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

Crab Cake

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Crab Cake, written by the author of Accident! starts out innocently enough. The sea creatures are doing what sea creatures normally do – “Seahorse pretends to be seaweed” and “Puffer fish puffs up” and “Crab bakes cakes’ – what?? Yes, crab is a different sort of sea creature and bakes lovely cakes. This comes in handy when disaster strikes their lovely undersea world. A boat comes by and dumps a huge amount of trash into their home. Everything turns dark and they all freeze! Then, crab does what crab does best – he bakes a cake. The other sea creatures come out of hiding and begin to relax, brainstorming ideas as they eat his yummy creation. They are united in their resolve and each works with the others to clean up the terrible mess. They deposit the pile of garbage on the dock with a sign that reads “Come get your junk!’. And, life turns back to normal. The sea is clean and bright, the animals are doing what they do and crab is baking cakes (with some help from his friends!).

This story is so multifaceted in its message! While it is a lovely little narrative about a crab that doesn’t act like his fellow sea creatures, it is also a powerful reminder that individuals can come together to solve a big problem and highlights that individuals can all contribute in some way to the solution. In this case, “Snapper shoves”, “Clownfish rolls”, “Clam encourages” and all the other sea creatures help in their own ways to clean up their home and send a message to the humans above. This book is also a reminder that we shouldn’t stand by and let the others destroy the earth. All of this begins with a crab that bakes!

The last page has some great links to a variety of ocean environmental websites that are appropriate for kids. Read this book during Earth Day or any day that you are empowering your students to work together to benefit the world!

Ocean Friends

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Ocean Friends is a combination of two types of books – a drawing instruction book and a story. And, it involves mermaids, which are hot characters at the moment (along with unicorns)! The book begins with simple instructions and a materials list, pictured. It continues with the story, interspersed with instructions for drawing different ocean creatures that are introduced along the way. In the story, we meet Alana, a charming young mermaid that introduces herself and her friends to a dolphin names Aqua that is new in the area.

The story is charming and has a good message about making new friends welcome and the drawing instructions are fairly simple to follow. There are not many drawing books for the primary level and this one is quite suitable for that grade range. This will be a fun book to read with students and go back to draw with them. Purchase this book if you want update your drawing books.

30 – Minute Rainy Day Science Projects

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Ten simple science projects with materials that are easily found and clear, numbered (and, often illustrated) steps, make this book a necessary addition to the library. The directions are clear, a time frame is noted and a ‘science takeaway’ is given for each accessible project. There are typical nonfiction features, such as index, glossary, and further information. There are QR codes with more digital content, including more projects. Parents and teachers will appreciate the safety notes at the beginning of the book and the wrap-up (clean up!) notes at the end. There are very few pictures of children (one Caucasian girl and one Asian boy). The rest of the illustrations feature hands performing the steps of the project or just the materials used.

This book is part of a STEM maker series that includes five other books on topics like robotics, sustainable science, chemistry, edible science and outdoor science projects that are all 30 minutes or less. This book will not be on the shelf very long.

Boats on the Bay

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With artwork reminiscent of Ezra Jack Keats, this book details a day on the Bay (San Francisco?). Simple text details the action of different types of boats, like tugs, kayaks, and fishing boats. The day culminates in a beautiful fireworks display in a gatefold fired from the deck of a barge.

Young readers will enjoy the many different boats and the activity around them as they ply the water of the bay. The more observant readers will notice that the sentences on the first two pages are quite similar to the sentences on the last two pages, moving the story into a somewhat circular manner. Artwork is muted and the reader does not see expression of the characters’ faces. But, the real art is in the boats and they are done beautifully.

Flubby is NOT a Good Pet

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Flubby is a cat. He won’t sing like a bird, fetch like a dog or jump like a frog, because he’s a cat. And, cats do what they want to do. Does that make him a bad pet? His owner wonders about that until a thunderstorm comes and Flubby and his owner realize that they need each other. That’s what pets and their owners do, right?

Sentences are short and illustrations are cartoon-like with a mixture of full page and comic book style panels. The simple drawings do a nice job of conveying the characters’ emotions. Flubby looks bored (mostly) and his owner looks happy, sad, frustrated and scared, depending on the current actions (or inaction) of the pet in question. Readers will enjoy this simple book about a very normal pet cat.

Nobody Hugs a Cactus

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Hank was the epitome of a prickly cactus. He was grumpy, mean and wanted to be alone. He grumps at all manner of possible friends, from tumbleweed to coyote, until a cowboy strolls by and says “Nobody hugs a cactus”. It is at that moment that Hank wonders if a hug might be a nice thing to have. He goes from grumpy and mean to sad and lonely. One day, a cup flies by in the breeze and gets stuck on his face and he can’t get it off. Fortunately, Rosie the tumbleweed tumbles by and knocks it off. Her act of kindness kindles a yearning for friendship and reciprocity. So, Hank grows a lovely little flower to thank Rosie. When she next tumbles by he reaches out to give it her and she hugs him. Oops, he’s a cactus and can’t let go of Rosie! But, Hank decides that “…it’s better to be stuck in a hug than stuck all alone”.

This pictures in this lovely book are done in earth tones with water color. The characters are typical of a desert – cactus, tumbleweed, tortoise, hare, coyote and cowboy. Interestingly, one can see (and believe) the emotions playing out on the cactus’ face as he transforms from a grumpy guy to a friendly hug-lover. Students will enjoy his change of heart and hope that the other characters come back for hugs, too!

The Frog Book

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The Frog Book is a 33 page mix of glorious illustrations and amazing facts about some of the over 6,000 (that we know of so far) amphibians that inhabit most parts of the world. Information is presented in small bites under such page headings as “What is a frog?” and “Finding a mate”. While this information could tend to be somewhat dry if presented in a flat, fact-filled tome, it is nothing short of incredible in this incarnation. Many of the pictures are presented half life-sized, except for a few notables (the largest and smallest, fore example). Some of the illustrations are labeled and there is a fine two page spread of the life cycle of a typical frog. Students will love the detailed information given in this book and, I am sure, will ask to share some of the more ‘interesting’ facts such as the facts that the golden poison frog has enough poison to kill ten adult humans and the hairy frog (yes, it does look a little hairy!) can break its own finger bones that penetrate its skin and act like claws. Wow! I want to learn more about frogs now! This magnificent book will enthrall your young scientists and turn your non-scientists into frog experts hungry for more!

Astronomy You Can Nibble

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Apparently, science and food go together very well. This was a fact I didn’t realize until I picked up the book, Astronomy You Can Nibble. This slim and colorful book begins with a definition of “Astronomy”, moves through the current study of the subject and continues through six easy, recipes that illustrate the subject. Each recipe has numbered steps, many with corresponding photos along with lists of ingredients and tools. Students will certainly enjoy this topic when they can eat the constellations while they study them or discuss the eclipse while munching or cookies that illustrate the phases of a solar eclipse. I know that I would remember my astronomy lessons if I had eaten my way through them!

This book is part of six book set that touches on geology, math, engineering, technology, chemistry and the above-mentioned astronomy. Purchase these books for your K-2 students. Theses books will not be on the shelves for long1

Mallory McDonald, Super Sitter

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Mallory and her friend, Chloe Jennifer, agree to take a job with Mallory’s new next door neighbors, the Goldmans. They will babysit twin five year old boys for two hours each day after school for three weeks. The girls are excited about the prospect and things go well until the twins decide to have some real fun – jumping off the the outdoor toy and coloring on the walls. Mallory is also feeling a time squeeze as her homework builds up and she has no time to put together a cool poem for the upcoming poetry slam.

Things start to fall apart for Mallory until she learns to manage her time and be responsible for commitments. Along the way, she has some rather painful experiences and discovers that she can finish what she starts even when the going is tough. This is a nice, sweet book for those would-be babysitters out there – although it might scare them off! Recommended