good binding, make for a quality, informative book about making good food choices.  The first chapter discusses the “picky eater” and has he father taking his son to the locally grown organic section of the grocery story to shop for foods that are right in nutrients.  Chapter two brings to live the five food groups and even discusses sugar and how little and why you would want in your body.  Later in the book, food choices for lunches, desserts,  and snacks are examined as healthy choices.  There is a formulaic procedure listed in the back on how to create an energy lunch, complete with glossary and further resources.  Recommended, mostly because it’s challenging to find quality books with new nutrition information.

This book has many great features which include photos, captions glossary, index, a timeline and more.  The one piece that caught my attention and earned my praise was the feature called: Today’s persepctive.  It included that often overlooked piece of how we view history differently through the lense of time.  Fox example, the section which told about Pearl Harbor included that American’s felt that it was a “sneak attack” by the Japanese.  However, now historians are saying that is was more a critical intelligence failure on the part of the US.  They felt Japan wasn’t capable of pulling off an attack.  It was a disastrous error to underestimate Japan.  I like how the book is open to new ways of viewing history, and for this reason am recommending it.

A catchy title, nice graphics for lower readers which need high interest, very enticing topics, but probably not the content to support the average  student led science project.   This book could be used to motivate students who aren’t interested in science or completion of an experiment and need encouragement which allows them to use topics or language that isn’t necessarily appropriate or allowed in a school setting.  Topics such as poop, snot, smelly sneakers are used as subjects in the 11 experiments provided.  Although this isn’t the book most teachers or parents will grab, there will probably be some lower readers and challenging students who will enjoy looking through the book.

A hilariously funny everybody book which helps us to explain the origin of the Yankee Doodle tune and make sense of it all.  The story begins with the bored Yankee taking the suggestion from his pony that they go into town.  The horse suggests that he could go shopping for a feather and place in in his hat and call it macaroni.  The Yankee questions the logic in this plan.   The horse then enlightens us that the term “macaroni” was often used as a synonym for “fancy”.  They pony nearly makes a case for going into town when the Yankee hurts his feelings in a last ditch effort to win the argument. To make amends, he ends up going into town with his pony…in a sporty car.  Everyone’s happy by the end. Tom Angelberger has another winning book, besides his success with Origami Yoda books.