Bot Wars is a look into the future in which robots play an important role.  As they do now, robots are used for everything, but even more so.  They were affordable and so many people had them.  Kind of similar to cars and computers now.  The custom was to work the robots until they wore out and then dispose of them.  Then someone came up with the idea and invention of a ‘think chip’ which was implanted into each robot.  This enabled the robot to become more human.  Almost too human.  Now they had opinions and were demanding civil ‘rights.’  Many people wanted the think chips removed, but not the robots.  The country became divided and war ensued: one side wanting the old robots back and one side supporting the new robots.  The government sided with the first.  In this story, the small family of a father and two sons support the bots.  The oldest son lost his leg in the war and the father has long since disappeared since going to fight.  Apparently the long-lost father is the leader of the rebellion of the bots.  During the fighting he became severely injured and was repaired by the bots using bot parts and is now mostly bot himself.  The relationships in the story are interesting, the politics are maddening, and the science fiction abilities are fascinating.  The story line moves along quickly, and the characters are well developed.  My only criticism is the repeated use of the words ‘wrenched’  and ‘geared.’  Old words with new meaning.  This disrupted the otherwise smooth language.

Daisy loved doing a lot of things.  One day her teacher told the class that they were going to write sentences about animals.  The twist was that all the words had to start with the same letter or sound as the animal’s name.  It’s call alliteration.  Daisy thought the sentences were fabulous!

This is a cute book about alliteration and Daisy trying to get the boy next door to quite calling her Lazy Daisy.  She came up with, Dynamite Dramatic Determined Dazzling Daisy.  But that turned out to be a problem.

Ty is a seven year-old boy who comes up with some strange ideas. Like battling the cat with the dust buster or bring  a baby penguin home from the zoo in his backpack.  Ty is not so sure he likes his new baby sister Maggie because she takes up all of Mom’s time.

Ty’s biggest problem is now that he has a penguin in his house what to do with it.  His sister’s help him try to get it back to the zoo without Mom knowing what is going on.

In this ninth epic novel by Dav Pilkey, George and Harold explain how they were sentenced to 10 years in Piqua State Penitentiary with Warden Schmorden from the previous novel. George and Harold then proceed to tell [in chapters 3-8] what happened there with Tippy Tinkletrouser in charge of making a BIG ‘statue’ for the penitentiary’ 10th anniversary. Along the way, ” ‘ That ridiculous super hero foiled my plot to take over the planet and enslave humanity!’ shouted Tippy. ‘He’s the reason I got locked up!’ ”

The sophomoric, slap-stick humor coyfully continues as George and Harold tell of how they first met back in kindergarten while outwitting the principal’s bullying 6th grade nephew.

Chapter Twelve – The Incredibly Graphic Violence Chapter (in Flip-O-Rama)  : Indiana George and the Tie of Doom is my favorite of all time, because I was able to do my best flipping of all time, with this action sequence!

Chapters 17-27 are quite ingenious, intriguing as to how kindergarteners George and Harold outsmart the 6th grade bully using his own school locker!

In the end, Tippy Tinkletrouser has gone back in time, changed the course of history and there may never be another Captain Underpants adventure because of it.

This ninth novel has a higher reading level than the first seven novels in the series and 100+ more pages than any on the other novels in this series.

Sean Price gives us the most basic and general of information on the causes and effects of water pollution created by human activity. Causes include farms’: animal waste, fertilizers and pesticides; industrial waste dumping; and human residential sewage.

The water pollution is talked about from past history to the present as causing health problems for wild life and humans including: diseases, such as, cholera and ‘dead zones’ were plant and/or animal life have been poisoned to extinction in specific areas.

The creation and need for the EPA is discussed.

There are 7 insets entitled ‘Eye-openers’ and 6 entitled ‘Question Time’ sprinkled throughout the 32 pages of this book, as well as, 6 diagrams and graphs. The Eye-openers give additional information and the Question Time sections give further explanation to the information introduced on that page.

This book believes in the saying a picture is worth a thousand words. There are pictures on every page.

The Table of Contents lists “Where to Find Out More” on page 31, but this section is missing.

Bully Bean is mean.  Lima Bear, the only one who is green, seems to be Bully Bean’s favorite target.  When Bully Bean gets trapped, it is Lima who brings help. After watching how hard everyone worked to free him, Bully Bean realizes his large size and great strength could be a huge help to all in Beandom.  Being kind is much more rewarding than being a bully.  In the back are extended learning activities, an pictorial list of additional Beandom books, and brief comments from approving readers.  Each book teaches lessons on tolerance, honesty, courage, and working together to help children learn how to handle common situations.

Tallulah loves ballet and is frustrated when told she cannot have toe shoes until her feet stop growing.  She admires the older ballerinas dancing en pointe and steals a discarded pair of shoes.  Determined to be the youngest dancer en pointe, Tallulah struggles to look graceful.  Her feet quickly become hot and painful.  As she reluctantly returns the shoes to the wastebasket, the previous owner sees her.  She tells Tallulah she understands but with practice and time, Tallulah, too, will probably dance en pointe.  Tallulah’s dreams get a dose of reality but this does not diminish her determination.  Those who love ballet will also enjoy Tallulah’s Tutu and Tallulah’s Solo.  Illustrations are pastel watercolor which complements this topic.

Rebecca Brown returns to New Orleans for spring break. It is here that she meets a ghost from the 1800’s who, as a boy, was to deliver a locket with a mini painting within it which was created by the famous painter, Degas. Unfortunately the boy was killed, dropping the locket between floorboards of a house. Rebecca is determined to recover the locket and deliver it to a descendant of Degas. It turns out, danger is around every corner. The locket is guarded by a dangerous ghost who was the original killer, a bully who repeatedly threatens Rebecca and her friends, and the house with the concealed locket is boarded up, scheduled for destruction. With the help of another friendly ghost and several friends, Rebecca cleverly tricks the dangerous ghost and bully, successfully fulfilling her mission. The second book in the series, this book is entertaining, filled with suspense, danger and relationships.

Chapter One finds young (12 yr.) Max trying to escape from chains wrapped around his chest while water in rising inside  the tank he is in. Jonny Zucker, authors this fast paced action thriller and Ned Woodman’s black, white, and gray illustrations keep the reader on the edge of their seat all the way to the last page!

Max Flash’s parents are stage magicians who have trained their son well. Max is a “first-class escape artist, contortionist, and illusionist.” Max’s escape in chapter one has just qualified him for his first mission with DFEA – Department for Extraordinary Activity. Max is being asked by DFEA to enter the computer game world (inside the computer) and close a portal which a virtual game character is about to use to take over the real world using virtual world warriors. Max is given little time to prepare, but he is familiar with the computer games he is about to enter. Max narrowly escapes back into the real world from the virtual world as the portal is closing by using his contortionist skills.

As this book ends, Max is preparing for his second mission. So far, there are 6 missions.

Includes a Houdini Fact File.

TYPO on page 108,  line 4. ” Max kicked his the bars of the cage in frustration.”

The Gift is more of a book of art, with a gentle story, more than anything else.  The illustrations for the book are all done using a paper cutting technique from one single sheet of paper.  They are so finely detailed it is quite impressive to turn from page to page to see the various events of the storyline play out.  The story is a gentle story, but I’m not sure who is the audience for this book.  The story begins as a young girl sits in a clearing in the woods, making a flower chain, wishing she could be buried her when she is dead.  What?  Do little girls really think that?  She grows and goes through life, always coming back to the clearing, making it more beautiful by adding seeds and bulbs.  She is finally through with her life and her wish (The Gift?) comes true.  Just thinking that this is the place she wants to be buried when dead throws a pall over the story, even though her life is joyful.  I would have thought that as a young girl she would wish that she could build a house and live in the clearing.  So…the story I’m not so sure about, nor does it work as a read aloud.  But the artwork is absolutely beautiful.