In this latest adventure of Elmer, the patchwork elephant, Elmer helps the little guys stand up to a bully.  All the animals of the jungle are noticing the quiet when the usual songbirds refuse to sing as they hide from the big bird who’s being a bully.  When the big bird refuses to listen to reason, Elmer comes up with a plan that brings everyone together to scare away the bully.  It’s bright colors and familiar character will be engaging to young students, and it’s message of sticking together to stand up to bullies is needed.

Charming water-color illustrations set the stage for this picture-book biography of Sarah Hale, the woman credited with convincing Abraham Lincoln to make Thanksgiving a national holiday.  Though it doesn’t have the same voice and drama of “Thank You, Sarah,” it’s got more concrete information, filling in gaps where the other story skims over some details.  Together they make a good pairing to share this little known bit of history.

The illustrations are charming.  I’m not sure the story is as charming.  Times are hard in the village when a young girl finds a chicken which seems to have fallen off a truck.  Markings on a broken crate indicate that the chicken belongs to someone named Izzy Pippik.  The girl gets permission to keep the chicken until she can locate its rightful owner.  She protects both the hen and her eggs from those who would want to eat them, insisting that they must be cared for until their owner is found.  Soon there is a flock over-running the village, and bringing in strangers curious to see the spectacle, until business is booming again.  By the time Izzy Pippik finds his way back to the village, he decides to give them to the village.  It’s not a bad story; I’m just not sure kids are going to care.

The author of Bats at the Beach and Bats at the Library brings his friendly, fuzzy bats to a baseball game.  But this isn’t a human baseball game.  This is a bat baseball game.  At the beginning of the story, the bats arrive at a piece of grass under a striped canopy on the edges of a carnival.  Some play the game, while others watch, hanging upside down from the tent.  The story is told in rhyme, following the drama of the sport.  Lies includes traditional human baseball trappings, such as popcorn, a tiny microphone, and uniforms, and integrates them with things befitting the bats small stature (i.e. the foul lines are sprinkled using powdered sugar).  There are one or two awkward turns of phrase (i.e. “We feel ejected from the game!”), but overall, the rhyme is solid and the competitive drama is involving.  Readers view the sport through the perspective of a grandfather/grandson pair, which brings a measure of nostalgia to the story.  All in all, this is a fun bat adventure.

This is a wonderful manual.  It tells everything you need to know about the activity.  You are even given tips about attitude.  I learned about different types of cheerleading.  This book is very readable and informative. Lots of great pictures.

This book is so funny.  The girls in this story are into mischief nonstop.  There is never a dull moment with this imaginative pair.  This book is silly and believable.  The pictures add a lot to the story.

This could be called a coming of age story.  It’s very readable and deals with a lot of modern issues like divorce and parents finding other friends.  The story is interesting and shows that life goes on.  It also shows the ups and downs of school friends, too.  All in all a good read.

The is the folk tale story of the Town Mouse visiting his friend the Country Mouse.  The Town Mouse invited the Country to go the visit with him at His Majesty’s Court.  When they got there the country mouse was delighted at the fine food that they had before them to eat,  but he was very alarmed by the barking of the court dog.  The country mouse decided that the Majesty’s Court was not a very good place to be and went home to his “plain food and … peaceful cottage.”

Some of the words are hard for the kids to understand but they understand the story.  This is a wonderful story for all to hear.

This book starts at 6300 BC and takes the through the history of transportation to 2004.   It has many interesting facts of different countries and how they evolved with transportation.  They use different forms and mode of transportation.  The pictures are fun to look at but I wish they had used real pictures where they could.  It is a great introduction to transportation and could inspire a child to look into more depth on the subject.

Tyger, Tyger is the exciting first book in the Goblin War series by Kerstan Hamilton. High school teenage angst of the 21st century is entwined with primordial struggles between goblins and humankind  of Irish/Celtic mythology.   Danger and excitement build as Teagan learns about her mother’s true identity and the role she is thrown into in order to protect her younger brother and rescue her father.  The tension between Teagan and Finn, the handsome McCumhaill of the Irish Travellers, makes for page turning interest in this fast-moving, imaginative sprint through Mag Mell, the world between worlds. The fierce, dark power of unknown forces of evil and the persistence of ancient curses that survive through time make this life and death struggle more vital than which college Teagan may choose to attend or expectations of her employer. Fantasy readers will love it and those who normally don’t choose fantasy will be happily surprised with how the story carries you away.