My fresh green salads are never this much fun! There is something whimsical about freshly photographed vegetables printed with inked faces smiling at you. Juana Medina’s salad preparation consists of counting smiling vegetables on their way to the salad bowl:

“1  one Avocado Deer, 2  two Radish Mice, 3   three Pepper Monkeys” , 4  horse carrots, 5 turtle tomatoes, 6 alligator cucumbers, 7 radicchio lions , 8  flying bird walnuts, 9 romaine dogs, and 10 Clementine segment kittens.     Wait, don’t forget to make dressing for the faceless salad. Olive oil in a porcupine bowl, a birdy salt shaker, and 2 piggy lemons come to the rescue.

Otto, the robot and his mouse friend Pip come full circle in this pre-level one story about Pip wanting a balloon.When Otto shares his balloon with Pip, Pip floats away until  a sleeping Zee, the bee, flies into the balloon popping it. Otto comes to Pip’s rescue only to crash into a palm tree sending Otto and Pip down into a pond. There Pip points to the baby hippo’s balloon.

David Milgrim’s illustrations answer all of the questions the minimal vocabulary does not provide.

Years ago, the Warming came and it was destructive. Now, everyone in the meadow and city is assigned a job. The keepers enforce rules, the catchers track rule breakers, the computers are those who conduct all the mathematical computations. Jeremy Finn is a dreambender. He and the other dreambenders secretly analyze people’s dreams and adjust them to avoid danger and violence, fear and anger, music and art. It is those things that bring about emotions which are thought to bring about another Warming.

Callie Crawford lives in the city and works as a computer, but is dissatisfied with her work. One night, Jeremy encounters Callies’s dream of singing, and he finds it beautiful. Jeremy questions the rules of a dreambender, and he allows her singing dream to continue. Because of his choice, he is banned from his job as dreambender. He decides to escape the meadow and travel to the city to find Callie, telling her about the dreambenders which causes a domino effect of changes for those in the city and the meadow. Changes of hope.

Alice is a 12 year old girl who is quite troubled. Her parents send her away to boarding schools and summer camps each year to avoid her. She is physically awkward. She is excessively too tall, her body is overly stocky, and her hair is very thick, curly and unruly. Each boarding school she attends, she does not remain in, due to bullying. More than anything in the world, she wants to have a friend.

Millie is a Bigfoot, living in the Yare community deep in the woods. She is excessively small for her age, and therefore feels useless because she is weak and slow. She is very interested in the “No-Furs” (humans) that go to school on the other side of the lake, but it is forbidden to talk to one because they cannot be trusted.

Jeremy is a boy that is infatuated with the Bigfoot. He conducts searches of them on the internet. He completes a presentation about them every year in school. He wants to hunt them.

Alice is sent to another new boarding school where she is again bullied due to her diverse appearance. Escaping into the woods at night, she rescues Millie from drowning in the lake. A spark of a secret friendship begins. As the three characters’ lives collide, a crazy plot is formed to save Millie and her Yare community. The ending is a tease of the potential of a sequel.

This story has a great moral of accepting yourself and others, no matter the differences.

An energetic and colorful take on a counting book.  With rhyming text and fun word choice, one dino after another joins the dance floor.  “They hear a swish/What’s this?/One more?/One more dino on the floor,” prefaces the addition of each new dino until there are 9.  The last dino, a T. rex,  arrives with a stomp and a roar, making all the dinos, “quake and shake with fear.”  Not to worry, “the T. rex spins, stands on his toes.  He moonwalks, strikes a funky pose.”  Soon all 10 dinos are dancing together.

The repetitive text makes this a good read aloud, though the dance specific vocabulary makes it difficult for young readers to comprehend independently.

In Spring for Sophie, a young girl explores the transition from winter to spring using all her senses.”When will I know when spring is coming?” asks Sophie.  Her mom tells her to listen for the birds to start to sing.  At first Sophie hears nothing, but slowly the first chirps are followed by more birds announcing that spring is coming.  Sophie then wonders, “How will I know when spring is getting even closer?”  Her dad tells her to use her feet; when the ground gets softer then spring is closer.  Again, Sophie has to wait until finally the ground feels softer.  “How will I know when spring is really here?” she finally asks.  Her mom answers that her eyes and nose will tell when spring is here.  Then one day after the snow had melted, Sophie tastes the arrival of spring as she catches the rain on her tough.

A good choice for investigating the seasons as well as using all five senses to observe the natural world.

Dump Truck Duck is a rollicking rhyme filled telling of a duck’s day as a dump truck driver.  It starts with a “rumble rumble” and adds some alliteration (gravel, grass, and gritty glop; with brambly brush and slimy stuff) to the rhyming rhythm.  Dozer Duck and Digger Duck join Dump Truck Duck at the construction site.  The story wraps up with Dump Truck Duck heading home for the night to dream of the next big construction project.

Colorful illustrations paired with the fun language makes this a great read aloud.

Watersong is a melody made of onomatopoeia.  The words themselves tell no story, but are an accompaniment to the story told through pictures.  A fox strolls through a light rain.  As the rain intensifies, the fox finds shelter.  With a sigh, the storm passes the fox emerges to find a friend to celebrate the, “sparkle glitter glow,” of a day surrounded by the beauty of nature.

A lovely and relaxing read.

Starting rather abruptly with Ruth Law’s decision to set a long distance record by flying from Chicago to New York City, this is a wonderful narrative biography of an amazing woman.  The narrative is punctuated by quotes from Ruth Law that help bring her character alive.  Her bravery extended beyond just the physical feats to bravery to live her life as she wanted and pursue her dreams regardless of others opinions.  While risky, her feats of daring were supported by her complete understanding of her biplane.  Her ingenuity developed solutions where nothing existed before; from the extra gas tanks, to the metal guard to protect her feet and legs and a roller map box attached to her leg for navigation. At a time when the role of women was restricted by society, Ruth Law broke the mold and was recognized for her outstanding achievements in aviation.

More About Ruth Law section at the end of the story includes photographs as well as further biographical information.  Contains a solid biography and source notes.

Sophie Mouse is excited about her friends coming over for a dinner party.  All is going well until dessert when Sophie drops the beautiful trifle she had made all by herself.  The next day as her family goes off for their day’s activities, Sophie remains home planning her next trifle and daydreaming about flying in the blue sky.  She’s startled out of her daydream by a unfamiliar chirp.  She follows the sound until she finds an unfamiliar bird sitting on the roof outside her bedroom window.  Finch got lost while playing a game of hide-and-seek and hurt his wing before he found his way home.  Sophie helps him down and invites him inside.  Sophie realizes that having a surprise visitor is a perfect reason another trifle.  Just as Sophie and Finch are finishing up, 3 of finch’s friends come looking for him, turning the afternoon into a party.  When it is time to go home, Finch and his friends realize that he has no way to make it home with a sore wing.  Sophie shows them how to use a blanket to carry Finch between them.  Finch’s friends make Sophie’s daydream of flying a reality when Finch is reluctant to ride in the blanket, Sophie volunteers to take the first ride to show it is safe.  After Finch and his friends leave, Sophie hears her mom and brother returning and tells them of her stay at home adventure.

Black and white illustrations.  A Surprise Visitor is the eighth book in the Sophie Mouse series.

The book begins by explaining that the many different ways animals move are made possibly by their different shape, size and in some cases unique legs, fins, wings, or tentacles.  The remainder of the books covers walking, leaping, swimming, climbing, flying, rolling, and jetting.  Each mode of movement begins with a 2 page spread illustrated by 1 animal and how it moves.  The following 2 pages show 5 to 6 examples of how other animals accomplish the same movement.  Each animal is accompanied by an explanation using a unique synonym for the described movement.  For example, walking is described with marching, strolling, tiptoeing, and waddling.  Rolling is described as whirling, tumbling, somersaulting, wheeling.  A basic description of each featured animal and its habitat is included at the end of the book.

Flying Frogs and Walking Fish is another winner for Jenkins.  A definite choice to support the NGSS.

A young boy enjoys dressing up as animals, and his friend Camille loves math so much some days she talks only in numbers.  Finding the right animal is tough for the young boy.  With the help of his friend Camille, he settles on dressing as a frog.  Thrilled with his costume he decides Camille should also dress as a frog.  While Camille agrees to help make a costume, she soon loses interest in the long process and reverts to her love of math.  Frustrated, the young boy yells at Camille to stop wiggling.  Her feelings hurt, Camille picks up her things and goes home.  Now all alone and feeling lonely, the young boy makes a list of the Pros and Cons of Being a Frog and decides to find Camille and apologize.  No matter where he looks he cannot find Camille, only numbers.  Just as he’s about to give up, he hears the sound of Camille’s frog feet approaching.  The books ends with an apology and a hug.

A sweet story celebrating how friends can be unique and very different from each other and still be friends.

In this introduction to computer programing, Data Duck leads the exploration through how computers work.  The second half of the book explains how computers do a range of tasks from searching and sorting to pictures and sound.  The text and animated illustrations  work well together to convey each topic.  The explanations throughout the book use analogies kids can understand.  For example, organizing files is compared to cleaning your room and files are compared to books in a library.  As new concepts are introduced, Data Duck provides clarifying details or reminders of previously covered topics.  Questions and activities are on odd numbered pages with answers in the endpapers.  While there is no actual instruction on how to program, this is a solid choice for intermediate age students; providing an age appropriate and informative introduction to the inner workings of computers.

Includes Table of Contents, Extension Activities, Words to Remember (glossary), Activity Answers, and Index.