Mimi is so small, she sometimes thinks she should be called Mini. Mimi is frustrated of the things she cannot do because of her size. Her friends and family try to cheer her up by sharing all the positive things about being small. Mimi tries to focus on those positives, but can only find a few examples on her own. One day when her Dad gets her after school, he has a surprise to share – a new baby sister. Now that Mimi is the big sister and she reassures her tiny sister that one day, she’ll be a big too.

Sweet watercolor illustrations help portray Mimi’s frustrations and joys. A good title to encourage self-esteem and self-acceptance.

From tree to sea, from sun to stones and from bees to whales the natural world around us can teach us valuable lessons on how to live. These messages from nature are shared through both words and pictures.

  
'A baby bird shows me how not to be afraid
to spread my wings and fly.
I'll never find out how high
I can soar unless I try.' 

This beautiful book shares uplifting and encouraging messages while celebrating the natural world. A lovely read aloud and a great support for Social Emotional Learning lessons.

Melia spends her days measuring, testing, reading, and observing as she creates things in her lab. Jo spends her days singing, crouching, leaping, whirling, and twirling while she expresses the world around her creatively through the arts. They seem to have nothing in common and at first aggravate each other, but together they turn out to be a dream team. Jo’s unconventional creative thinking inspires Melia to look beyond what is right in front of her. The pairing of scientific thinking and creative thinking leads to inventive solutions.

A good title to support the STEAM movement. Also encourages the acceptance of others and the benefits of working together.

An introduction of the role of coal in energy production past and present. The book begins by identifying coal, where it is found, and its uses. It continues with an historical explanation of the invention of the steam engine and its reliance on coal. The invention of early steam engines is then tied to the current use of steam turbines to create electricity using coal. The book concludes with the fact that coal creates pollution and that scientists are working to create new coal power plants that are better for the environment.

Large font and simple sentences make this book easy for young students to read. The flow between topics lacks smooth transitions, particularly the significance of the invention of the steam engine. The Table of Contents only includes three entrees, All About Coal Energy (all the text), Think About it (a 2 page spread with one question), and the Glossary.

Starting with Nina Simone singing a lullaby to her baby, the story is told as if Nina were telling her child about the role of music and segregation in her early life. The white and black keys are a metaphor of the relationship between white and black Americans. At 12 years old, Nina showed her resolve when she refused to play when her mother was made to leave the front row of her concert when white people arrived. The story-like quality and the short concise message make this complex concept accessible to younger children. It reinforces the fact that the struggle for civil rights involved many amazing leaders from all walks of life.

A baby bird discovers his wings, perches on the edge of the nest and flings himself off the edge. He plummets to the ground into a puddle. Now he’s soaking, dinged up, and rather forlorn. Then he discovers worms! He grabs a worm and launches himself back up to the nest. His nestmates great him with a song and he flies loops of joy.

This story it told through pictures and only a few words. And each of those words ends with -ing; wings, clings, flings, stings, dings, things, brings, springs, sings, rings, zings. Even with only a handful of words, the reader can feel the adventure and sense of accomplishment.

The story offers wonderful opportunities for word play or student retelling and elaboration.

In this sequel to One Word from Sophia, Noodle the giraffe has Sophia feeling happysad. Sophia’s One True Desire comes with giraffe-sized problems. Her family might overlook the sloppy giraffe kisses, but the giraffe snoring keeps everyone up and has them wanting a permanent solution. In her efforts, Sophia reaches out to experts and through trial and error comes up with an effective giraffe muffling device.

Interesting and nuanced vocabulary enhance the story. An excellent read aloud for intermediate grades with its STEM focus, clever female character, biracial family, and challenging vocabulary.

Endpapers include facts about giraffes and a glossary.

In this fifth book in the Hank the Pet Sitter series, Hank agrees to watch Melissa’s 5 chicks. When he lifted the lid for closer look, all 5 escaped. Even with his sister’s help, he cannot catch them. Finally he gets the idea to answer their peeps with a bawk of his own. Soon he was leading the chicks back to their box. When Melissa returns, Hank is worn out, but the chicks are all safe.

The premise of the Hank the Pet Sitter series is that Hank is working to raise money to replace a bike that was destroyed by his carelessness. Both this premise and previous adventures are alluded to in this story so reading the first four books in the series will influence the reader’s understanding and appreciation of the plot.

In this nearly wordless picture book, a young girl would rather be using her small electronic device than going to the zoo with her mom and pesky toddler siblings. Sullenly she tags along through the zoo until her mom makes her climb up onto the Monkey Walk, an elevated platform. When she stops to look over the edge, something snatches her zoo hat. At first annoyed, she realizes she didn’t really want the hat, she wants to play on her device. When she pulls it out of her pocket, something blows on her. She sets her device down to deal with the blowing and something grabs the device. There is no way she’s okay with that. The story continues with her bargaining with the animals until her device is returned. The adventure has her leaving the zoo with a smile on her face.

Expressive engaging illustrations tell the story in panels large enough for a group read aloud.

In Rory’s new school, none of the many clubs seem like a good fit.  He gives the Astronaut, Prancing Unicorn and the Extra Math Homework Clubs a try, but they didn’t seem quite right.  His mom and dad encourage him to start his own club about something he loves.  More than anything, Rory loves reptiles.  Rory gives out Reptile Club fliers and puts up posters at school.  No one seems interested.  His first meeting starts and he’s about to give up because no one showed up, when he hears whispering in the hall.  When he opens the door, he finds a crocodile, anaconda, and a gecko.

Lots of fun reptile facts are interspersed in the story.  Unfortunately there is one section that encourages confusion between fact and opinion.  “It is fact that I adore Rocky Road ice cream,” and “It is a fact that I think Barry the basilisk lizard is a big show-off.”  While it’s possible to use this confusion as a teaching opportunity, it is also way to easy for young readers to miss the contradiction.