In this Inuit folktale, long ago Walrus once had fancy, spiraled tusks which he used to uncover tasty clams.  Jealous of his ability to gather and eat so many clams, Raven cast a spell on the ocean to trap Walrus.  Frozen in place, Walrus was trapped with part of his tusks and head above the surface.  Raven teased and tormented Walrus while little critters nibbled him from below.  Enraged, Walrus heaved himself out of the ice, straightening his tusks and reddening his eyes.  He lunged after Raven who hastily scrambled far, far away.  Walrus left the coast preferring to live out at sea.  Artwork is in blues and browns and reminiscent of wood cut prints.  While stylized, it is a good match for this Arctic folktale.

Twins Sydney and Simon are hoping to enter their window-box flowers in the neighborhood flower show.  A heat wave creates all sorts of problems – the window swells shut, they can’t water the flowers, and the flowers are wilting.  Using STEAM thinking (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math), the twins learn how to successfully solve their problems.  They hypothesize, seek advise from others, observe, make predictions and connections, and test.  Many scientific facts and procedures are explained and creatively illustrated as these two purple mice use each category of STEAM.  A glossary of many terms in included.  This is a great resource to explain STEAM and describe the process of the scientific method.

A young boy is unhappy as his family packs up to move.  The rainy weather matches his mood – it’s all bad, “bad truck, bad guy, bad wave, bad bye”.  As they travel the long distance to their new home, the bad weather disappears and new sights, new experiences, and new towns appear.  Good things begin again.  Jonathan Bean’s ink and Prismacolor tone illustrations beautifully and simply match the emotions with the move.  The rhyming text is large and spare, yet a complete story is told.  Anyone who has moved may identify with this family.

If kids ruled the world, life would be much different!  Each page addresses a separate rule for kids of all ages.  No bedtimes, travel can include pirate ships or rockets, school can be chosen by interest, (circus school, fairy school, inventing school, recess school…), and no one would forget how to play.  Illustrations are bright, amusing, and colorful.  All rules involve physical activity – not a hand-held in sight.  Great for story time, as a writing prompt, or just fun reading.

Readers are introduced to the five basic biomes: tundra, grassland, forest, desert, and water.  A mammal example for each biome is mentioned along with the characteristics needed to survive.  Included is a separate question to encourage inquiry-style thinking about biomes and the animals to have a home there.  Text is in large font.  Illustrations are simple, yet provide adequate information.  A short matching quiz is found in the back along with a small glossary.  Good introduction to biomes for young readers.

The saber-toothed cat is one ancient animal that lived at the same time as early humans.  Fossilized bone tells us how the cats may have looked, how and what they hunted, and how they may have become extinct.  As large, strong animals, they may have preferred hiding and waiting for prey to walk by instead of chasing it.  They may have lived in groups (prides) who cared for injured cats, as fossils have revealed healed bones.  With no more than four sentences per double-page spread, the text is simple and clear.  Acrylic paintings provide colorful, detailed illustrations to support the information about this prehistoric, formidable predator.

Large, simple sentences give very basic information about baby horses.  Full page color photos are clear and support the text.  Young readers will learn fundamental facts about foals.  Additional facts are provided on a “Did You Know?” page.  A short true/false quiz is included in the back with a glossary of the bolded text.  This is a good introduction to baby horses with just enough facts to pique the curiosity of young people.

This book demonstrates how to draw nine different animals. Each animal has a four step guide to completion. Each animal has a cute, cartoon appearance.

This version of the story of the Trojan War, Hades, Ruler of the Underworld, tells his version of how Helen was kidnapped which lead to the war. Hades reports that Cupid shoots an arrow at Helen to make her fall in love with Paris and go to Troy with him, leaving her husband Menelaus. The story continues with Menelaus and his army sailing to Troy with mass loss of life, including Achilles and Hector. The concept of the Greeks hiding in the Trojan horse to pass through the gates of Troy to conquer the Trojans resulting in Helen returning to Greece with Menelaus. Modern day items are found in this version, such as TV and a bus. A table of contents, guide to the myths, glossary, discussion questions, writing prompts, and websites pages are included.

Jared lives next to Woodland Cemetery. Jared has nightmares of being dragged by grave robbing ghosts, and then one night the ghosts drag him for real! The grave robbers believe that Jared should be buried in the cemetery, and plan to do just that, until Jared formulates a plan to get rid of those ghosts forever.