What does a baby wombat do when he is not sleeping?  This wombat finds a playmate who happens to be a human baby.  The illustrations are sweet and fun to enjoy, but there is very minimal writing involved with a majority of the journal entries being only one word.

One more for the Team Jake Maddox series, Playing Forward finds Isaac hoping to be a basketball star like his older brother.  Unfortunately, he is height-challenged, and he and his coach don’t see eye to eye on the best position.  Will he give up when he doesn’t get his way, or will Isaac learn to contribute to the team and make the most of circumstances?  The morals are delivered with no light touch, and the narrative arc is steep, but this high-low sports series is popular among struggling and/or early readers.

Miss Katherine (Kat) Stephenson is a 12-year-old girl, the youngest of four children, living in Regency England (early 1800’s).  Her mama died shortly after her birth, and her father, a poor village vicar, remarried a woman who is trying her hardest to bring up the girls properly.  The only son, Kat’s brother, is a lazy do-nothing who has gambled and lost and is threatened with going to debtor’s prison, unless he (or the family) can make restitution.  That would surely cause a scandal and the future would forever be cast in doom.  The only hope, according to Stepmama, is for the oldest girl, Elissa, aged 17, to marry a wealthy man who can pay the debt.  This part of the book is pretty much like reading an adult novel, but without the coarse language and sex.  Here’s the appealing twist, the children’s mama was a witch, actually a ‘Guardian’, who is more powerful than a witch.  The two younger girls, without each other’s knowledge, sneak into the locked cabinet and pilfer through the items looking for magical items to help them.  Angeline, the middle sister, finds two books of magic spells, and becomes quite adept at using them.  Kat unintentionally finds a golden hand mirror, actually it finds her, which she discovers is a portal to the Guardians’ secret lair.  In the meantime, the wealthy man Elissa is supposed to marry is also a witch, an evil one, who wants to steal the girls’ magical legacy.  With all the turns and twists, the characters are nicely developed and interesting, and the story line keeps you wanting more.  The book jackets states for ages 10 and up, however, I’m hard put to find a 10-year-old mature enough to read this book.  Also, the art on the book jacket will appeal to younger girls, not the middle-school age girls who are the true audience.

This book would appeal to young girls.  There are situations that would be common to the average girl in school, and also a sci-fi  side to the story.  It was an easy read, and full of colorful cartoon style pictures.  It is a light read.  The bully vs. the nice girl was the main story line.  It was just ok.

This is a very informative book on the African Americans in the 1950’s.  When they traveled,especially in the South, it was hard to find a place to eat, sleep, or buy gas for the car.  Many places refused services to black people.

As a result The Green Book became the travelers guide, with places that would allow blacks to come and be safe.

This is a good book for students to read and understand how it was for the blacks in the early history of our country.

This is a great book!  It is exciting and fun.  The pictures are colorful and bright, with lots to look at. The book is written in rhyme and is fun to read.

This book is quite different.  It is about a little bird who doesn’t like being the smallest until he learns he can sing (or warble)  as big as anyone and he does.

The drawing are wonderful and different.  Sometimes I couldn’t find the little bird but I guess that is the point of the book.

I love the pictures in this book.  They are stitched with felt and are beautifully done.  They have a 3-D look to the and It makes you want to feel the pages.

This is a very cute nursery rhyme book. Anyone would love to read and look at the is book.

Big Bear Hug is Nicholas Oldland’s first picture book.  The Photoshopped illustrations are simple and charming.  Blues, greens. and browns predominate with plenty of white space.  The story shows a bear lovingly hugging every living thing he meets.  The comical expressions on the faces of those not expecting a hug from a bear are humorous.  What the bear loved to hug most were trees.  When a man with an axe came and stared at the most beautiful tree in the forest, bear thought he loved trees, too.  Angered when the man started to chop the tree, bear found he could only do what he did best – hug.  The man was so surprised, he ran far away.  Themes include conservation and the power of a hug.

Chicken Big is a funny twist on the traditional tale.  When a humongous chick hatches in the itty-bitty coop, the smaller chickens think he is an elephant and exclude him from the coop.  As the chicks panic when things fall on the smallest chicken’s head, bug chicken calmly takes control.  They think he is a squirrel, an umbrella, a sweater, and a hippopotamus.  When big chicken rescues their eggs, they realize that the only thing that could be so smart, kind, warm, and brave… is a chicken!  The illustrations are mostly pastel blue, taupe, and yellow.  The text font is playful when the small chickens are frantic.  The smallest chicken has personlity to spare!

In this graphic version of a Sherlock Holmes adventure, Sherlock tussles with an evil villain and they both fall off of a cliff, which leads Watson to believe both men are dead.  Three years pass, and during that time the police have asked Watson to fill Holmes’ shoes, but he is unavailable to be as effective as the clever detective.  When a murder occurs, Holmes shows up, unannounced and explains that he’s been in hiding for the past three years to draw out the others who want him dead.  It looks like it’s back to business as usual.  More interesting dialogue and artwork when compared the the previous Sherlock Holmes graphic novel I reviewed by Graphic Universe.

In this graphic novel, Holmes and Watson are on an errand for the King of Bohemia who feels a need to retrieve an incriminating photo of he and a young lady.  The young lady outsmarts Holmes, runs off and gets married and takes the photo with her.  I’m not really sure why the photo was so incriminating; it’s a little confusing.  Not much else happening in the story.  It didn’t hold my attention and I don’t think it will hold students’ attention either.

This is a true story of Konrad Lorenz and how he studied the geese.  Konrad was always interested in animals but geese were his favorite.  He would study them for hours.  Konrad watched the hatching of the eggs and listen to the sounds that the geese made.  He learned the different sounds and what they meant.  Konrad Lorenz won the Nobel Prize for his studies and research.

This is a very informative book.  I learned a lot about geese.  The pictures are wonderful and soft pastels.

Roger is a little cat that gets crabby a lot. He gets mad when his big brother eats the last frozen waffle and when his mom lets him sleep through his favorite show. So when his big brother calls him crabby pants, he gets even crabbier. While sitting in his time out chair, it dawns on Robby that every time he gets in trouble for being crabby, he has his pants on. Problem solved, he cuts his pants into shorts. But soon enough, Roger gets crabby again and has to come up with a new plan. This book is simple,  funny and has fun illustrations.

In this little picture book, everyone knows where Tippy Toes goes during the day and what mischief he get into. The question is where he goes when it gets dark. After he has gotten into trouble all day by hiding in the dresser drawers and escaping the squirting garden hose, the story ends with revealing the place he goes after dark is snuggling under the covers with the little boy. This story in rhyme has really nice illustrations and is very cute. It also tells the story of Tippy Toes wandering around by using flaps intermingled into the story.

Lucky Beans is a book about the depression era, when there was not a lot of money or jobs.  Marshall was tired of eating beans at his house but he knew he should be grateful for what they had.  The local store was having a contest for a new sewing machine that his mom could only wish for.  If you could guess the correct number of beans the the jar you would win the sewing machine.   Marshall’s family figured out a way to estimate the number of beans in the jar.

I liked the math that was in the book.  This would be a great book for 3rd graders to use in class and estimate the number of beans in the jar.

This is a cute book about clothes that you like and clothes that you don’t like.  It is fun the way the clothes are described when they are not the favorite.  nice descriptive words.

This is a wordless book.  It is always fun to look at a wordless book because you can make what you want of it.  It starts out with shadows of household things and them the shadows grow with your imagination.  It is a fun book to look at and you might see something different than I do.

In this gentle, quiet book, Pasquali shows how people and animals need to live together.  The actions of humans affect animals and the survival of the species.  We need to take care of our planet.  Not a scary book but wise and gentle.

Colorful, dancing crockery, reminescent of Mrs. Potts in Beauty and the Beast, flood the thick, heavy pages of this book.  Useful for young children and nursery rhymes.

One of the best things about being a school librarian is being able to read all different kinds of books and learning new things.  This book is an opportunity for one of those times.  As a kid, I had always heard the  rumor that George Washington had wooden teeth.  This book clears that up–they weren’t wooden, they were made out of hippo ivory, a cow’s tooth, and even his own teeth, plus there is a picture to show how they looked.  It was amazing that he even wore them.  This books clears up rumors concerning nine of the U.S. Presidents.  I only wish it was longer and included more presidents!

This is a great book about feelings and colors.  Children need to know about the different feelings that the experience and this book talks about them.

The colors are beautiful and the illustrations are brightand the expressions on the faces of the people are very clear as to their feelings.

Body Image from the Hot Topics series would appeal more to adults than kids.  At first glance, it appears to be a health and fitness book.  Once inside, however, the reader will be informed on many body image related topics such as cosmetic surgery, liposuction, tattooing and body piercing.  Eating disorders are thoroughly explained both what they are and the factors and influences that lead to them.  The book begins with a solid history of body image and how things have changed over the years.  Elaine Hatfield and Susan Sprecher are quoted, “In many societies, good looks equal a good body.  But again, even the societies that worship fine bodies do not  agree on what constitutes a good body.”  This thoughtful quote represents the well-balanced delivery of information in this book.

Pictures, like GI Joe and Barbie, are included to reach readers of all ages.  How biology and culture affects body image is well covered.  The book reminds us of the influence mass media has on body image.  Male body image is included and it’s good to read how it differs from female body image.  I think this book would be appropriate to use in a health class.  Anyone who reads this book will have a better understanding of body image for themselves.  Adults would be better equipped to help the kids in their lives with a better understanding of body image, which influences us all–often without realizing it.   Jaime Kenny, TMS, 2011

This story is about two friends who find a special place to play in the back storage yard behind an antiques and curio shop.  They decide to play an Egypt game and make a temple and alters and whatever they think they need for the game.  This is a good story about friendship and trying to fit in.

Well written and exciting.  You don’t know what will happen until the end.  Mystery and suspense.