Here is the book for dog lovers who are intimidated by books of one hundred pages or more. Twelve separate authors have each submitted one short story, approximately twenty pages, dealing with the life of a dog at Pawley Rescue Center and the person who eventually adopts it. Four of the stories are written from the dog’s point-of-view. The human circumstance in each story vary greatly, but always comes back to the yearning for love a dog can provide.

In the first story author, Kirby Larson, tells the story of a boy sent to live with his aunt when his military father is deployed. A different author’s story tells of a boy whose constantly fighting  divorced parents finally agree to let him have a dog. Yet another story tells of how a bullied boy wants a vicious dog, but the dog which chooses him makes friends with  the dog of one of the boy’s bullies. Through the two dogs’ friendship, the boy gains acceptance at school.

OUTSTANDING! A yearning to be outside near an oak tree, so I can witness the stages of an oak tree’s life cycle for myself, overcomes me as I look through this book! The full page photos, in the 7″ X 6″ book, immediately grab the reader’s attention with their detail, while the 2 or 3 sentences on the opposite page refines what the reader in seeing.

The photo on page 8  of the root emerging from the cracked acorn and the photo on page 11 with the hull of the acorn still attached shows , “A small shoot, or stem, pushes up from the acorn. Tiny leaves unfold on the shoot.”  (p. 10) Awe. Silent wonder.

One of the five “Fun Facts” sprinkled throughout the pages states, “About one out of 10,000 acorns will become an oak tree.” (p. 25) while a squirrel munching on an acorn stares the reader down from the opposite page. Shhh, quiet contemplation.

Hoky, a wolf pup, lived near a small village in the mountains.  When winter came, the hungry wolves came down to eat farm animals.  Village men captured all of them except Hoky, who had hidden in a cave.  Jacob, a young shepherd, watched over his flock as well al all the animals in the field.  He often spotted Hoky in the distance and noticed that he was hungry.  Jacob left bread on a stone then took the sheep to another area.  Over time, Hoky came to trust Jacob.  One day while climbing a tree, a branch broke and Jacob tumbled to the ground, falling unconscious.  Hoky heard the noise and hesitantly approached Jacob.  Jacob didn’t move.  As the temperature dropped, Hoky curled up near Jacob to keep him warm.  By morning, Jacob was able to move and Hoky ran off.  Back in the village, Jacob shared his story and advised the villager to help feed the animals in winter so all could share the mountains and fields.  Good reminder that when one has respect for nature and a love for animals, all can live together in unity.  Lovely, large, colored pencil and watercolor illustrations are a perfect match to this gentle tale.  Original Spanish title: Hoky el lobo solidario.  English translation by Jon Brokenbrow.

These ants aren’t marching two by two, but they are doing math. “Ants work together as a group.When we want to know how many there are altogether in a group, we can add to find out. Let’s add some ants!”  (p. 5) Kindergarteners and first graders enough read stories about ants and study ants as part of science. Now we will be able to add math to the list of things ants can do in their class.

These  photographed ants are one inch or larger, plus it is not the same ant reproduced over and over again, but multiple photos of  individual ants. The detail in these photos is impressive.

Addition sentences are in a large bold font beneath the ants to be added. Sentences include: 1+2, 3+3, 6+3, 2+5  &  5+2, and 9+7. Number lines with advancing arrows are shown , as well as, an addition chart with an invitation for the young reader to try to solve  7+4=? using the addition chart.

While learning about adding the young reader is also gaining knowledge facts about ants. Then there is an entirely separate page entitled ‘Ant Facts‘. There is a separate ‘Math Glossary‘ from the ‘ Ant Glossary‘. Followed by a separate page of “Teaching Notes-… This title supports an understanding of quantity by putting together groups of objects (ants) and introducing the mathematical vocabulary and symbols of addition.” (p. 24)  Finally ‘Related Common Core Standards‘ for kindergarten and first grade are listed at the bottom of the page.

The name of Ruth Wakefield may not be as well known as her invention, but everyone in the USA knows about chocolate chip cookies!  The first thing one reads is how this popular cookie was developed – original recipe included.  Her life as a young child cooking with her mother and grandmother and going to school with a focus on nutrition follows.  After she and her husband married, they opened a little restaurant in a toll house in Massachusetts.  Specializing on good food and desserts, the restaurant flourished.  They were generous with patrons and sent Toll House cookies to troops throughout WWII.  A deal was made with Andrew Nestle – she got free chocolate for life and he got permission to print her recipe on every bag of chocolate chips, one of his new inventions to go with her cookies!  A good portion of the book is devoted to encouraging children to think of inventions to make something better.  Suggestions are given on how to record thoughts, sketches, and procedures in a logbook, and how to sell the invention or apply for a patent.  Recommended books are focused on inventions and are written at a higher reading level than this book.  Interesting book – either for reports or pleasure!

As a practicing super hero, Tom is proud of the things he can do.  However, he is not sure how he feels about his new baby brother, Nathaniel, AKA the Blob.  The Blob receives a lot of attention and Tom’s super hero talent of invisibility happens now with no effort.  As relatives show up to see the new baby, each one mentions how cute he is and that they could just eat him up.  What?!  Now as the protective older brother, Tom offers cookies and shows off his tricks to get their minds off nibbling on the Blob.  One day his mom tells Tom they are having a party so everyone can meet the baby.  Eat the baby?  Tom gets worried and decides to hide the Blob.  He is much relieved to discover dinner is really chicken and mashed potatoes with apple pie for dessert.  And the Blob, AKA Nathaniel, now notices his awesome older brother with a huge smile.  Cute “new baby” story which also introduces idioms.  Many older siblings may recognize similar thoughts and behaviors.  Bright acrylic illustrations add a touch of humor as Tom imagines different scenarios.

The octopus is an amazing invertebrate.  Large, plain text tells: the kind of animal they are, where they live, about their unusual bodies, ways they camouflage themselves, and ways they learn.  Scientists gather many varieties of octopuses to study their abilities.  Since the parents die when eggs hatch, they do not teach their young.  Scientists hope to find out how octopuses learn and solve problems.  Many inventions have been inspired by the octopus – suction cups for diverse uses, for example.  Diagrams show external body parts and the location of the brains and hearts.  Clear photographs are well captioned.  Many pages contain extra sidebars with facts.  Glossary, index, resources, and websites included.

Mr. and Mrs. Green, an alligator couple, make plans for going camping.  First they think of all they want to take along – food, clothing, tents, and a map.  Then Mr. Green begins to get worried about the dark, strange spooky sounds, and mosquitoes.  Mrs. Green bravely leads the way.  Hiking along, they pass many familiar places.  When Mrs. Green finally decides to stop, Mr. Green looks closely at the map.  Mrs. Green had led them around the neighborhood back to their own comfortable backyard!  Mr. Green relaxes, knowing he could now enjoy their night out camping.  Bright acrylic illustrations include the variety of items packed, their journey around local blocks, and their relaxing site at home.

Most of the stories in A Matter of Souls are snapshots, of an event, a character, a time in the lives of African Americans. Patrick does a remarkable job infusing each story with the hope, courage, and despair of the characters who are faced with relentless prejudice. Some of the characters defeat it, some are defeated by it, but all of them have something to teach us. One, a woman considered “simple” by the community, defends her husband from attackers and calculates how to use the law to their advantage. Another, a young woman who desperately want to be beautiful which to her means to be light-skinned, almost kills herself trying to attain her ideal but learns what is important in the process.  The stories are incredibly moving although librarians and readers should be warned that some are violent. This will be an excellent addition to a school library.

The cat with seven names is told from the viewpoint of six lonely people in an urban community.  This large, obviously over-fed cat wanders into each home and is welcomed as a stray.  Each person gives him a different name as they enjoy the cat’s company for a while.  One day, the cat is almost hit by a car – the driver of which is in search for her missing cat!  As each of the neighborhood people gather to check on “their” cat, they begin talking to one another and new friendships are made.  Davenier’s pastel illustrations add many details to the story throughout the book.  The front end-pages show everyone going about their separate lives.  As the cat enters each home, different neighbors can be seen in the background.  By the final end-pages, the individuals are involved in friendly conversations as the cat calmly watches from the side.

Two true/false questions are posed on the first page of the books in this series, the answer to which is found within the chapters.  (The last page indicates which is the true fact.)  Beginning with three distinct types of birds – penguins that swim, hummingbirds that fly, and ostriches that run – many commonalities are presented.  Although all birds have characteristics related to flight, not all birds fly.  Information comparing wings, feathers, beaks, and habitats vary, depending on their use.  All birds lay eggs, so the chick can develop outside the mother’s body as the added weight would prevent her from flying.  Global warming, vanishing habitats, and human pollution are some of the factors affecting the survival of many species.  Photographs are large, colorful, and captioned.  A migration map, a life-cycle diagram, and a quick facts chart provide additional data.  The migration map, while interesting, is small and hard to read.  Overall, the quality, accuracy, and presentation of material is well done.  This book is a fine resource for reports or simply reading for pleasure.  Glossary, index, and a page about the author are included in the back.  Additional resources include two books, one written at a similar level, one for younger readers, and an excellent website provided by Scholastic.

Spunky cowgirl Nellie Sue is charged up and ready for a brand-new school year.  Her teacher has sent her a bag to fill with items to describe herself during show-and-tell.  Instead of starting out smoothly, Nellie Sue is faced with one little disappointment after another: no hats at school, her best friend Anna sitting with the new girl, Maya, and having to sit between the irritating J-twins in class.  As the day continues, other problems develop: having to wear tennis shoes in gym and falling face-first into the sand pit.  A final indignity results with Maya’s drawing of Nellie Sue looking like a cow!  Embarrassed, Nellie Sue runs from the classroom.  Maya follows her out to explain she didn’t mean to hurt her feelings – she simply thought cowgirls liked cows!  Returning to class, Nellie Sue decides to take charge of her day and give it a positive spin.  When she shares the contents of her bag, Nellie Sue extends her cowgirl hospitality and includes Maya’s picture.  Lynne Avril’s expressive ink, watercolor and gouache illustrations are a great match for Nellie Sue’s active and emotional first day of school.  Fans of Nellie Sue will enjoy this 4th book of “Every Cowgirl” adventures.

Susan Hood is the author of many Pup and Hound adventures written for beginning readers.  Six of these stories are collected in this volume.  They can be read a separate stories or one after the other for a longer tale.  Each story is told in simple, rhyming sentences with large font and plenty of repetition.  The older, wiser Hound keeps a loving eye on the energetic Pup as they romp around the farm.  Linda Hendry’s colorful, humorous illustrations on every page are a perfect match for Pup and Hound’s exploits.  Each of the six stories are written at a beginning first grade reading level.  This Big Book of Stories is an ideal choice for young readers venturing into more independent reading.

Beginning with a question, books in this series simply and clearly define the sport.  The text is basic and repetitive, gives information about equipment, rules, and includes “fun facts”.  A complete diagram of a court is plainly labeled.  Words to know are in bold font and also defined in the glossary.  Index also included.  Colorful photos show young boys and girls demonstrating each term. With so many books written about basketball, it is a pleasure to see one entirely directed toward adolescent readers and players.  Other books in the series include baseball, dance, football, soccer, and swimming.

Twelve year old Chase Masters and his father follow natural disasters and are currently in Mexico where the Rossi Brothers’ Circus went missing after a massive earthquake.  Separated from her family, Nicole Rossi is anxious to find them and check on the animals.  Chase, Nicole, and a few remaining circus members form a team to locate and provide assistance.  A volcanic eruption is imminent, a tiger is loose, thieves intercept them, roads are blocked, equipment fails, and the air is filling with ash.  Much action fills this third book of the Storm Runners series.  Although this is the final book in this adventure, one does not have to have read the previous books in order to get caught up in the fast-paced action.  This series will most certainly attract reluctant readers.

Zander, LaShonda, Kambui, and Bobbi go to the DaVinci Middle School for the Gifted and Talented in Harlem.  They created an alternative newspaper called, The Cruisers.  This third book in the series generated many thought-provoking questions and situations sure to prompt discussions.  Zander writes a play called Act 6, that looks at several of Shakespeare’s characters in the future.  LaShonda is recognized as a creative designer and is offered a chance to attend college.  She and her autistic, younger brother live in a group home.  She won’t consider leaving her brother, even if it means she cannot continue school to better their lives.  The many middle school situations are realistic, the voices of a multicultural community are believable, and this close group of friends have each others’ backs as they address contemporary issues.  Walter Dean Myers does not shy away from challenging subjects: Speedy track team member Sagal, from Afghanistan, will not remove her traditional clothing to wear a track uniform in order to race.  An upcoming topic for the debate team is “Are Wars Necessary?”.  Zander’s parents are divorced and now his father wants to be part of his life.  Although this book is part of a series, it reads well as a stand-alone.

Mr. Mosely is just a dog – a large, clumsy, loving, loyal dog who only kind of knows one trick.  Yet this special dog is just what Corey’s family needs.  Mr. Mosely’s story is told in short, journal-like chapters by Corey.  Part Great Dane and part Dalmatian, Mr. Mosely is mostly white with a large heart-shaped group of spots on his chest, a small tear-shaped spot near his eye, and part of one ear.  Although the focus is Mr. Mosely, details of Corey’s family relationships and turmoil are revealed.  The tone is funny, sad, ridiculous, tender and does not shy away from the rewards and risks of loving, whether pets or family members.  This is an honest telling of life with a beloved pet for anyone.  A great read!

How often did young men( pre-Viet Nam) think going off to war would be glorious? A soldier’s frustration and optimism of being at war are well balanced in this book . Chris Lynch writes this first book in his World War II series about a young man, Roman, who lives and breathes baseball, as a member of the minor league Red Sox team, that his going off to fight the Nazis will have to down sides to it. Roman enlists, even before Pearl Harbor and the United States involvement is declared. The town’s people have a send off for the baseball players who have enlisted, as this is the last game of the season.  Roman is so gun ho. Then comes the many long months of training. “But I still couldn’t help feeling that, as much as we were learning in Louisiana and East Texas, in Kentucky and the Carolinas, it wasn’t nearly as much as the Nazis were learning in Poland and Czechoslovakia, in France, in Norway and Denmark, and the Soviet Union.”  (p. 48)           Why can’t they get to the actual fighting.  “While I’ve been training, practicing, maneuvering for the better part of a year, the Nazis have been playing for real, dominating, spreading carnage and rewriting maps, with what seems to be feeble resistance along the way.”    (p. 51)   These first four chapters that make up Part 1 of the book are full of foreshadowing.   Part 2 begins with more training, but this time in Northern Ireland. Then just two pages short of the middle of the book, Roman gets his first taste of battle- all the months of maneuvers couldn’t prepare them for this. Roman is a tank driver in North Africa. There is still down time, but now it is often due to waiting for the other squads to all aline before the battle can begin. There is down time traveling from one location to another, too, weeks of driving the tank cross country. Then, there are the actual battles. Landing on a beach, being shot at by the German Luftwaffe, seeing an enemy tank driver being burnt, having his tank partner loose his hearing due to the enemy bullets and shells hitting the outside of their tank, the retreating from the German, and later getting surrounded Germans and having their tank’s turret shot off along with three of its company while he survived.

The book is never graphic in its descriptions, but Lynch gets the point across. Roman learns of the mortality involved in war, but also knows that the Nazis must be stopped. This book ends with Roman and the only other living member of his tank comrades in Italy.

Stephen Gilpin’s manga style illustrations, with its big eyes, skinny arms and legs, will grab the readers attention before the story begins, because in this case, the reader should judge the book by its cover! The  black and white illustrations continue two or three times in each of the eleven chapters, too.

Flo (short for Florence – but don’t call her that) and her mother move around a lot since her father died. They are moving into yet another apartment building. This is the fourth in four years. Flo knows her mother is trying hard, but this isn’t much of a place, maybe they won’t be here long enough to unpack Flo thinks.  After dinner, Flo goes to investigate who stole her entire box of Popsicles from the grocery bag in the hall, while they were unloading the  rest of the groceries in the kitchen. Flo asks the new neighbor across the hall where the ‘underwear boy’ is? (Illustration on page 22 is priceless.) The grandmother tells Flo he’s down in the basement laundry room. Flo decides to not take the rickety elevator to the basement , but used the stairs instead. The stairs are filled with webs and big white fuzzy balls. Yuck. The ‘underwear kid’  is indeed doing the laundry. The kid’s name is Ferdinand, Furry for short. Furry asks Flo, ” Want to see something awesome?… It’s a crack in the floor…The light shining from the crack bathed his face in an eerie blue light.     And just like that, Flo forgot all about the Popsicles.”  (pg. 48-49) As it turns out, the building’s retired ‘maintenance guy’ informs Flo and Furry the apartment building was “built a long time ago on top of an ancient seal…. A seal like a plug… It was built to seal off a doorway into another world.”  (p. 71)   Furry and Flo work their way back up to their apartments on the 17th floor. A little while later, Flo hears Furry leaving his apartment and he has her box of Popsicles! Flo follows Furry up to the roof where the full moon turns him into a werewolf. The Popsicles are to help keep him cool in all the fur, hence only the ‘tightie whities’ (illustration on p. 83). Flo steps on one of the big white fuzzy balls on her way to the roof. It turns out, it is actually a giant spider egg and the mother spider is now after them. Back to the basement they go. They stop the giant mother spider by putting her eggs into the crack in the laundry room floor.  “As Flo headed back upstairs to her new home, she got to thinking. Sure Coran Towers were dumpy and kind of creepy, but they were growing on her. And having a werewolf as a friend certainly didn’t hurt.    At least I won’t be bored, Flo thought.  (p. 120)

Flo has 3 questions to ask the readers to guide them into a deeper understanding of her character. Then Furry has 3 writing prompts for the readers. Finally there is  sneak peak at Furry and Flo’s next book –  The Problem with Goblins.

This is a story especially for those youngsters who work as part of a family business. A mother, father, and young son run the diner at a truck stop, while his uncle runs the service garage. The mother, father, and son begin work long before daylight hours. The young boy catches his school bus from the diner, in the morning, after his job of squeezing the fresh orange juice. The diner has regular customers: the eighteen wheeler, the silver milk tanker, the moving van, the flat bed, and the tow truck. The family knows each trucker’s breakfast order by heart. This morning the old green pickup does come. Everyone begins to wonder where he can be. Off on the school bus, the boy asks the bus driver to radio in the location of the green pickup which he sees has broken down.

Melissa Iwai’s illustrations are done in bright paint and cut paper. There are 16 different types of trucks inside the front cover and repeated inside the back cover.

Anyone with even the slightest knowledge of the professional wrestling world will find Larry Matysik’s  “Definitive Shoot” on the world’s greatest wrestlers to be an educational experience, even while knowing it is totally opinion based.  Matysik’s analysis of the best wrestlers comes across with such an honest tone that even  Vince McMahon should find it a fair assessment with sound arguments based on valid reasoning, despite the fact that McMahon published his own list of the fifty greatest based only on the 50 most popular TV WWE  athletes–WWE being McMahon’s company of course.  Matysik’s list includes wrestlers who did well with their natural ability rather than the scripted acting the WWE portrays today (reviewers personal reflection here).  And his list is not a popularity contest, that McMahon’s  surely is.  Matysik’s categories for evaluation included: working ability, charisma, mic work, drawing ability, legacy, and  the most important — being real.  “Reality.  Legitimacy.  Believability.  The real deal.  A true tough guy.  A wrestler who can wrestle.”  My only critique is that it took 106 pages of explaining his rational before the countdown began. For fans of professional wrestlers, as well as students who find a way to do a research paper on this subject, Larry Matysik’s has the history and the argument that makes for an appreciative read.  Recommended.