An early elementary informational book about the moon. It is a part of a series about things in the sky. The book features bright photographs, an index, table of contents, key facts, and bold keywords. Some of the vocabulary used is not as attainable to younger audiences, but with minimal assistance could be a resource for those wanting to learn more about the moon. The book did not focus just on the moon. The Key Facts page gave more information about the moon that I would have liked to see in the text itself.

Early elementary informational text about levers. This book is a part of a series called Simple Machines. Each page includes 1-2 clear and concise sentences. The vibrant photographs and text gives examples of levers and the text discusses the features of different levers and why we use levers. Several text features are utilized including bold keywords, glossary, table of contents, and index.

Early elementary nonfiction book about beluga whales. There are 1-2 simple sentences on a page and the information is basic. This would be a good book for beginning readers. Text features such as bold words, glossary, index, and table of contents are included. There is also a quick stats section and online learning resources.

Early elementary nonfiction book about zebras. There are 1-2 sentences on a page and the information is basic. Many text features are used including keywords, headings, table of contents, map, glossary, and index. Readers can also access quick stats in the back.

Houdini, the rabbit, was a natural magician’s assistant. He kept the team together, helped them relax, and performed pre-show checks. He made sure everything was ready for Monsieur Lapin’s show, but one night things go wrong and the magician is accidentally turned into a rabbit. Houdini knows the show must go on so he becomes the magician. Houdini was a hit, but it soon was not as exciting as it had been and during his greatest trick, he turned the magician back into a human. Monsieur Lapin and Houdini soon realize that the spotlight is best when it is shared.

The illustrations in this book are hilarious and tell more of the story. The other rabbits antics will certainly have readers laughing.

Calvin is sad that his next door neighbors are moving away, but it is even worse when Harper, the biggest bully at Carver Elementary, moves in next door. In addition to trying to hide from Harper so he doesn’t discover that he lives next door to Calvin, the science fair is coming up. Calvin wants to win first so that his dad will by him a new video game. In the meantime, Calvin’s dad invites Harper to the movies and encourages Calvin to find out why Harper might be so angry and encourages them to be friends.

The storyline is easy to follow and it touches on the topics of bullies, foster care and homelessness. The black and white illustrations complement the story.

This is book 4 of The Carver Chronicles. Although this is a series, they can be read out of order without feeling like you missed something in a previous book.

A spoiled, snooty queen is unhappy with her cup of tea and sets out in a hot air balloon to find the perfect cup of tea. She travels around to Japan, India, and Turkey and meets a child in each country. She drinks a cup of tea with each as well as snuggles kittens, kicks a ball, and dances. On her journey, she discovers that the perfect up of tea is the one that you make yourself and share with others. The queen becomes less spoiled and instead of being lonely, has found three new friends. The colored pencil illustrations add to the story.

A picture book biography of Dr. Kathy Sullivan. The book goes back and forth between Kathy as a child and as an adult. The pages written as an adult have text in italics. The text is simple and written as a story. Kathy dreamed of having adventures and she loved maps, books, and foreign languages. She thought she might grow up to be a spy or diplomat, but most people told her those were not jobs for girls. She learned to be a pilot as a teenager.

The end of the book gives more details about Kathy, as well as mini biographies of fourteen other women astronauts.

Click-Clack Waddle-Waddle Dot-Dot Dewey Dew does not want to go to school. He is going to school at Ms. Brightsun’s School for Little Learners on Planet Earth. When he gets to school everything is different from the cubbies and books to the students that come in different colors and have two eyes and five fingers. A confused Dewey with a dorf (tear) in his eye stood in the back of the room until a little boy notices him and asks him if he wants to play and everything is alright.

The author has included alien language and that could lead to discussion of identifying what each word means. This could be a good read aloud for those nervous about starting a new school.

Steve is a fine horse that want to be exceptional. He finds a gold horn one day and believes this will make him exceptional. He ties it on his head and shows the other forest animals which leads them to find things to tie to their head. Steve loses his horn and he is so sad until he sees it in a pond. Steve realizes that he doesn’t need to horn to be exceptional.

The illustrations in this book are quirky, but the lack of color leaves me wanting more. The gold horn is a tan color and everything is muted in tans, black and white. The text uses a variety of fonts and dialog.

The 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio made Usain Bolt’s name famous, a house hold name. Usain Bolt became the only man in history to win the triple-triple: “winning the 100-, 200-, and 4 x 100-meter relay races in three consecutive Olympics.” (23) Usain began racing in his native country of Jamaica by age twelve.

The left-hand page contains two or three sentences about his running career. The right-hand page is totally filled with an appropriate photo from a race. The photos show the euphoria of this sprinter’s achievements.

To see Usain Bolt in action the book directs the reader to go to: abdokids.com and enter code OUK9473.

The title pretty much says it all. Twelve giant pieces of whimsical art from across the United States of America have been photographed for this book. There is usually a sentence explaining why the attraction was built. It reminds me of the 1950s and 60s. Eye catching gimmicks to get your attention and often your dollars.  The book includes a United States map with each of the 12 roadside attractions marked: 1) the Donut Hole- CA, 2)Spoonbridge and Cherry – MN, 3) Jimmy Carter Peanut Statue – GA, 4)  World’s Largest Pistachio – NM, 5) Lucy the Elephant – NJ, 6) Blue Whale of Catoosa – OK, 7) Queen Connie – VT, 8) Cadillac Ranch – TX, 9) Giant Van Gogh Painting – KS, 10) World’s Largest Rocking Chair – IL,11)  Beach Ball Water Tower – FL, and 12) Giant Eyeball Sculpture- TX.

If your state missed the cut, try the “Facts for Now” on page 32 which will lead you to other roadside attractions from all fifty states, at www.factsfornow.scholastic.com keywords Roadside Attractions.

Yeah, a craft book! Author – Sammy Bosch introduces the book by giving some background on what a wetland is and what types of animals live there. Each of the eight animals has a sentence or two about them in a round bubble next to their photo, also, in a round bubble. The craft supplies are easy to acquire at Michaels, or Hobby Lobby, JoAnn Fabrics, Wal Mart, K-Mart or the like. This is a BIG plus, as far as I’m concerned! Several of the crafts use parts from egg cartons, Chenille stems ( pipe cleaners), paint, glue, pom-poms, and googly eyes.The finished craft is presented on the left-hand page, while the step-by-step directions are on the right-hand page. If the direction has its own photo, its number is inside a dark circle. Otherwise, the number for the direction is inside a light colored circle. When a specific photo is not given for the direction, looking at the photo of the finished craft is close at hand and easily furnishes any answer to the crafter’s question.

The crafts include: an Egg-cellent Turtle, Tennis Ball Turtle, Springy Bobble Frog, Scaly Shimmering Fish (a use for my unusable scratched up CDs), Crawling Cup Alligator, Hungry River Otter, Fuzzy Muskrat, and a Colorful Striped Salamander.

Super simple and super cute.

Choosing the right dog for a pet is not easy. This book will give the reader information about the rat terrier to help in making a decision. Does the reader want an intelligent, very active, spunky, playful, small dog ( 13-18 inches tall, 12-25 pounds ) who is calmer than most other terriers? Does the reader want a dog that is curious, territorial, suspicious of strangers, and will develop a strong bond to its owner?  Then, this just might be the dog for you. Plus, rat terriers make great watch dogs, guarding property, hunting, and catching vermin.

Rat terriers come in as many as 18 official color combinations, with short, dense, smooth coats.

This book is full of good care practices for dogs in general, as well as some information on the origin of this breed.

The text fills the left-hand page in three paragraphs, while the right-hand page is usually filled entirely with a color photo of a rat terrier in one of its many color combinations.

Book #4 in THE CARVER CHRONICLES finds Calvin needing to come up with a science fair project for school. In the meantime, the neighbors next door move to Florida to be closer to their grandchildren. Calvin spends quite a bit of time avoiding the new neighbors, a cranky older cigarette smoking woman and a bully from school – Harper- aka Monster Boy.

Author -Karen English must secretly live inside of boys’ heads to know what they are thinking, she is that ‘spot on’. Take Calvin’s science fair project, ” ‘I’m going to find a bunch of great optical illusions, and I’m going to prove who’s faster at seeing them, boys or girls. Even though I already know the answer.’ ” (21)  Calvin results have him later wondering if he should tamper with the data, just so the boys’ times are not so slow. He keeps the original data.

Calvin’s father meets the new neighbor lady and invites Harper to go to the movies with Calvin and him. How could Calvin’s father have encroached on their father son time, especially with that bully Harper? When Calvin’s friends start coming up with Harper scenarios at the movie theater, Calvin is surprised at himself when he defends Harper.

At the movie, Harper reveals the lady he lives with is a foster mother because Harper and his mother are homeless. Later on an early release day from school, Harper takes Calvin to the Community Garden. There Harper introduces Calvin to his mother and to Harper’s science fair project- do plants respond to classical music. Calvin had doubted Harper would even do a science fair project.

As more and more eye opening events  are witnessed by Calvin, as Harper is concerned, Calvin comes to realize living next door to Harper is “going to be kind of fun.” (139)

Laura Freeman’s pencil sketches, about three per chapter, add just that extra little something to push the characterizations over the top.

When one of two star-crossed lovers full of teen agnst run falls off of a cliff in the 1st chapter, readers of Keep Me In Mind by Jaime Reed will be anxiously ready to turn the next pages.  Alternating chapters between each, Ellia Dawson and Liam McPherson tell their side of the story in dealing with love, parents who want to keep them apart, and one other huge issue — amnesia.  Ellia’s fall causes her to lose her memory of her last year with Liam.  He claims he is her boyfriend, that they were in love, but then why are her parents so concerned with them not seeing each other?  Is it only because she is black and he is white?  This clever idea taken from the best of soap operas get a little old about half way into the book.  No doubt Liam will begin to flounder in his feelings and a chaotic choice at the school dance will put his efforts to get Ellia back into a tail spin. Reed’s writing is just as good as any, but the idea looses steam despite efforts to be mysterious.  This reader isn’t even sure why the “race card” is part of the story.  Keep Me In Mind will keep readers who stay committed to the end reading but other students may just leave it in their locker for months until the overdue notices pile up.  But with no sex, drugs or rock and roll, this can span into the middle school library, a rarity for young adult lit these days.

The first page of this graphic novel is a super quick mini-bio of the Spider-Man creation story.

Peter Parker has no trouble with math and science in high school, but with history he struggles. It is the opposite for Gwen Stacy, so their teacher- Mr. Maxwell has teamed them up to tutor each other. Peter has taken a liking to Gwen. He is about to ask her out to the Winter Formal when his ‘spidey’ sense goes off.

Vulture is stealing a brief case from Stark Industries. Vulture gets away from Spidey. Just as Iron Man shows up, Vulture escapes. Spidey and Iron Man have never met before and Iron Man wants to see Spidey’s face. Off Spidey goes chasing Vulture. Iron Man follows, not believing Spidey is innocent of the breaking into Stark Industries. With Vulture in view, Iron Man asks Spidey to team up with him. Vulture is soon captured. Before Iron Man and Spidey go their own ways, Spidey asks Iron Man for advice on how to ask out a girl.

The next day, Gwen and Peter get their history tests back, both with “A”s. Peter finally asks Gwen out to the Winter Formal, but he is a day too late. Gwen has already accepted to go with someone else. Later that night, as Spidey sulks a top a tall building, Iron Man shows up and invites him to help fight off a dragon “trying to eat Brooklyn.”

All of Peter’s insecurity and all of Tony Stark’s self-confidence and arrogance come through in this story. I could hear Robert Downey, Jr., in my head, as I read these pages.

It helped me follow along to see the text boxes’ script in two different colors to distinguish between characters speaking.

How appropriate my fortune cookie read, “An optimist is always able to see the bright side of other people’s troubles.”

Boris Snodbuckle and his sidekick Adrian are true optimists. They are seventh grade nerds or geeks at Bendale Public School, which is a K-8 school.  As you might imagine, Boris’ last name gets quite a bit of play in the unpleasant nickname department, but that does not stop him. Boris wants to make Bendale a better place and to do this he plans to run for Student Council President. Boris will be running against super popular, gorgeously handsome, and chief bully Robert. Boris figures out he will need to win over five groups of students in Operation Save Our School: “1. Little kids, 2. Nature lover kids ( Green Goblins), 3. Artsy kids, 4. Brainiac kids, 5. Popular kids”. (30) Boris comes up with a plan, or operation- as he likes to call it, to win over each group.

First plan is Operation Swing Back. This involves getting the swing sets back from the seventh graders for the little kids to use at recess. This operation involves water ballooning the seventh graders. When they give chase the little kids rush in to take over the swings. The operation is a success only to have Robert step in to announce Boris is copying his campaign promise to get the swings backs. Robert is believed.

Second plan- Operation Rally in the Valley involves saving ‘the Valley’ where generations of kids have played from a greedy land developer. Boris succeeds again, only to have Robert take credit for it through social media.

Third plan- Operation Broadway finds Boris auditioning for the school musical. Boris and Adrian both get parts, but so do Robert and his lackeys. Boris’ part is reduced to playing Rock #2, through Robert’s sneaky tricks. Dirty trick after dirty trick Boris doesn’t loose faith. As Rock #2, Boris has no lines, so he learns everyone else’s lines, which will eventually save the show, no thanks to Robert.

These are followed by Operation Triple R,  Operation Feed the World, and finally by Operation Beat His Speech. Each operation has its own set backs, usually Robert. Boris’ optimism rules!

All but once: ” ‘We did all this for nothing, and I’m tired of things never working out– never– and of kids putting me down all the time… and the jokes about my name… and no matter what I do, all I ever get are detentions and suspensions.’ ” (196)  Then Adrian proves himself as a sidekick and convinces Boris not to give up.

Boris has ethics! He won’t throw dirt on Robert in his speech before the election. After the Robert and Boris’ speeches, there is a question and answer session. Here several students ask Robert question after question, as if he is on trial, about all of the things he is guilty of during the campaign. Chanting for Boris erupts!

Boris wins the election, of course. Then, post election, in Operation Gym-Jam the student hold a sit-in (1960s style) until they are given outdoor recess again on mild weather days.

My one complaint about this book is that it needs better cover art to sell this wonderful story!

Be aware the word “wuss” is used once, on page 18.