Little Sheep was bored and wanted some excitement.  So, to really stir things up, she convinced her mom to knit her a wolf’s costume and let her go to wolf school wearing it.  Some parents really are too lenient.  Anyway, she made a friend at wolf school and was invited to his house for dinner.  Surprise, surprise, when she found her parents tied up and ready to be roasted at Little Wolf’s house.  Unable to hide any longer, Little Sheep confessed to Little Wolf that she was a sheep and dinner was her mom and dad.  He provided a distraction and she and her parents safely escaped.  Happily, Little Sheep did not feel the need for any more excitement.  Great illustrations and certain parts of the text are in very large and bold type print highlighting some important words.  Kind of silly, but kids enjoyed it, and the story really was a good example of being careful what you wish for.

Young readers in the primary grades will enjoy seeing 12″ X 9″ color photos of  big work trucks. Two or three sentences of  large font text on the left are opposite the action photo on the right side of each page spread. The book is divided into three sections: Trucks, Parts of Trucks, and Different Kinds of Trucks.  There is a photo with the cab portion of the semi-truck labeled. The different kinds of trucks include: tow truck, fire, semi-trailer, garbage, flatbed, logging, and monster. This is followed by More Facts, Glossary, Index, and Abdo Kids Code. It is interesting to find that the on-line Abdo Kids Code portion contains 5 of the 9 photos from the book, and the text condensed and paraphrased down from 16 sentences to 4. There are, also, 3 printable activities[ the ‘craft’ is mistakenly a ‘floating boat’], a 1:43 minute video consists of a song counting 20 different types of trucks, and 3 “Learn More” .

Young readers in the primary grades will enjoy seeing 12″ X 9″ color photos of enlarged mosquitoes -yikes . Two or three sentences of  large font text on the left are opposite the photo on the right side of each page spread. The book is divided into three sections: Mosquitoes, Food, and Mosquitoes Help the Earth. There is a photo with the three main body parts outlined and labeled. I found it interesting on pages 16-19, “All mosquitoes eat nectar and plant juices. Only female mosquitoes bite and drink blood. They bite humans and animals.” These last two sentences are opposite a photo of a frog with 7 mosquitoes sitting on it above the water line. This is followed by More Facts, Glossary, Index, and Abdo Kids Code. It is interesting to find that the on-line Abdo Kids Code portion contains 4 of the 9 photos from the book, and the text condensed down from 17 sentences to 7. There are 3 printable activities [one of which is mistakenly an ‘ant’ word search- instead of the ‘craft’ promised], a 3 minute video showing the complete life cycle of a mosquito,  and 3 “Learn More” – the first one has a broken link and another is a somewhat cartoonish though factual video about mosquitoes.

Young readers in the primary grades will enjoy seeing 12″ X 9″ color photos of  wolf spiders in the wild, or maybe not because their photos are about 10 times their actual size. Two or three sentences of  large font text on the left are opposite the photo on the right side of each page spread. This book is definitely more visual than written facts. The book is divided into three sections: Wolf Spiders, Hunting, and Baby Wolf Spiders. This is followed by More Facts, Glossary, Index, and Abdo Kids Code. It is interesting to find that the on-line Abdo Kids Code portion contains 5 of the 9 photos from the book, and the text condensed down from 21 sentences to 5. There are, also, 3 printable activities, a 3.3 minute video, and 3 “Learn More”  two of which are from Oklahoma and  Michigan universities.

The Garbage Gang is a group of six friends who live in the city dump, although only Gordy, a small rhino, is the only living one.  The others are all inanimate.  Gordy is taking a bath when he makes a bubble that pops.    He knows it’s gas, but wonders ‘why does my body make bubbles?’  Then the bubble he made shows up and explains the digestive system, along with a field trip through the system.  There are the usual poop jokes but, actually, the information about why poop is brown, where does the smell come from, the acids and enzymes, are all interesting and factual.  The comics appearance make it easier to digest.  For those kids studying the human body and nutrition, it is a good resource.

The title is true, at least for me.  I need books in my life.  However, this book makes me a little crazy.  There are just too many distractions on each page and my eyes and thoughts were jumping from one image to the next without fully taking in the information.  I found the front and the back of the book the most interesting–the endpapers.  They used these pages to show a timeline of the history of books and to tell about the development of the printed book, without any of the little illustrations–I wish more of the book had this style.  For instance, the part about the burning of books throughout history and the significance of the printed word would make a great print only section.  I also enjoyed the part of how to make paper from papyrus.  I thought it was interesting to find that Don Quixote is the number one selling book.  I guess people were hungry for a good story shortly after the invention of the printing press.  This book had a lot of good ideas, but was a bit too jumbled up for my taste.

The more I look at this book, the more I like it.  First of all, memories of childhood came flooding back after reading the first couple of pages about sibling rivalry.  Got that one right!  Even the facial expressions of the donkey characters reflect their competition as they each try to be first in everything they do.  After a family outing to the river for a picnic, the brother and sister, together, take a different way home, alone.  Not such good things happen to them, such as eating sour berries–there’s a lesson in itself, to falling into a creek bed.  No one got hurt, but without the parents around the competition stopped and was replaced with caring for one another.  This lasted all the way home and throughout the rest of the day.  Even their parents noticed, and as the saying goes….’the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,’ the parents started in on the ‘me first’ bickering.  This is a delightful book with many opportunities for lessons.  The colors are beautiful and the illustrations are reminiscent of Bill Peet’s earlier books.  Great binding.  Even the reverse title page had a phrase which I agree with and appreciate…Copyright fuels creativity …….You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.  This book is a highly recommended purchase for all elementary school libraries.

Young readers in the primary grades will enjoy seeing 12″ X 9″ color photos of  pumas ( mountain lions or cougars) in the wild. Two or three sentences of  large font text on the left are opposite the action photos on the right side of each page spread. The book is divided into four sections: Pumas, Big Cats, Hunting, and Baby Pumas. This is followed by More Facts, Glossary, Index, and Abdo Kids Code. It is interesting to find that the on-line Abdo Kids Code portion contains 5 of the 9 photos from the book, and the text condensed down from 20 sentences to 6. There are, also, 3 printable activities, a 2.5 minute video by National Geographic, and 3 “Learn More” one of which is by the San Diego Zoo.

Young readers in the primary grades will enjoy seeing 12″ X 9″ color photos of  heavy machinery digging dirt. Two or three sentences of  large font text on the left are opposite the action photos on the right side of each page spread. The book is divided into three sections: Excavators, Excavator Parts, and Different Kinds. This is followed by More Facts, Glossary, Index, and Abdo Kids Code. It is interesting to find that the on-line Abdo Kids Code portion contains 5 of the 9 photos from the book, and the text condensed down from 20 sentences to 5. There are, also, 3 printable activities, a 4 minute video, and 3 “Learn More”.

Sara is in 6th grade, rehearsing to be Wendy in the class Peter Pan play, and missing her mother who died a couple of years ago.  She is a lover of cats but not allowed to own one.  She is coming down with the flu and what she really needs is a soft, loving hug.  Her dad, still grieving, is remote.  One particularly lonely night the doorbell rings and in darts a little white kitten.  Fate?  Luck?  Serendipity.  Sara convinces her dad to let it stay until the weekend, hoping to be able to change her dad’s mind about keeping it.  With the help of their neighbor, Mrs. Whittier, Sara tries to help her dad get over his sadness, find out more about her mother, as well as explore her friendship/crush with Garrett, a boy in her class.  Roth weaves a compelling tale of loneliness, loss, and love.  Written in free verse form, each word is well chosen.  The pace is constant as the layers of the story unfold.  This is a story that will stay with you after reading the last word.