Reviewed by Courtney Morgan, on April 8th, 2013 Author: Nancy Dickmann Illustrator: Series: Healthy Eating with My Plate / Acorn Publisher: Heinemann Library / Capstone ISBN: 978-1-4329-6973-8 Year Published: 2012 Price: Grade Level: K-1 Rating: Not Recommended
- Author: Nancy Dickmann
- Grade Level: K-1
- ISBN: 978-1-4329-6973-8
- Length: 24 p.
- Publisher: Heinemann Library / Capstone
- Series: Healthy Eating with My Plate / Acorn
- Year Published: 2012
- Rating: Not Recommended
Even for an early reader, this book is way too simplified and general. It’s only got one sentence per page, and those sentences are so vague as to provide very little information, even bordering on misinformation by way of omission. It answers the question, “What are fruits?” with the statement, “Fruits are parts of plants.” . . . → Read More: Fruits
Reviewed by Courtney Morgan, on April 7th, 2013 Author: Karl Zimmermann Illustrator: Steven Walker Series: Publisher: Boyds Mills Press ISBN: 978-0-59078-859-2 Year Published: 2012 Price: 16.95 Grade Level: 1-3 Rating: Not Recommended
- Author: Karl Zimmermann
- Grade Level: 1-3
- Illustrator: Steven Walker
- ISBN: 978-0-59078-859-2
- Price: 16.95
- Publisher: Boyds Mills Press
- Rating: Not Recommended
- Year Published: 2012
I love the illustrations: they evoke the time period well and draw the reader in. Unfortunately, the writing doesn’t live up to the illustrations. The story is not told very well, and this reader was left wondering why I’m supposed to care about this particular bit of obscure American history. Questions are left unanswered. After . . . → Read More: The Stourbridge Lion: America’s first locomotive
Reviewed by Courtney Morgan, on April 5th, 2013 Author: Charnan Simon Illustrator: Benrei Huang Series: Rookie Ready to Learn Publisher: Children's Press / Scholastic ISBN: 978-0-531-26414-0 Year Published: 2011 Price: Grade Level: K-1 Rating: Not Recommended
- Author: Charnan Simon
- Grade Level: K-1
- Illustrator: Benrei Huang
- ISBN: 978-0-531-26414-0
- Length: 40 p.
- Publisher: Children's Press / Scholastic
- Rating: Not Recommended
- Reading level: Emergent
- Series: Rookie Ready to Learn
- Year Published: 2011
To be honest, I’m not particularly a fan of the Rookie Ready to Learn series in general: I find the activities in the back of each are often formulaic and only tenuously related to the story; each one ends by telling you someone’s version of what you just learned by reading this story (besides being . . . → Read More: Luna the Wake-up Cat
Reviewed by Courtney Morgan, on March 9th, 2013 Author: Laurie Friedman Illustrator: Teresa Murfin Series: Publisher: Carolrhoda Books ISBN: 978-0-7613-6070-4 Year Published: 2011 Price: 16.95 Grade Level: K-3 Rating: Additional Purchase
- Author: Laurie Friedman
- Grade Level: K-3
- Illustrator: Teresa Murfin
- ISBN: 978-0-7613-6070-4
- Price: 16.95
- Publisher: Carolrhoda Books
- Rating: Additional Purchase
- Year Published: 2011
The illustrations are kind of fun, and there might be some teachers who’d like to use it at the beginning of the school year, but really the text is just one long rhyming list of things not to do. And then at the end it finally says, do have fun. Really its kinda tedious.
Reviewed by Courtney Morgan, on March 9th, 2013 Author: Cari Meister Illustrator: Dennis Messner Series: Bilingual Stone Arch Readers Publisher: Stone Arch Books / Capstone ISBN: 978-1-4342-3783-5 Year Published: 2012 Price: Grade Level: K-2 Rating: Not Recommended
- Author: Cari Meister
- Grade Level: K-2
- Illustrator: Dennis Messner
- ISBN: 978-1-4342-3783-5
- Length: 32 p.
- Publisher: Stone Arch Books / Capstone
- Rating: Not Recommended
- Reading level: 3
- Series: Bilingual Stone Arch Readers
- Year Published: 2012
Ack! Translation creates enough problems when a story written in English is poorly translated into Spanish. But this story is designed/intended to be a bilingual story. If a writer has such a purpose from the start, it seems reasonable to expect her to write story that works in both languages. This one does not. It . . . → Read More: Snorp, el monstruo de la ciudad / Snorp, the City Monster
Reviewed by Courtney Morgan, on March 9th, 2013 Author: Anastasia Suen Illustrator: Mike Laughead Series: Bilingual Stone Arch Readers Publisher: Stone Arch Books / Capstone ISBN: 978-1-4342-3778-1 Year Published: 2012 Price: Grade Level: K-1 Rating: Not Recommended
- Author: Anastasia Suen
- Grade Level: K-1
- Illustrator: Mike Laughead
- ISBN: 978-1-4342-3778-1
- Length: 32 p.
- Publisher: Stone Arch Books / Capstone
- Rating: Not Recommended
- Reading level: 2
- Series: Bilingual Stone Arch Readers
- Year Published: 2012
I will say this for the book: it uses lots of simple, repetitive language, which is good for emergent readers. But the story opens by introducing the robot character, listing several special tools this robot has, and stating, “He uses the tools to help his best friend, Rico.” The problem is that robot never uses . . . → Read More: Trucos en la Patineta/ Skate Trick
Reviewed by Courtney Morgan, on March 9th, 2013 Author: Illustrator: Series: Measure It Publisher: Capstone Press ISBN: 978-1-4296-6891-0 Year Published: 2012 Price: Grade Level: 1-2 Rating: Not Recommended
- Authors: Thomas K. & Heather Adamson
- Grade Level: 1-2
- ISBN: 978-1-4296-6891-0
- Length: 32 p.
- Publisher: Capstone Press
- Rating: Not Recommended
- Series: Measure It
- Year Published: 2012
I don’t like it. I found several places where it over-simplifies information, sometimes unnecessarily vague, and sometimes less than accurate. When asking the question, “How long will one month take?” instead of saying about thirty days, it just says that a month is longer than a week but shorter than a year. On the next . . . → Read More: Como mides el tiempo? How Do You Measure Time?
Reviewed by Donna Dannenmiller, on February 28th, 2013 Author: Jill Kalz Illustrator: Daniele Fabbri Series: Publisher: Picture Window Books ISBN: 978-1404872462 Year Published: 2012 Price: Grade Level: 1-5 Rating: NR
- Author: Jill Kalz
- Grade Level: 1-5
- Illustrator: Daniele Fabbri
- ISBN: 978-1404872462
- Length: 32 pgs
- Publisher: Picture Window Books
- Rating: NR
- Year Published: 2012
Not being a Chinese language expert, I had an Chinese ESL specialist from our district look at this book to give me her take 0n this publication. The Basics explains the four tones of Mandarin along with a graph of “It Sounds Like”, with consonants, vowels, and vowel combinations. Each phrase is presented in English, . . . → Read More: My First Mandarin Chinese Phrases
Reviewed by Carrie Dye, on February 17th, 2013 Author: Wimmer, Sonja Illustrator: Series: Publisher: Cuento De Luz, 2011
Cuento De Luz, 2011 ISBN: 978841 524 1348 Year Published: 2011 Price: Grade Level: Preschool-first grade Rating:
- Author: Wimmer, Sonja
- ISBN: 978841 524 1348
- Publisher: Cuento De Luz, 2011
Cuento De Luz, 2011
- Year Published: 2011
- Grade Level: Preschool-first grade
Synopsis: Luna is girl who lives in the sky and collects words. One day she notices all the good, sweet words she collected have disappeared from the world. She can’t sleep and makes a decision to spread her healing words throughout the world.
What I like about it and who would enjoy it: Artistically . . . → Read More: The Word Collector by Sonja Wimmer
Reviewed by Mary Pong, on January 24th, 2013 Author: Janice Levy Illustrator: Colleen Madden Series: Diva Duck Publisher: magic wagon/ Looking Glass Library ISBN: 978-1-61641-886-1 Year Published: 2013 Price: Grade Level: K, 1, 2, & 3 grades Rating: NR
- Author: Janice Levy
- Grade Level: K, 1, 2, & 3 grades
- Illustrator: Colleen Madden
- ISBN: 978-1-61641-886-1
- Length: 30 pages
- Publisher: magic wagon/ Looking Glass Library
- Rating: NR
- Reading level: AD 420 Lexile
- Series: Diva Duck
- Year Published: 2013
This is the story of a young girl’s dream for greatness among the people (animals) around her who doubt this will ever happen.
Diva Duck declares, “I am destined for greatness,” but for the cow, hen, and pig this is ironic, living on a farm. Life changed after the farmer had a barn dance, where . . . → Read More: Diva Duck Dreams
Reviewed by Courtney Morgan, on December 29th, 2012 Author: Mathieu Mariolle Illustrator: Minikim Series: Nola's Worlds Publisher: Graphic Universe ISBN: 978-0-7613-6502-0 Year Published: 2010 Price: Grade Level: 3-6 Rating: Not Recommended
- Author: Mathieu Mariolle
- Grade Level: 3-6
- Illustrator: Minikim
- ISBN: 978-0-7613-6502-0
- Length: 136 p.
- Publisher: Graphic Universe
- Rating: Not Recommended
- Series: Nola's Worlds
- Year Published: 2010
Granted, I’m not a huge fan of graphic novels to begin with, but I’ve read some I liked. Not this one. The artwork is visually appealing and all, but the story is lame and incomplete. It takes seven pages to tell us the main character isn’t a morning person and is bored with small-town life, . . . → Read More: Nola’s Worlds #1: Changing Moon
Reviewed by Courtney Morgan, on December 29th, 2012 Author: Jan Ormerod Illustrator: Freya Blackwood Series: Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons / Penguin ISBN: 978-0-399-25709-4 Year Published: 2010 Price: 16.99 Grade Level: PreK-2 Rating: Not Recommended
- Author: Jan Ormerod
- Grade Level: PreK-2
- Illustrator: Freya Blackwood
- ISBN: 978-0-399-25709-4
- Length: unpaged
- Price: 16.99
- Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons / Penguin
- Rating: Not Recommended
- Year Published: 2010
The illustrations are fabulous: they’re charming and sweet and inviting. But then you start reading. There are actually several short stories, but they’re all rather dull and stilted in the telling: this said Maudie, that said Bear. Maybe they’re meant to appeal to the very young pre-school child, but I think they need to hear . . . → Read More: Maudie and Bear
Reviewed by Courtney Morgan, on December 29th, 2012 Author: Donna M. Jackson Illustrator: Ted Stearn Series: Publisher: Viking / Penguin ISBN: 978-0-670-01244-2 Year Published: 2011 Price: 16.99 Grade Level: 4-8 Rating: Not Recommended
- Author: Donna M. Jackson
- Grade Level: 4-8
- Illustrator: Ted Stearn
- ISBN: 978-0-670-01244-2
- Length: 64 p.
- Price: 16.99
- Publisher: Viking / Penguin
- Rating: Not Recommended
- Year Published: 2011
Given that it’s meant to be about humor, it’s rather dry in the telling. It’s got some good information. I learned some stuff. It’s got some jokes and comics sprinkled throughout, but there’s no color to make it visually appealing. Somehow it seems that it ought to be funnier (or at least more interesting) in . . . → Read More: What’s so funny? Making sense of humor
Reviewed by Courtney Morgan, on December 29th, 2012 Author: S. L. Hamilton Illustrator: Series: Extreme Dance Publisher: ABDO ISBN: 978-1-61714-734-0 Year Published: 2011 Price: Grade Level: 4-8 Rating: Not Recommended
- Author: S. L. Hamilton
- Grade Level: 4-8
- ISBN: 978-1-61714-734-0
- Length: 32 p.
- Publisher: ABDO
- Rating: Not Recommended
- Series: Extreme Dance
- Year Published: 2011
Really flashy graphics and color photos are visually appealing, but REALLY low on substance: it’s got a couple of sentences in large font on each two-page spread — mostly pictures. Great binding, though! Still, not worth the cost of the binding.
Reviewed by Courtney Morgan, on December 29th, 2012 Author: Sophie Webb Illustrator: Sophie Webb Series: Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children ISBN: 978-0-618-59729-1 Year Published: 2011 Price: 17.99 Grade Level: 4-8 Rating: Not Recommended
- Author: Sophie Webb
- Grade Level: 4-8
- Illustrator: Sophie Webb
- ISBN: 978-0-618-59729-1
- Length: 80 p.
- Price: 17.99
- Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
- Rating: Not Recommended
- Year Published: 2011
As a personal souvenir of her trip, maybe to share with family & friends, this is a beautiful book, but as a published work for the general public, I don’t think it’s got enough focus (or is it an issue of enough breadth?) to appeal to random readers. This author has written other books that . . . → Read More: Far from Shore: Chronicles of an open ocean voyage
Reviewed by Courtney Morgan, on December 29th, 2012 Author: Nykko Illustrator: Bannister Series: Publisher: Graphic Universe / Lerner Publishing Group ISBN: 978-0-7613-6632-4 Year Published: 2011 Price: Grade Level: 3-8 Rating: Not Recommended
- Author: Nykko
- Grade Level: 3-8
- Illustrator: Bannister
- ISBN: 978-0-7613-6632-4
- Length: 48 p.
- Publisher: Graphic Universe / Lerner Publishing Group
- Rating: Not Recommended
- Year Published: 2011
Okay, so maybe I’m not a fair judge, as I haven’t read the first four books in the series, and maybe I would like it better if I had, but the reality of series is that students don’t always come to them in order, and each volume really needs to be able to stand alone . . . → Read More: The Elsewhere Chronicles book five: the parting
Reviewed by Courtney Morgan, on December 29th, 2012 Author: Stephanie Hedlund Illustrator: Jeremy Tugeau Series: Publisher: Magic Wagon / ABDO ISBN: 978-1-61641-145-9 Year Published: 2011 Price: Grade Level: K-2 Rating: Not Recommended
- Author: Stephanie Hedlund
- Grade Level: K-2
- Illustrator: Jeremy Tugeau
- ISBN: 978-1-61641-145-9
- Length: 32 p.
- Publisher: Magic Wagon / ABDO
- Rating: Not Recommended
- Year Published: 2011
There are better versions out there. This is a simple volume of 13 traditional nursery rhymes, one rhyme on each two page spread, accompanies by full-page painted illustrations. The illustrations were a bit bland and washed out. But it’s got a really sturdy binding!
Reviewed by Courtney Morgan, on December 29th, 2012 Author: Karen Latchana Kenney Illustrator: Judith A. Hunt Series: Our Nation's Pride Publisher: Magic Wagon ISBN: 978-1-61641-151-0 Year Published: 2011 Price: Grade Level: Rating: Not Recommended
- Author: Karen Latchana Kenney
- Illustrator: Judith A. Hunt
- ISBN: 978-1-61641-151-0
- Length: 32 p.
- Publisher: Magic Wagon
- Rating: Not Recommended
- Series: Our Nation's Pride
- Year Published: 2011
Other than as a souvenir from one’s visit to the Lincoln Memorial, I’m not really sure what the purpose or target audience of this book is. It’s got a lovely, sturdy binding, and it’s even got good solid information presented in simple-enough language for young readers. I just don’t think it has enough information to . . . → Read More: The Lincoln Memorial
Reviewed by Carrie Dye, on November 1st, 2012 Author: Illustrator: Series: Publisher: ISBN: Year Published: Price: Grade Level: Rating: Title: No room for Dessert
Author: Durand, Hallie.
Publisher:Atheneum Books for Young Readers,
Pub date:c2011.
Pages:177 p. :
ISBN:9781442403604
Age recommendation: grade 2nd and 3rd.
Plot Synopsis: This is the third book about a third grader named Dessert who likes sweet things.
In this story, Dessert is feeling crowded out and ignored by her . . . → Read More: No Room for Dessert by Hallie Durand (With illustrations by Christine Davenier)
Reviewed by Courtney Morgan, on August 9th, 2012 Author: Sara Holbrook Illustrator: Karen Sandstrom Series: Publisher: Wordsong / Boyds Mills Press ISBN: 978-1-59078-820-2 Year Published: 2010 Price: $16.95 Grade Level: 3-8 Rating: Not Recommended
- Author: Sara Holbrook
- Grade Level: 3-8
- Illustrator: Karen Sandstrom
- ISBN: 978-1-59078-820-2
- Length: 56 p.
- Price: $16.95
- Publisher: Wordsong / Boyds Mills Press
- Rating: Not Recommended
- Year Published: 2010
I blame the poor quality of this book on the editors’ failures. There are some good poems in the mix, but the over-all volume is a flop. The author’s running metacognitive commentary on her poems is often arrogant and patronizing, and always distracting. That sort of thing should be saved for and English textbook . . . → Read More: Zombies! Evacuate the School!
Reviewed by Courtney Morgan, on August 9th, 2012 Author: Sara Holbrook Illustrator: Karen Sandstrom Series: Publisher: Wordsong / Boyds Mills Press ISBN: 978-1-59078-821-9 Year Published: 2010 Price: $16.95 Grade Level: 3-8 Rating: Not Recommended
- Author: Sara Holbrook
- Grade Level: 3-8
- Illustrator: Karen Sandstrom
- ISBN: 978-1-59078-821-9
- Length: 56 p.
- Price: $16.95
- Publisher: Wordsong / Boyds Mills Press
- Rating: Not Recommended
- Year Published: 2010
I blame the poor quality of this book on the editors’ failures. There are some good poems in the mix, but the over-all volume is a flop. The author’s running metacognitive commentary on her poems is often arrogant and patronizing, and always distracting. That sort of thing should be saved for and English textbook in . . . → Read More: Weird? (Me, Too!) Let’s Be Friends
Reviewed by Courtney Morgan, on August 9th, 2012 Author: Lisa Bullard Illustrator: Katie Saunders Series: Cloverleaf Books Holidays and Special Days Publisher: Millbrook Press / Lerner ISBN: 978-0-7613-5085-9 Year Published: 2012 Price: Grade Level: K-2 Rating:
- Author: Lisa Bullard
- Grade Level: K-2
- Illustrator: Katie Saunders
- ISBN: 978-0-7613-5085-9
- Length: 24 p.
- Publisher: Millbrook Press / Lerner
- Series: Cloverleaf Books Holidays and Special Days
- Year Published: 2012
This book just really isn’t necessary. It’s trying to be a combination book, partly telling the story about some boys who are getting ready to surprise their mother for her birthday, and partly being an information book about birthday traditions (purple fact blurbs on each page). The problem is that the facts and the story . . . → Read More: Brandon’s Birthday Surprise
Reviewed by Courtney Morgan, on August 9th, 2012 Author: Kim Kane Illustrator: Sue deGennaro Series: Publisher: Allen & Unwin ISBN: 9781741759969 Year Published: 2010 Price: $16.99 Grade Level: Rating: Not Recommended
- Author: Kim Kane
- Illustrator: Sue deGennaro
- ISBN: 9781741759969
- Price: $16.99
- Publisher: Allen & Unwin
- Rating: Not Recommended
- Year Published: 2010
It appears to be a children’s picture book, telling the tale of Noah’s brother Neil, who saved all the vegetables from the Great Flood while his brother saved the animals. The thing is, I’m not sure if children really are its target audience, or if it’s really intended for adults. In sketching the characters of . . . → Read More: The Vegetable Ark: a tale of two brothers
Reviewed by Courtney Morgan, on August 8th, 2012 Author: Kelly Lynch Illustrator: Casey Lynch Series: Mighty Mike Publisher: Magic Wagon ISBN: 978-1-61641-129-9 Year Published: 2011 Price: Grade Level: K-2 Rating: Not Recommended
- Author: Kelly Lynch
- Grade Level: K-2
- Illustrator: Casey Lynch
- ISBN: 978-1-61641-129-9
- Publisher: Magic Wagon
- Rating: Not Recommended
- Series: Mighty Mike
- Year Published: 2011
To be quite frank, I found this book a bit insulting to libraries, even though I know that was not the intent. On the surface it’s a nice little story about a man who knows his town needs a library, and he wonders what he could do to help, and all it seems to take . . . → Read More: Mighty Mike Builds a Library
Reviewed by Courtney Morgan, on August 8th, 2012 Author: Katherine Krohn Illustrator: Series: Dressing a Nation Publisher: Twenty-First Century Books ISBN: 978-0-7613-5890-9 Year Published: 2012 Price: Grade Level: 4-8 Rating: Not Recommended
- Author: Katherine Krohn
- Grade Level: 4-8
- ISBN: 978-0-7613-5890-9
- Length: 64 p.
- Publisher: Twenty-First Century Books
- Rating: Not Recommended
- Series: Dressing a Nation
- Year Published: 2012
I didn’t find it particularly well-written. There was a lot of repetitiveness. The use of bullets was forced, like they just wanted credit for including non-fiction text features. It does include a lot of time-period photos, but not nearly enough to support the text on a topic is inherently a visual one and which may . . . → Read More: Calico Dresses and Buffalo Robes: American West Fashions from the 1840s to the 1890s
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