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.