Author Archives: Candy Ranney

About Candy Ranney

Candy is an elementary school librarian in Shelton, WA at the school where she was a student (so many years ago!). Her library is unique in that she brings her background and love of biology to her students in many ways. Not only does she have an awesome selection of science books; she also has a beaver, bobcat and mink sitting on her shelves and a variety of jarred specimens for her students to study. When she's not in the library, she is taking care of her baby trees on her tree farm and hanging out with her family and many pets. * 2025 WA Library Association School Librarian of the Year

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Posted on by

Martin Luther King Jr. Day details what the holiday is, the origin, who celebrates and traditions. A timeline, map, historical and current photos make this book a nice introduction to the holiday. Short sentences with highlighted words that might be unfamiliar (defined in the glossary) make it an appropriately leveled book for younger readers. My only complaint is that most of the photos, even the current ones, are fairly homogeneous in ethnicity, which is unfortunate and unrealistic. A more accurate portrayal of people of all backgrounds coming together should have been pictured.

Football Records

Posted on by

Football Records, part of Blastoff! discover. Incredible sports records series, is a quick “dip your toes into the stats” kind of book. Glossy action shots of various record holders with short paragraphs and extras in scattered text boxes will leave the casual reader satisfied and the sports fanatic ready to explore more (which will be simple, given that there are extra print and internet resources listed in the back of the book). Highlighted words are defined in the glossary and an index is a nice quick reference. This will be a good purchase if you are looking to update your sports collection.

Super Potato. #2.Super Potato’s galactic breakout

Posted on by

Super Potato is captured by the evil Zort, a slug king that collects creatures from different planets for his personal zoo. Fortunately, the slug’s robot servant is easily manipulated by the brilliant Super Potato and opens all the cages to release the creatures. Minus the Magnificent, king of the Planet Micron, and his armada (who came to rescue him) return the creatures to their home planets and take Super Potato back to Earth. Is this the end? Nope…I know this, because it says it on the last page! There will be more adventures to come.

This innocent little graphic novel will appeal to those readers who might be beginning their exploration of the genre. It is not too difficult to follow and the humor is at the perfect level for the 2nd-5th grade reader. Pages range from single panel to three panel comic spreads that move the story along. The colors are bright and the writing is simple. Pick up this book (and the first one) for your young readers.

The Donkey Egg

Posted on by

Bear and Hare are back after their escapades in Tops and Bottoms. Fox stops by Bear’s ramshackle home and sells him a $20 watermelon, convincing him that it is a donkey egg. Well, Bear takes care of that “donkey egg” for quite awhile. He does a great job caring for it, keeping it warm and playing with it. Hare stops by occasionally (he seems to be training for a race against a tortoise) to give bear encouragement. One day, Bear falls asleep and the “egg” rolls away from him and crashes, breaking into several large pieces of watermelon (surprise!). Bear and Hare decide to make the best of it, after Bear realizes he was fooled by the Fox. They plant the seeds and end up with so many lovely watermelons! They take some to town to sell and buy …a donkey! Fox sees the trio and the book ends with Fox scratching his head and climbing up on a watermelon.

The story moves smoothly along, with some interesting facts about time along the way. This might distract some readers, but most won’t be bothered. They will be busy moving on to the next page to find out what will happen with Bear, Hare and the ‘egg’ on the next pages. The illustrations are wonderful. It is like seeing old friends again after several years away (24 years since Tops and Bottoms). Highly recommended.

Passover

Posted on by

Passover is an introduction to the Jewish holiday. The book explains what it is, its traditions and origins, who celebrates and when they do so. There is a nice pronunciation guide for unfamiliar words and a recipe typical to the holiday. There is also a glossary, which defines the bolded words that are throughout the text. This is part of the Celebrating Holidays series and is very appropriate for early readers. While the text is spare, the photos also do a great job of illustrating the different aspects of the holiday. Purchase this book to update your collection.

Mr. Monkey Take a Hike

Posted on by

Mr. Monkey wants to win his video game, but even though he   “runs…ducks…climbs…swings…jumps [and] falls” over and over. He is just about ready to give up when a chick comes in and swipes his game controller. OH NO! Mr. Monkey must leave his game to retrieve his controller from that silly little chick and the chase commences.  Mr. Monkey “runs…ducks…climbs…swings…jumps [and] falls” over and over as he attempts to catch the chick and his controller . Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? In the end, he finally gets his controller back, but is too tired to play. Poor Mr. Monkey And, as he peacefully sleeps in front of the television, a certain little chick returns and takes the controller. The end.

Readers will enjoy the cartoon-like illustrations and comic action of the story as they cheer on Mr. Monkey. Repetitive language is helpful as for those readers that need it. Mr. Monkey never gives up and the action along the way will elicit some gasps and giggles from young students. This is a third book involving Mr. Monkey and if the others are similarly written, I would certainly consider purchase of all three.

Monster Mache Art: Easy-to-make Amazing Monsters

Posted on by

Get ready to get messy and make some fun monsters along the way! This book takes the old school standard art project and amps up the fun with such pieces as “Greedy Garbage Monster” or “Mummy in the Cupboard”. Necessary tools, materials and methods are all described and step-by-step instructions are clear and, for the most part, illustrated. Purchase this book if you are looking to update your tired art section.

Amazing Origami Dinosaurs

Posted on by

How can it get any better than dinosaur facts and origami? How about both of them in a single book! We begin with a little introduction to origami – history, paper and typical folds. This book, geared toward the 3rd-6th grade crowd, then gives illustrated directions for six different dinosaurs (and facts) and a prehistoric tree. Most pieces are eight to nine steps and the iguuanodon is a whopping 16 steps. The directions and illustrations are clear, but this book is better suited to the experienced origami aficionado. Beginners might get a bit frustrated. All in all, a nice addition to the library.

Plumbers

Posted on by

Plumbers, part of the Community Helper series, is a nice introduction to this very important career option. A plumber’s job, necessary skills and tools are discussed and the photos are a great mix of genders and ethnicity. Sentences are simple (this is marked a Level 1 book) and unfamiliar words are highlighted and available in the glossary. At the end, there are additional resources listed,both books and web links. At 24 pages, it is very accessible to the primary target audience. Buy this book and the rest of the series to update your career/community section.

Chevrolet Silverado

Posted on by

This book is part of the Tough Truck series and, as such, describes one make/model of vehicle. The reading level is 5.7 and the book is targeting the 3-6 grade reader. Chevrolet Silverados are described – including their history, distinctive parts (bow tie shaped logo, square grill and tailgate spoiler),lots of color photos and specifications for the model. Typical nonfiction aspects include table of contents, glossary, index and extra resources list.

While this is a great book for the target audience, it isn’t really a stand-alone book, because truck aficionados are loyal to their brand, even at an early age. Therefore, there might be limited circulation. Because it is part of a six book set of different makes/models, one should buy the entire set or none of them. The entire set would be fun to have in the library, because one can just imagine the heated arguments in the 600’s section over the best truck out there!