Nelle Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird,  was published in 1960.  Today, it is a cherished conscious-raising American classic.  But who is Harper Lee?  And how does one write a biography on Lee who does not give interviews.  Kerry Madden, through extensive research, has managed to write a well-rounded portrait of this down-to-earth Southern woman.  This book is a valuable resource for students; it is well-documented and clearly presented.  Fans of To Kill a Mockingbird will definitely put this on their “Must Read” list.  The book includes several black-and-white photos, a bibliography and an index.

This is the first book in the series, The Buddy Files. It introduces the main character, a dog named King. King has a big problem. His family is missing and he has been sent to the pound. The first mystery King tackles is finding out where Kayla and her family have gone and why he is in the dreaded pound. Luckily, he gets adopted by Connor and his mom (who rename him Buddy). After Connor goes missing, Buddy has yet another mystery to solve. Where is his new best friend, Connor? I read this book to my first grader and our whole family really liked it. It is funny! It is about the same level as Junie B. and the Magic Treehouse series. The only thing I didn’t really like is it had a lot going on. I found myself confused at times. I am excited to see a new series for those emerging readers.

This nonfiction book introduces salmon to young readers. The book discusses what salmon are and the different stages of their life. This book is written simply enough to engage young readers. I feel it gives just the right amount of information. The book teaches students that salmon can live in salt and freshwater and about their stages of life. It introduces terms such as alvien (the babies that grow in the eggs), fry (the next stage in which they grow teeth, skin and begin to hunt for insects) and smolt (the stage right before adult when their bodies are becoming adjusted to being in salt and freshwater). The book has wonderful photographs to accompany the text. There is also a glossary, learn more and index at the end of the book.

Fawn Braun was so worried that there would be no snow for Christmas, and no snow meant no Christmas in Pfeffernut County! She had the townspeople gather to try to create snow out of chalk dust, cotton balls, marshmallows, bubbles and pop corn, but it just wasn’t quite right. Before she could announce to the townspeople that there would be no snow or Christmas, the townspeople started singing carols and making merry.  Christmas had come after all!  This story comes with a Pfeffernuesse cookie recipe, follow-up questions encouraging higher level thinking, and fun snow facts.

Farmer Gruff is quite tired from chasing the crows out of his corn. Unfortunately, hip, music loving Donkey shows up playing multiple instruments creating LOUD music which disturbs Farmer Gruff’s sleep.  Farmer Gruff sends Donkey away until he figures out that Donkey’s music scares the crows away. Donkey is invited back to play as loudly as he can!

A wolf is gobbling every creature across the land and the animals cannot find a way to stop him.  However, a few cats come up with a plan, using three pigs as bait.  The first house made of straw…with an escape route; the second house made of logs…with an escape route, and the third horse made of bricks.  Well, once the wolf went down the chimney and hit the hot coals, he flew into the sky and is still flying around the earth as a comet.

Millie in the Snow  Steffensmeier, Alexander… Walker and Company … 2007 978-0-8027-9800-8

Millie is a mail cow who delivers mail and packages with a mail carrier. When all the delivering was complete one Christmas Eve, the mail carrier sent Millie back to the farm with gifts for the farmer and the farm animals. Well, Millie had quite a time finding her way through the snow, slipping, sliding, and falling so much that the packages lost their tags. The mail carrier was quite surprised during his next visit to see that everyone had received the wrong gifts but made great use of them. This is a fun Christmas story that the reader must use the illustrations to assist with comprehension.       Ad

Farmer Chuck buys a new banjo and all the farm animals want to join in:  goat on the mandolin, cow on the washtub, pig on the fiddle, horse on the bass violin, etc…  They have quite a time playing music!

Bill, the dog, was very smelly and escaped every plan for a bath, until the family went on vacation and left Bill with Aunt Bleach! Aunt Bleach had quite a tussle, rolling in the compost bin where Bill was hiding, where she finally trapped him. Aunt Bleach finally prevailed with Bill smelling like a rose…but Aunt Bleach stunk! Adorable watercolor illustrations enhance this fun story. This story is told in changing rhyming patterns.

Author Michael Spradlin researched the short and courageous 18 months of the Pony Express.  Few accurate records remain but this story pieces together the first 11-day journey between St. Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, California.  Although several riders participated, many names were lost.  However, it is known that on April 3, 1860, Johnny Fry left St. Joseph, MO on the first leg west while Billy Hamilton left Sacramento, CA on the first leg east.  The book is a composite of riders’ experiences throughout the history of the Pony Express.  Each rider carried a mochila, a small locked pouch, of mail to be delivered to the next rider waiting at a station on the trail.  He then helped out at the station until a rider arrived from the opposite direction with another mochila.  He would take that pouch and return to his original base.  Each leg could be hazardous and riders needed to be expert horsemen.  The end-pages contain a map and a timeline of the route.  Layne Johnson’s lively, richly colored oil paintings do an admirable job of illustrating the text.  Along with an author’s note are suggestions for further reading, a bibliography, and websites for more information of this exciting time in out country’s history.