It’s fine I guess.  The pictures are cute. The story is a bit flat, though.  It basically tells what a little mouse does when he comes up out of his hole in spring, summer, and autumn; but then when he pops out in winter he just goes back down and snuggles in, making use of the things he’s gathered in the other seasons.  The mouse is personified, making bread and soup and reading in his hole, but there’s nothing about it that makes the reader care especially, either about the mouse or about his adventures.

The girl in the sparkly tutu on the cover will be sure to draw a lot of readers, and the story will offer them a good lesson about giving new things a try.  Tallulah is excited about attending dance camp because she’ll get to enjoy her beloved ballet lessons every day, but she’s put out that campers are also expected to take tap lessons, too.  At camp she meets another girl who loves loves the tap classes but hates ballet, which Tallulah just can’t understand.  When the girls get to comparing notes it comes out that they both like the classes at which they excel, but have been turning their noses up at that which was a challenge.  Together they decide that maybe not being the best doesn’t mean they’re the worst either, and that’s okay.

Poet Brian P. Cleary has done it again! Twenty-eight limericks are hilariously shared with the reader together with the comical illustrations of Andy Rowland.

A great pasta maker named Freddy

cooked eight hundred pounds of spaghetti.

He carted it down

to the center of town,

rang a bell, and yelled, “Supper’s ready!”   ( p. 21)

Cleary begins the books with, “Limericks… are a short, rhyming, and nearly always funny form of poetry that tells a story, and they have a few simple rules.”  (p. 4)  Some of the rules talked about are number of lines and rhyme scheme, giving examples along the way.

Though the book’s title ( Something Sure Smells Around Here)  will grab readers’ attention, that limerick is my least favorite in this collection of limericks.

Primary grade students will enjoy seeing farm life, as well as, other life which co-habits a farm. Across the bottom margin of each right-hand page are miniatures of: a pig, wheat, a frog, barn owl,  pea pod, ant, bee, and a sheep. These are the animals and crops  given a  few sentences ( three or four), on a page or two in this book as the reader tours a farm.

The idea of wild and domestic plants and animals successfully co-habitating the same area is well represented, though not directly stated.

I think this is an important book to have available so that students facing similar circumstances (and there are a lot of them out there), can know they are not alone, that other families are coping with the same struggles.  Told from the point of view of a young girl, it tells of her feelings after her mother has been taken away to stay at a “prison for women without papers.”  It doesn’t sugar-coat things:  when she asks Papa when Mama is coming home, he can’t tell her — only reassures her that Mama loves her very, very much and would never stay away too long if she could help it.  It tells of Papa spending his evening writing letters to judges and politicians and reporters that go unanswered.  It tells of visiting her Mama and how hard it was to leave, and of the tapes Mama is able to send with bedtime stories recorded, which give her comfort.  It does offer a happy ending, which may not be what all children will get, but offers a sense of hope.

Beatrice Bunny and Bear become best friends one spring. After a busy summer and fall doing everything together, Bear goes away to hibernate without telling Beatrice. When Beatrice finally discovers about hibernation, she plans to turn it into a sleepover with Bear. When Beatrice can’t sleep, “Beatrice had a brilliant idea. ‘I’ll share winter with Bear!’ “ With squirrel’s help, Beatrice created a book of winter things and activities which Bear missed while hibernating. Finally when Bear reappears in the spring, Beatrice has the perfect gift –– The Great Scrapbook of Winter Delights and Adventures for Bear, by Beatrice. “It was the perfect gift to read together again and again.”

Mônica Carnesi’s happy energetic illustrations are the perfect addition to her text, proving once again, a picture is worth a thousand words.

I love these books!  This is the third one by this pair I’ve gotten, the others being A Leaf Can Be… and Water Can Be…, and I have loved them all.  The illustrations are fabulous and support the text, which is poetical.  With just a couple words per page, the text serves to list different forms and contexts in which we encounter rocks, from mountains to paving stones to the moon.  In order to make the rhyming work, the words are often figurative, and just in case the illustrations aren’t enough to aid the reader in deducing the author’s meaning, pages in the back of the book offer further explanation for each of the names given to rocks in the main body of the book.  An excellent resource to accompany a unit on rocks, as well as a beautiful choice for casual reading.

It’s got cute illustrations, but the text left me a little flat.  Told in rhyme, it is the story of a mouse who finds a shoe, wanders around trying to find who it belongs to, and when it finally is offered to him by the kangaroo who tossed it because it hurt his feet, the mouse turns it into a bed for himself.  The rhyming seemed a bit forced at times, and lacked the rhythm that makes it easy to read aloud smoothly.

This is a such a natural addition to the Sheep in a Jeep and Sheep in  a Shop collection that I can’t believe it took them this long to create it.  It’s got all the rhyme and alliteration that make the other books such great tools for having emergent readers study word construction.  And the rhythm and rhyme give aid in naturally fluent reading.  And the illustrations are sweet and add to the telling of the story.  It’s a counting book as the collie’s efforts help one more and then one more sheep fall asleep.  And besides, with the reputation sheep have for helping us sleep, it makes a perfect bedtime story.

Written in the form of rhyming questions, and accompanied by delightful illustrations that capture the word-play of the text, this book teaches the collective terms for groups of animals while imagining what these groups might be getting up to (e.g. “Does a pack of wolves load up bags for vacation? Does a cast of hawks get a standing ovation?”).  I learned a thing or two reading this book: I knew a group of crows was a murder and a group of tigers an ambush, but I had never heard of a crash of rhinos or a shiver of sharks or a parcel of penguins.  A glossary in the back provides the common-usage definitions for all the collective terms included in the book, in case young readers didn’t understand the illustrations or word play.  I just wish it would have had (if anyone knows) reasons for how these collective terms evolved (a prickle of porcupines seems obvious enough, but why a rumba of rattlesnakes?).  This could be an excellent discussion topic for students after reading.

Utterly charming! Sure to be a classic! A beautiful story on many levels!  The large format sets off the fabulous illustrations wonderfully.  The characters and the circumstances of the story are very believable and relatable, with a bit of adventure thrown in to get the message across.  Three bear siblings, up to mischief while mom is away, accidentally break her favorite shell, and rather than face her wrath, decide that if they can replace it she’ll never have to know.  And so they set off in a small row boat on their quest.  After venturing far from home and searching high and low, with still no shell to be found, they start quarreling over who’s at fault for getting them into this mess, but when a big storm kicks up they stop worrying over fault and they each own up to the part they played, and head for home ready to confess.  Back home they bask in mom’s forgiveness, in the form of hugs and kisses and a warm supper, but they don’t get any dessert.  What kid can’t relate?  I think it’s fabulous!

Twins Noah and Emma and their volcanologist father have traveled from Hawaii to spend a year in Alaska.  Noah thinks Alaska is the most boing place on Earth and cannot wait to return to Hawaii.  Their dad wants to take measurements on a dormant volcano on an island and Emma wants to see an eagle’s nest.  Their neighbor, Alex, goes along as a guide.  Almost immediately, the mountain begins grumbling and before they know it, they are in real danger.  They race back to the boat, hoping their dad has made it back as well.  Throughout their rush, they encounter quaking, poisonous gases, choking ash, sticky mud flows, and molten lava.  The action is fast and the story is sprinkled with many volcanic facts.  Additional volcano information is found in the back.  Fans of the “I Survived” series by Lauren Tarshis will be attracted by this and other books in the “Disaster Strikes” series.

Posey is completely fed up with the first grade boys.  She hears the word “weirdo” from her older 4th grade neighbor and decides to make up a song about her classmate, Henry.  Her girlfriends think it is funny but her favorite teacher, Miss Lee, does not.  Her family encourages her to put herself in Henry’s shoes, but she is still angry that she is the one in trouble.  Now she has to use her princess power to think of a way to make amends.  This easy-to-read chapter book realistically captures the typical emotions and behaviors of many first graders.  Black and white illustrations are a great match to the moods in the story.

Friends Sydney, girl with a love of fashion, and Sidney, boy with a love of sports, team up to convince their parents they are responsible enough to have a dog for a pet  With two other friends, they start a dog-walking business.  Almost immediately, they hit snags.  A business requires a lot of their time and consists of smaller jobs that are not so much fun – creating advertising posters, picking up the poop, making fair schedules.  Keeping their friendship and convincing their parents they can care for a pet is almost more than they can handle.  Both Sydney and Sidney tell the story in alternating chapters, working through all the big dog decisions.

Based on characters created by H. A. Rey and the Curious George television series, in this science storybook, Curious George learns about germs.  George does not feel well and the man with the yellow hat says he is fighting a bad germ and puts him to bed.  Similar to Miss Frizzle’s Magic School Bus, as George drifts off to sleep, he dreams he is germ-size and inside his own body.  George learns about both good and bad germs, how germs are spread , how they can affect people, as well as how to get rid of and avoid bad germs.  Side panels give additional nonfiction information.  An experiment soup recipe, and suggestions for healthy habits are found in the back with a glossary.  What a great way to introduce germs to young children.

Based on characters created by H. A. Rey and the Curious George television series, in this science storybook, Curious George learns about the ocean.  This adventure actually begins in the sky.  Curious George and the man in the yellow hat are in a helicopter when they learn a weather satellite from space just fell into the ocean.  They are involved in the retrieval and get to ride in a submarine.  In his trip underwater, George learns about animals and plants that live there.  Side panels provide additional nonfiction information.  In the back are experiments and activities (answers included) and a glossary.  This is a great introduction to aquatic life, ecosystems, and sonar/echo science for young children.

Based on characters created by H. A. Rey and the Curious George television series, Curious George learns about the sun’s energy and solar panels in this science storybook.  This story begins in the dark when extreme heat during the summer causes a power outage.  Curious George learns about solar power and that batteries store energy.  By using power form the sum, Curious George and the man in the yellow hat are able to create light and cook a lasagna for a special birthday celebration.  Side panels provide additional nonfiction information about forms of power and activities to try.  In the back with the glossary, there are three other experiments or activities to explore.

Everyone wants to fit in.  At some time or another, everyone has wanted to be able to do something they just can’t do.  In this animal story, Elephant want to be able to jump.  His mother and other elephants tell him it’s impossible, elephants can’t jump, it’s their knees.  But Elephant believes that if he tries hard enough, he can do it.  He tries dieting and jumping, but just can’t jump.  He gets so frustrated he thinks he’s not as good as the other animals.  Until he sees a boy who is stuck on a ledge.  The other animals all scramble to help him, but they all get stuck, too.  It’s Elephant’s trunk that is able to pull them all to safety.  And he’s the only animal with a trunk.  He is special after all, even if he can’t jump.

Little kids have seemed to absorb all the information there is about dinosaurs, but here is a fresh, new arrival.  Dinosaurs from Head to Tail shows only the head or the tail on one page and gives the answer on the following page, plus some new little factoids.  The art is colorful on white paper with no background so the illustrated dinosaurs really stand out.  The type is bold and large.  This will be a popular book for our dino-lovers.

Young families and kids today need to know that they are part of something, part of a bigger community.  This community is made up of other people who live near and around you.  When a person/family needs help, the community is there to support them.  And it works both ways:  you get support when you need it and you give support to others when they need it.  The theme of community is taught in the primary grades and it is a difficult concept for kids to understand.  Especially those in families who move frequently; they haven’t really had a chance to experience community.  It’s a give and take relationship. This book explains the concept in a gentle way that hopefully kids can relate to.

All around the world, plastic bags have caused serious problems.  After decades of use, the plastic bags have accumulated in massive quantities in landfills, never decomposing.  Some cultures do not have landfills and garbage is dropped and left wherever.  In Gambia, Africa, the piles of bags grew and grew, smelled bad, and was killing the goats the people used for food.  Isatou Ceesay and other village women decided to solve their serious garbage problem by crocheting the plastic bags into purses which were then taken to the city to sell at market.  The purses were popular and earned the ladies money.  They cleaned up their environment, saved the goats, and earned money to use for their families.  The lady with the vision, Isatou Ceesay, became quite involved with worldwide agencies empowering women, and found ways to build a skills center for her village to provide better learning for people, animals and the environment.  This book is a fine example of it just takes one person to start something.  Its an inspiring story of these women’s courage and tenacity to fix a problem.

In the Pacific Northwest there are numerous opportunities to go hiking and camping, and generally just being outside in nature.  This non-fiction picture book does a great job in explaining the characteristics of poison ivy and how it can affect humans.  The part that stuck with me, personally, was the fact that burning it and inhaling the smoke can be fatal.  The students to whom I read the book were riveted and really paid attention to it.  Although the illustrations were beautiful and highly detailed, I wish there would have been actual photos of the plant available.  This book should be a first purchase for all libraries in cities where poison ivy grows.

In Earthrise: My Adventures As an Apollo 14 Astronaut, Edgar Mitchell essentially tells his life story.  We may think that today’s kids are growing up in an era of huge technological change, but Mitchell saw changes just extreme.  Born in 1930 in Texas, his family moved to New Mexico where he has vast prairies to explore and millions of stars to enjoy.  At the age of four, Mitchell flew for the first time, an event that planted a see for this farm boy.  Having an Airforce base in his town kept him enthralled as World War II ploughed through Europe.  Even after another move, he kept his love and began flying at the age of 14.  At 17 he became more intrigued in flying and space with reports that a UFO was captured in his old home town. The story continues along his choice to go into the Navy and the path to landing a job at NASA.  By chapter 4 readers will get to the exciting training Mitchell received to prepare him for his mission to space.

Audience was considered when Mitchell wrote this text.  It is not overwhelmingly technical. And what is particularly powerful is the chronological building of his dream.  Student readers can clearly see that Mitchell had a goal and had to work extremely hard to get it, even with some set backs and course re-alignments.  Therefore it is also inspiring to know that with a little planning, patience and perseverance, goals can be reached.

The side bar inserts are slightly repetitive to what is explained clearly within the text itself and would probably be skipped by most younger readers.  Yet the quotations at the start of each chapter are a creative touch to forecast what the chapter has in store.

It is clear Mitchell had a life altering spiritual experience on his decent back to earth.  Who wouldn’t?  This reader appreciates how tactfully he handled his discussion of this.  The resource notes in the back of the book keep it focused on the path and mission rather than his spiritual beliefs at this time.

Most students interested in space travel will like this text.  Recommended for middle and high school libraries.

This biography briefly introduces the life of Benjamin Franklin, touching on his inventions and his contributions to the city of Philadelphia as well as to the newly formed United States of America.  This book is part of the Rookie biographies series printed by Scholastic.  Colorful photos, engaging nonfiction text will encourage children to read on their own – as they discover how this incredibly accomplished man contributed to the founding of our nation.