Smick! is a picture book story told in extremely simply drawings using a total of 15 different words.

Smick is a dog. He listens. He follows the command to, “Sit, Smick.” He is rewarded with, “Good, Smick.”  Someone, off page, throws Smick a “stick*“, off Smick goes. Then, Smick hears a “Cluck!” and a “Chick” flies into the story. Smick and the chick have fun with the stick.

The stick* is an actual photo of a forked stick. The chick is a single bi-colored geranium flower petal with eyes, beak, wings, and feet drawn in with a black pen/marker.

Beginning readers will enjoy the simplicity of the easy to read text in combination with the easy to understand dog and bird behaviors.

The Yellow Fairy Book is a compilation of fairy tales from all over the world.  Originally published in 1894, this book has stood the test of time.  With a fresh new cover, it’s ready to be read by today’s children.  Many children, especially those in the U.S., might have trouble understanding the language used in elaborate descriptions of settings, actions, and characters, but this is only because for the past few decades Disney has taken over the telling of fairy tales and has dumbed down the language so all children can understand.  Reading tales from The Yellow Fairy Book is mezmerizing with it’s rich embellishments of characters and settings.  In the past one hundred plus years since it’s original publication, literature and language has taken a beating.  This book was originally published because people, especially children, clamored for books with intriguing, entertaining stories and by reading them learned to speak and write for themselves.  Before the advent of technology, books were a safe haven for children to lose themselves in.  However, technology has changed that.  No longer do many parents read fairy tales to their children, but they haven’t been read to themselves.  People don’t take the time; technology has sped up living.  But by reading and explaining the words and meanings in these timeless stories, you are giving your children the gift of time.  Not only the gift of knowledge but the actual gift of taking time to teach and care about them.  That is what makes reading so special to children–the connections it makes.  This book should be on all library shelves (it has been on mine for over 50 years) and in every home that has parents who care about their children.

Two little yellow goslings explore their little world in this 6″ X 6″ book meant for little hands.

Gemma, the older sister, wears a pith helmet and  binoculars around her neck. Gus dutifully follows her around looking into an old barrel, a patch of cattails with frogs, from the top of a large upside down terra cotta flower pot, and from the top of Molly the sheep dog.  Then “Gus peeks underneath  the hen”, back to the flower pot, “jumps into the pond”, and up onto a rock.

A cute, sweet, easy read with two goslings inquisitively and curiously looking at the big items around them, as well as, the small snails and grasshoppers.

Originally published in 1893, The Green Fairy Book is a compilation of fairy tales from all around the world.  In his preface, Lang explains that it’s not a book about fairies, but about fairy tales, stories that have a magical quality.  Also, it’s not a ‘green’ fairy, but it is simply his way of making the books separate, and has titled his volumes according to colors: blue, red, green, and yellow, and so on, rather than I, II, III or IV.  The stories can be centuries old, from anonymous sources, from many different countries, and also from the Grimm Brothers.  What makes these fairy tales stand out from our more modern, traditional published fairy tales is the quality and quantity of language.  Many of the fairy tales are familiar and well known, yet still vastly different.  The basic story is the same, but the descriptions of the settings, actions, and characterizations are much more embellished.  These embellishments give readers a much better understanding of the characters and locales and paints us a better picture of the story.  Today’s children are used to ‘Disney-fication’ of fairy tales and many haven’t been read the original fairy tale.  The Green Fairy Book gives children language from which to learn by.  How wonderful!  This book has been in my library for over 50 years, and this fresh new copy will be here for another 50.

Guy Fieri is known for his Food Network television shows and his restaurants.  “Fieri never attended culinary school, but he has written several popular cookbooks of original recipes.” ( p. 4)

During his elementary school years, Guy and his father worked together to help Guy make a business selling pretzels from a three-wheeled bicycle push cart.  He sold pretzels for six years. During his high school years, Guy moved to France as an exchange student, after meeting his mother’s requirement of learning the French language to her satisfaction.  Back in the United States, he attended the University of Nevada Las Vegas earning a degree in “hospitality and management”. Guy first managed a restaurant, then a restaurant chain. Then came his own restaurant, with a partner, Johnny Garlic’s California Pasta Grill,, followed by Tex Wasabi’s Rock n’ Roll Sushi BBQ, and then Guy’s American Kitchen and Bar. Guy was encouraged to enter a Food Network contest which he won out of more than 1000 entries. The prize was six episodes of Guy’s first show- Guy’s Big Bite. His next show- Diners, Drive-ins and Dives evolved from a TV special in November 2006.

Fieri works on ways “to educate kids on healthy eating habits” (p. 26) through his TV shows and through the California State Legislature.

Includes:   a recipe, timeline, glossary, and index.

Six Degrees of LeBron James: Connecting Basketball Stars is actually more of a historical accounting of the greatest basketball stars than just about LeBron James.  James is in his prime and students are very aware of who he is, however, this book isn’t about him, it’s about how basketball players are linked to one another and to the past.  Much of sports involves lots of math; statistics of who’s the best at what.  This book covers who’s the best.  Those interested in basketball will enjoy reading why people consider the greatest, the greatest.

An eight year old boy is “pleased” to be invited to the dinosaurs party, but he soon has doubts once he arrives. “There are plenty of meat eaters in here. Are you sure you want to go?”  The invitation reads, ” Dear Special Guest    you are invited to be (‘be’ is crossed out) dinner at the dinosaurs’ party at 3 pm on Saturday. Yours   Mr T. Rex   xx”

The boy squeezes between the other dinosaur guests who are playing musical chairs. The bouncy house pops when the stegosaurus jumps in it.

Some uncalled for, pointless bathroom humor surfaces when a line begins to grow outside of the bathroom. Various dinosaurs are shown dancing around and crossing their legs while waiting for T. Rex to step out of the bathroom.

Then the boy decides to leave and grabs a party bag. The T. Rex begins to chase him. The boy finally looses the T.Rex after a wild bus ride home. As the boy rests at home on top of his bed with the dinosaur bed spread, he thinks,

“ I mostly enjoyed the dinosaurs’ party,

There is just one little snag.

I don’t think the bag I picked up… 

Was really a PARTY BAG!” 

His ‘party bag’ has a T. Rex hatchling  emerging from an egg.

Hercules makes Hera, the queen of the gods, so jealous she “drove Hercules mad with rage. In his madness, Hercules killed his wife and children in a fire.” (p. 4) To gain forgiveness for this action Apollo’s oracle tells Hercules he must “Perform 10 tasks for your cousin Eurystheus, king of Mycenae.” (p. 5)  So begins this accounting of the 12 labors of Hercules. This retelling is an “adaptation of Hercules’ story is based on the book The Library, written by Greek historian Apollodorus.” The labors have Hercules killing the Nemean lion, which his cousin purposefully omitted to tell “was invulnerable to weapons.” This is not the only time Hercules’ cousin, King of Mycenae, keeps valuable information from him, either. Hercules kills Hydra, but since his nephew helped him, the king won’t count it as one of Hercules’ labors. Hercules captures the Cerynitian Hind , brings back the Erymanthian Boar, cleans the king’s stables by diverting a river, and chases away a flock of nesting birds. Some of the other labors include bringing the king the Cretan Bull and feeding King Diomedes to his own cruelly mistreated horses, so Eurystheuscan  can have four of the mares.

Author- Blake Hoena and illustrator – Estudio Haus do not pull any punches on telling Hercules’ story just because it is in graphic novel form.

Includes: glossary, www.facthound.com, and index.

High Hopes is a stable where people can board their horses as well as take riding lessons.  Libby, an almost 12-year-old girl, has dreams of earning a blue ribbon at an equestrian show, and spends most of her time there.  When she is saddled with a challenging horse, it seems her dreams will never come true.  But riding teaches Libby quite a bit:  learn to be confident and be a leader, work hard, be patient and understanding, be a good friend, and to be kind, because things aren’t always as they seem.    For girls who love horses, this book is for them.

In this fantasy adventure graphic novel, a young boy named William goes off in search of his sister who is trying to find their father’s spirit. In the process, he meets a mercenary named Barbant, a magical goat, and a troubadour named Counterpane. Together the trio go on an adventure across the magical lands. They meet many monsters and kings in the pursuit of what happened to William’s father.
The book’s plot is rather dull and confusing. The artwork is just OK. The reader is led to believe that the adventure will be a grand one but, the adventure is rather short and boring. I rate this book as a marginal purchase for a school library.

— Kellyn S.