In Sorghaghtani of Mongolia, the reader learns about the large amounts of power wielded by one woman during the most famous period in the history of the Mongolian empire.  Sorghaghtani was the daughter-in-law of Genghis Khan, and the mother of Kublai Khan.  During key shifts in power, she used her considerable influence over the Khans to change history.  This title includes information about Mongolian culture alongside the narrative telling Sorghaghtani’s story.

Unfortunately, this title has two major drawbacks.  First and foremost, the book does not include any kind of finding aids or reference information.  There is no index or help for finding more information about Mongolia or Sorghaghtani.  Worse, there is not even any information about where the author got her information.  The second problem is that after one reading, the hardback binding was already splitting in a few places.  This does not bode well for library use.

This story needs to be told.  Unfortunately, the weaknesses of this title overwhelm that strength and make this an additional purchase for libraries.

Stickman Odyssey is not Homer’s epic in sequential doodle form.  Instead, it’s a whole new story, rife with monsters, characters, and settings that would be no surprise in an actual ancient tale.  The hero, Zozimos, is silly and flawed, in the company of many modern children’s book characters.  The story ricochets from setting to setting, never letting up on the action.  It is a story which will captivate readers with its effective mix of modern humor and ancient mood.

DC Comics author, Paul Weissburg, weaves a story without using the graphic novel format in five short chapters. Weissburg’s story does team up with DC Comics, Luciano Vecchio, to include ten full-color comic illustrations intermingled throughout the story. These illustrations will NOT disappoint comic officiandoes.

In disguise, Batman has been tailing villain Matches Malone on the subway of Gotham City. BUT before Batman can apprehend Matches, he and Robin save two children from a burning building. Then, Batman captures Matches and disguises himself as Matches so he can infiltrate the First Annual Super-Villain Crime Convention.

Batman’s disguise is working, but he forgets to make Match Malone’s annoying small talk as he circulates through the villains at the convention. Batman pushes the Penguin out of harms way from a falling display blowing his cover. Batman is catch and placed inside the Death Trap with water bubbling up to his head as the crowd of convention villains watch. Robin helps save the day by turning off the city’s power grid, thus releasing Batman from the Death Trap. In the dark Batman was able to out smart the super villains and leave “with the Cosmic Annihilator in Tow.” Mission accomplished.

This design of this book is an encyclopedia format, with pictures and captions about different categories of outer space.  This includes our sun, planets, earth, moon, space rocks, snowballs in space, our Milky Way Galaxy, and other galaxies.  There are small, condensed pieces of information while offering additional websites in the back, and other book recommendations.  This would make a nice additional book for a collection.

Tony Baloney is an animated penguin with human characteristics.  He is new to school and excited to be away from his bossy, older sister and mother and prove himself in the classroom.  Unfortunetly, Tony doesn’t understand the rules at school and makes many mistakes.  Luckily for him, he has his favorite stuffed animal friend with him.  It’s always good to have someone to talk to.

Recommended for primary readers and beginning chapter book readers.  Great illustrations, color, and formatting make this a charming book for students who have begun their school career!

Wonderful, larger sized picture book which will handle well when sharing with students!  Real photographs of the people, food, landforms and the great wall.  Three sentences per page/topic make this a great book to use with PrK-2 graders.  Facts. a glossary, intenet sites and an index are located in the back.  This review checked the websites and found a quality selection of the History Channel, National Geographic for Kids, and Fact Monster.  Although the history channel may be higher than the intended K-2 audience, it would give the teacher or parent background information about the book before sharing it.  Recommended for primary.

I was quite surprised to learn how far back actual stamped coins dated back.  I would not have thought that ancient civilizations would have had the ability to mine and melt precious metals, and then mint coins with words, dates, and images.  I am also amazed at how recently paper money has existed.  This book is full of interesting history about currency.  We all use money so it makes it relevant.

In this series, it seems that they have taken traditional fairy tales with human characters and substituted animals.  For me, personally, Little Red Riding Duck doesn’t seem to work.  One reason is that the large size of the wolf and the small size of the duck doesn’t make it as believable because, of course, when duck comes to gramma’s house the wolf is way too big to be mistaken for gramma.  Also, duck waddles out yelling, but wouldn’t you expect the wolf to be able to catch her easily.  The beaver, the woodcutter, is even smaller, but is still able to fend off the wolf.  For these reasons, it doesn’t work for me.  I would only read this version to preschoolers whom I don’t want to frighten.  Any older children would question the story.

Cats are smart, that’s for sure.  However, Suzy Baggots, the family cat, certainly knows how to get and do what she wants.  She jumps up and grabs food off of the table, piddles in golf bags, poos in chairs, tears up furniture and curtains, and gets hair all over everything.  And still she doesn’t get tossed out of the house.  Then one day, Suzy stops eating, stops drinking, and lies listlessly on the bed.  The family is beside themselves with grief and sadness, anticipating the worst.  If the family knew it was all a ploy, the worst would happen to Suzy.  But it’s all a lesson for the family to realize how much they love her.  Lets just hope that the kids who read this book aren’t as smart as cats and won’t try the same thing.

The Selfish Giant was originally published in 1888 and has been re-illustrated many times since then.  In this particular edition, the illustrator is Ritva Voutila, a Finnish artist.  The illustrations are mellow and muted and somewhat dark, pretty much reflecting the story.  Color stands out in parts where the children are featured.  However, the story can hold many meanings and can be used in various ways.  It could be a story of understanding and forgiveness, of life and joy, and also a story of Jesus and hope.  This book wouldn’t work for a classroom read aloud, but more of a one-on-one story time so that each page can be given the time it needs to understand.