Five, tired sheep wander home in this tale written in simple, soothing rhyme.  They settle down but cannot get to sleep until collie comes to tuck them in.  He gives hugs, drinks, a teddy bear, a quilt, and sings a lullaby until, one by one, each sheep falls asleep.  And what of collie?  He can be found taking a morning nap under a haystack.  The colored pencil illustrations are just as relaxing as the text.  A perfect end-of-day story for bedtime.

This simple rhyming book highlights many things children can do to make their dads happy.  The families are international, the dads are of various ages and abilities.  The one thing that makes all dads happy is a great, big hug.  Large, cheerful illustrations are a combination of acrylic and collage.

The 1800s was a challenging and changing time for our country.  Men and women were not expected to be friends and people with different skin color were not suppose to fraternize.  Susan B. Anthony had a privileged childhood, Frederick Douglass was a slave.  Despite their different backgrounds, both were vocal about their beliefs – liberty and justice for all: slavery should be abolished, women should have the same rights as men, everyone should be able to own land, go to college, and vote.  They gave speeches together, agreed and disagreed, and remained close friends for 45 years.  This book was extensively researched by both the author and the illustrator.  Beautiful illustrations accurately portray the volatile emotions and fashions of the time as well as the enduring strength of their friendship.  This would be a great discussion starter about the topics of  gender and equality.

Razia lives in Afghanistan and has a strong desire to go to school and learn to read.  She sees a new school being built in her community but needs to convince her father and brothers to allow her to go.  She begs her mother and grandfather to speak to them on her behalf.  Through the story and illustrations, one has a accurate impression of Razia’s life.  The artwork is impressive: muted colors, a collage of portraits, and photos of ordinary objects superimposed over images of life in a rural village.  The result is a realistic representation of Afghan life, traditions, and customs.  This story is inspired by Razia Jan, who was born in Afghanistan but moved to the United States as a young woman.  In 2001, she returned to Afghanistan to build a school for girls.  Included in the back: information about education around the world and Southern Asia, a short bio of Razia Jan, and a list of Dari words used in the text.

Alex loves soccer and desires to be on the Longhorn Lightning Jr. High soccer team.  Even though his past tryouts were poor, he has decided to try again.  Jake, a loud-mouth bully on the team, continually belittles and taunts Alex.  Errol is a new student from Scotland.  Errol has a strong accent, uses odd terms, and has a huge knowledge of the game.  He and Alex begin practicing together.  Errol stresses practice and teamwork and encourages Alex to keep pushing.  Sports action is exciting, the book is easy to read, and the story is fast paced.  The characters are two dimensional and the conclusion comes a bit quickly, but all-in-all this is a satisfying read for sports fans and reluctant readers.  Included are: a paragraph about the author, glossary, discussion questions, writing prompts, and additional soccer facts.

Interesting color photographs illustrate features of a variety of snakes.  Details of physical traits and behaviors are accompanied with humorous comments.  Both venomous snakes and constrictors are described.  There is a list of the top 10 snakes with the deadliest venom.  Attention-getting photos and facts are sure to captivate young readers.  Included with the glossary and index is a game and stickers.

Seven year old Lola’s grandmother is staying with her while her parents are on business trips.  In this second book of the series, Lola finds friendship and sharing friends to be quite a challenge.  Lola wants to dominate time with her best friend Amanda and does not want to share her with Jessie or Savannah.  Her jealousy tends to bring out bad behavior and misunderstanding among the girls.  Lola struggles to be a good friend but continually runs into complications.  The friendship issues continue during the class field trip to the Kookamut Farm.  Young children often experience the emotional roller coaster of relationships and may relate to Lola’s problems.  Expressive pen and ink drawings are on almost every page.

This 12th book in the Just Grace series has Grace trying to find a friend for the new crossing guard, Marie, enjoying their substitute teacher, and helping her best friend, Mimi, prepare for a craft fair.  As  usual, Grace includes humorous illustrations, lists, graphs, and side information with their own mini-titles.  Third grader Grace is energetic, frank, witty, and full of fun observations about school, family, and friends.  Although there are many books in the series, they do not need to be read in order to be enjoyed.  This series is great for those readers easing out of picture books looking for more of a story but not comfortable with the continuous text found in most chapter books.

Lizzie lives in the 19th century London slums with her drunk and abusive father.  A traveling circus comes to town and Lizzie escapes to find work there.  At the same time, a mysterious phantom thief has been robbing various homes in London.  Lizzie finds work assisting the fortune teller and begins to make friends and find acceptance.  As she works alongside the phony fortune teller, Lizzie discovers she has a true psychic gift.  She discovers clues that may uncover the phantom.  The action is fast, the characters and setting are realistic, and one is drawn in to the action and life of Victorian London.  This is book one in the series.  Readers will eagerly look forward to the sequels.

Abby and her brother, Jonah, have a magic mirror which allows them to enter fairy tales when the knock on it three times.  In this sixth adventure, Abby and Jonah follow their dog, Prince, through the mirror in the tale of the Snow Queen.  Many readers may unfamiliar with this fairy tale, but Abby relates details of the story as well as sharing the tidbit that it was the basis for the film, “Frozen”.  Prince has been frozen by the Snow Queen.  In order to rescue Prince, Abby and Jonah befriend characters from the tale and eventually confront the Snow Queen.  This is another entertaining, fractured fairy tale for “Whatever After” fans.