Bound to be a topic of high interest.  This slim volume contains a lot of information about a variety of spying technologies, the purposes for which they were developed, and the historical/political contexts in which they’ve been used.  The main critique I have of the book has to do with its organization — the publisher’s efforts to jazz things up with cool graphics have led to a layout that includes random side-bar paragraphs stuck in where they interrupt the flow of other information.

Not a lot of text. Not a complex story. But ever-so-very relatable, and stunning water-color illustrations that celebrate the impromptu decision of Grandma and Granddaughter to drop everything and go dancing through the house, dressed up in scarves and crowns, with the pets joining in the fun, until they all collapse.  Grandma’s got some moves — I’m not that limber and I’m a good twenty years younger, but heck, in imaginations we all can be as graceful and Ginger Rogers.

This is a beautiful and inspiring book. Free verse poetry tells the biography of Alice Coachman, the first African American woman to win an Olympic gold medal.  Beginning in Alice’s childhood in the 1930s, it tells of her active nature, the first time she saw a high jumper, her desire to try, and the roadblocks set her way, and how she built her own practice crossbar by tying rags to sticks.  Her self-taught high-jumping skills opened her chance to study at Tuskegee Institute High School and won her a national championship. By 1948 she was setting Olympic records.  The beautiful illustrations throughout the book really enhance the telling of this inspirational tale, and black and white photos in the back contribute with additional information for the curious reader, making Alice real to the student has trouble with the “is this a true story?” concept.

Here we have yet another new baby book.  Penny spends most of the book listing all the pink things she loves.  She is horrified when she is called to come meet her new baby brother because boys are blue, but then when the blue blanket is unwrapped and Penny sees his red hair and rosey pink skin she decides maybe she loves him after all.

The good things about this book are that it uses supplies that really are easily on hand for most kids, and both the directions and explanation are very clearly given and easy to understand.  The problem with this book is that it actually takes all the real opportunities to think away from the child.  It asks readers what they observe, and what they think, but the answers for what they will see and why are already so clearly explained that they don’t actually even need to conduct the experiments.

This is a very long story about a boy who dreams of being a wizard who could save the world.  Then he learns about some of the dangers facing the world from global warming, and starts pondering all the future careers he could have to help solve the problem and be a wizard even without magical powers.  Side bars on every page explain the science Diego is learning about, and suggestions for action are listed in the back.  The story part is kind of cheesy (and like I said, long), and I’m not sure it really contributes that much to the science that is to be found in the side bars.  I think it would’ve been a stronger book if it focused more on the substance and less on the cheese.

I like the illustrations, but I’m puzzled by the story.  The cover claims it is “A traditional tale for Easter,” but I there’s nothing about whose tradition it is.  I’m pretty knowledgable about Easter tradition, and I’ve never heard of this one: it basically tells the story of the man Simon, who helped Jesus carry his cross.  According to this story, Simon was a farmer on his way into town to sell eggs and other produce from his farm; after helping Jesus, he made his way back to where he’d left his goods to find the day gone and most of his good destroyed; he returned home with the dozen eggs that were the only items to survive the day; on Sunday morning he found his basket of eggs all cracked and empty and a dozen doves flying around his olive grove.  An author’s note explaining the origins of the tradition would be helpful.

The bird is smarter than the people in this book.  The pet store owner keeps selling his parrot to people who want a talking bird, but can’t recognize that the bird is speaking Spanish, so they keep misunderstanding him and putting him in awkward situations that lead them to keep returning him to the pet store.  In the end he is finally adopted by a bilingual boy who keeps him.  It’s another one that fall into the category of, “fine, I suppose,” but hard to find anything fabulous about it to say.

A boy and his dad are spending the day at the beach, and the boy is listing all the things his dad is not scared of (crabs, jelly fish, sharks…), but at the end he says there’s only one thing he is afraid of, but since the boy isn’t, that makes them heroes together.  It is the left to the illustrations to imply that the one thing Dad is scared of are seagulls stealing his cap.  From he beginning of the book, the seagulls are seen throughout, offering a bit of foreshadowing.  It’s fine, but not spectacular.  The illustrations are more substantial than the text.

This book just really isn’t necessary.  It’s trying to be a combination book, partly telling the story about some boys who are getting ready to surprise their mother for her birthday, and partly being an information book about birthday traditions (purple fact blurbs on each page).  The problem is that the facts and the story keep interrupting each other, and the story isn’t very interesting, and there are better birthday fact books available, so I wouldn’t bother with this one.