Taking a trip to the pumpkin patch?  Don’t go without first reading this story-in-rhyme count down book on the whole field trip experience.  Start with counting down from 20 name tags…17 orange things on the bus…12 pets in the petting zoo…11 bees are making honey (I’ve never seen a hive that sparse.)… three bites of pumpkin pie…one pumpkin song to sing.  And what well known count down song do all adults know?…99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall…of course!  (Twenty Pumpkin Pies on the Wall)   Bright and lively illustrations complete with corn maize and tractor wagon ride, will appeal to the the kindergarten and first grade crowd.

Aunt Amarga, the last witch on earth, is afraid that some of the secrets of the lives of witches will be lost if she does not hand over the Witches Handbook to to her niece and nephew.  “What is a witch or a warlock?  begins the handbook, but then  the flow quickly shifts from a question format to a rather large section (most of the book) on describing famous witches and warlocks from fairytales  (Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel and Merlin) in “tongue in cheek” fashion.  Twice as many Unknown Witches and Warlocks are described using sophisticated humor.   Switch back to question format for “When were there more witches?”  Shift again to a discussion of brooms and flying styles, witches and animals, potions and spells, Halloween and the witches’ sabbat.  Back matter includes a a word search, riddles, spot the seven differences, and spell-removing pancakes.  I think this book misses its intended audience with it’s more adult word choice, and pages and pages describing unknown witches and warlocks.  The lack of flow and odd mixture of content reminds me of what might be thrown into a witches caldron…a little this…”eye of newt”…and a little of that…”toe of frog.”  Whimsical and colorful illustrations are charming and kid appealing.

Large sized, nonfiction book, with quality photographs make this book about alligators, a winner.   Basic information about habitat, birth cycle, and thankfully a world map locating them on our planet, and included in this book.  In the back an index, glossary, and Fact Hound internet sites exist.  In visiting this site, there was age relevant additional information about this animal.  This is a really nice extension for students wising to research more information about this animal.

Recommended for elementary  libraries.

Very Large photographs make this book a great addition to a library.   This would make a good read out-loud book, shared with a whole group.  The book is organized to be read as an interactive game.  The picture of an animal’s habitat on one side, and four photos of animals on the other.  There is a hint to help the reader (s) guess which animal lives there.

This would make a great support book for a science unit on animal habitats.

Top quality photography in this non-fictional book with information about the smallest bats and the biggest bats.  Sandra Markle’s narration of information is also top quality.  This information book may be read successfully by students on about a 4th grade reading level.

This book come with additional captions, a map of where the species live (thank you, this is crucial to global awareness), vocabulary terms, additional information, and websites in the back.  Recommended.

Apparently mermaids are just like fairies, except they live in the sea.  Jasmine and her four friends hear the story of a lovestruck mermaid named Aroona who fell in love with a human.  Aroona made the decision to leave her mermaid life behind and become human in order to be with her true love.  On her way to meet him, she stopped to get her treasure chest full of jewels, and was caught in a terrible storm.  She was never seen again and her true love left with a broken heart.  The legend goes that there is a scale trail which leads to where Aroona left the chest.  The mermaid friends think it would be fun to try to find the treasure, and so off they go exploring.  They find a shiny scale trail which leads to a mermaid holding a chest.  However, it’s just Jasmine playing a trick on them.  They didn’t think it was funny and left.  However, Jasmine discovers some old scales and follows them and finds the real treasure chest.  Before she can get back home, a storm comes up and traps her.  Meanwhile her friends feel bad that they left her alone with a storm brewing, so they go to find her.  They do and everyone is safe and the jewels end up in the Underwater Garden.  Oriented towards young girls, they will enjoy reading about the mermaids.  Simple story, simple dialogue, simple pictures, but enjoyable.

I cannot figure out if I like this book because it is so well written or because of a parental point-of-view.  Like most typical third-graders, Zeke and his friends and classmates are addicted to monitors, be it TV or video games.    Much of their conversations and sayings stem from TV show characters or video game characters; not too many original thoughts swirling around.  Their teachers challenge the students to not watch TV nor play video games for one week–the most cruel punishment ever!  And what delighted me was that the parents supported it!  (I really think that’s the most unrealistic part of the story.)  Kids found that they actually enjoyed playing with friends, family interactions, and learning how to entertain themselves.  Behavior improved as well as grades, all because of no TV.  I’ve often tried this at my home with my three sons, but it was my husband who couldn’t tear himself away from ESPN.  And there it went–poof!  If he could do it, so could they.  This story is humorous as well as the illustrations.  I’m interested to see if kids read and like this book and actually take this message to heart.

This is a very up to date book about the state of Washington, and interesting facts about it’s people, places, and products.

It is easy to read, has nice pictures, and clearly written facts about the state.

Nice addition to our geography collection.

This is a simple interesting explanation of how we obtain the material for, and then make a car.  It has detailed actual photos of the processes taking place.  The font is easy to read, with a simple vocabulary young people can understand.

The book is interesting and informative.

This story is creative and fun.  It teaches a lot about the fun of using your imagination.  I liked the way the boy with t he box includes everyone, even the boy who was showing off.

The font changes when the characters are talking, however the choice of font style is somewhat hard to read and fairly small in places.

The pictures are interesting and unique.

This is a good read for children!