A young girl falls asleep listening to a winter storm and dreams of her tree castle where she’s the queen sitting on a throne of branches. She’s awoken by the creak, crack, crash and thud of her favorite branch falling in an ice storm.  She’s devastated.  It isn’t just a branch to her and she’s unwilling to give it up.  Her mother agrees to let her keep it for a little while. During the cleanup of the neighborhood, the girl notices the elderly next-door neighbor, Mr. Frank with his chainsaw.  Mr Frank notices the girls long face.  Mr. Frank helps the girl recognize the potential in the fallen branch.  With tools, time, and elbow grease, the two work together on weekends and sometimes after school in Mr. Frank’s workshop.  They draw plans, measure, saw, dry the wood, plane, make holes, sand, and varnish. Finally their creation is pictured – a swing. Now her branch can again be her castle, her spy base, her ship.

A story of the importance of imagination, creativity, and relationships.

It had been such a long time that Old Turtle was just a legend, a story told late at night. But the people were haunted by questions they had no answers for.  When the questions are brought to the Old Woman, she knows the stories of Old Turtle are real and he hold the answers. Those who follow the whisperings of their hearts will find him.  The trusted few were tasked to speak for the people and ask their important questions.  The journey was long, but their hearts finally led them to Old Turtle.  The questions of their hearts; What is our purpose in life? How do we find happiness? Can you tell us about play? Speak to us of evil. And what about death? culminate with, Who are you and how will you live this day?  The answers to these deep meaningful questions tie us to each other and to creation itself.

While as powerful a message as the 2 previous Old Turtle books, the magnitude of the questions asked and the answers given are a bit overwhelming, making this aless effective book .  Each of the “important” questions is worthy of its own book.

Beautiful watercolor illustrations enhance the emotions of the book.

The humorously titled, Tales for the Perfect Child is a collection of stories featuring 8 children who, despite initial appearances, are anything but perfect. Arthur ruins his clothes so he doesn’t have to visit Aunt Eunice. Gloria purposely breaks dishes so she doesn’t have to help in the kitchen, Harry hides his carrots in his pocket instead of eating them, and Harriet whines. Students will easily recognize the mischievous behaviors from their own experiences.

With 8 short chapters, simple text, and sthis is a good choice for young developing readers. Sergio Ruzzier’s 3 tone illustrations decorate this new edition of Heide’s previously published work (1985).  A classic sure to bring laughs, though the dated language and names reduce its kid appeal.

Willa Cather, a great American author writing in the early 1900’s is known for writing stories about the land with strong female characters.  Unlike many girls at the time, Willa was encouraged by her parents to become whoever she wanted to be.  Even as a child, she chose a path different from other girls.

The chunky nature of the book makes it difficult to glean biographical information.  Each new section of the book focuses on a specific time without transitions or connections.  The episodic telling of parts of Willa’s early life, however, feeds well into the later references made between her writing and memorable times and places from her younger years.

One drawback of the book is the disconnect between the subject matter and the reading level.  Willa Cather’s work is typically introduced to students at the high school level, yet this biography is more appropriate for upper elementary and middle school.  As a study of a historical era or of a strong woman brave enough to challenge societal norms, this is a good addition to a library.

It is spring at last. Pig celebrates with a picnic at the pond. There she meets Goose and so begins a sweet friendship. Eternally positive Pig is impressed with Goose’s ability to fly and swim, though she can’t do either.  Goose is later impressed with Pig’s hostess skills, dancing, and storytelling. Appreciation for each other’s differences leads to a friendship that is sure to last.

Short simple sentences and repetitive structure make this a good choice for transitional readers.  The story is broken into 3 chapters so young readers gain a sense of accomplishment.  Lovely watercolor illustrations support the text.

The Music of Life details the creation of the first piano. Bartolomeo Cristofori was an instrument maker in Italy who worked on both clavichords which only played piano (softly) and the harpsichord which only played forte (loudly).  While working in Florence for Prince Ferdinand de Medici, Cristofori ponders the problem of creating an instrument that can play both piano and forte. Cristofori’s perseverance to pay off as he experiments with different materials and different constructions to create his new keyboard.  Cristofori’s masterpiece is named the pianoforte since it plays both loudly and softly.  During his life, the piano was not widely used.  It was only 20 years after his death as Joseph Haydn then later Johann Christian Bach and Wolfgang Mozart compose for and play on the piano that it emerges as an instrument that captures the music of life.

Large ornately formed Latin musical terms (with English translations) decorate the top of each page, acting as an accompaniment to the story.  The timeline of the story is punctuated by quotes from historical record of the time.

Endpapers include a timeline of the life of Cristofori and the piano, a comparison to Cristofori’s pianoforte and the modern piano, a list of famous piano composers, a description of how the author researched Cristofori, Bibliography, and Grazie.

A young boy feels his drawings of puppies look like mush and his cars look like lumps or boxes.  Since he doesn’t believe he can draw, he colors instead.  Unlike coloring in a coloring book, he just uses different hues and lines to express feelings.  Until the last page the boy is a grayscale pencil sketch. With the self-portrait on the last page, the boy appears in color showing the uniqueness and depth of his feelings.

A wonderful resource for art teachers, young artists, or to teach self-acceptance.

The curtain opens on the Great Aziz and his beautiful assistant, Zaza and with a flick of a wand he turns a dish into a fish – a wiggling, slippery fish his assistant has to catch.  And so the show progresses with the Great Aziz creating havoc with his magic and Zaza cleaning up the mess.  Finally when Zaza’s wig is turned into a pig, she loses her patience and snatches Aziz’s wand and turns his hat into a bat. Back and forth the wand is snatched until the beans are turned into bears and Aziz and Zaza realize they need to work together.  Aziz pulls out a card and turns it into a cord that they use to tie up the bears.  From then on Zaza and Aziz share the light each night.

The fun play of words throughout make this book an engaging read aloud.  Use it to start a lesson on word ladders or to reinforce word families.

An energetic and colorful take on a counting book.  With rhyming text and fun word choice, one dino after another joins the dance floor.  “They hear a swish/What’s this?/One more?/One more dino on the floor,” prefaces the addition of each new dino until there are 9.  The last dino, a T. rex,  arrives with a stomp and a roar, making all the dinos, “quake and shake with fear.”  Not to worry, “the T. rex spins, stands on his toes.  He moonwalks, strikes a funky pose.”  Soon all 10 dinos are dancing together.

The repetitive text makes this a good read aloud, though the dance specific vocabulary makes it difficult for young readers to comprehend independently.

In Spring for Sophie, a young girl explores the transition from winter to spring using all her senses.”When will I know when spring is coming?” asks Sophie.  Her mom tells her to listen for the birds to start to sing.  At first Sophie hears nothing, but slowly the first chirps are followed by more birds announcing that spring is coming.  Sophie then wonders, “How will I know when spring is getting even closer?”  Her dad tells her to use her feet; when the ground gets softer then spring is closer.  Again, Sophie has to wait until finally the ground feels softer.  “How will I know when spring is really here?” she finally asks.  Her mom answers that her eyes and nose will tell when spring is here.  Then one day after the snow had melted, Sophie tastes the arrival of spring as she catches the rain on her tough.

A good choice for investigating the seasons as well as using all five senses to observe the natural world.