North and South America were the last continents to be populated by humans.  So, just how did we get here?  Archeologists have studied artifacts for clues and have many theories.  There are those who believe people migrated across a land bridge from Siberia, or eastern Asia, others believe they came by boat from Japan or southeast Asia, and still others have found connections that support the idea that people journeyed by boat from Europe.  David Harrison shares how archeologists, geologists, anthropologists, and other scientists seek evidence of human activities and put together theories to this, as yet unsolved, mystery.  Photographs, maps, and realistic art illustrate the text.  The quest for traces that will help explain our past is fascinating.  The book includes a glossary of helpful terms, an extensive list of references, photo credits, and an index.  This book presents an excellent look into our past.

A great way to eat healthy foods is to grown them. This book addresses many points a young person should consider when planting a garden.  Choosing the right kind of soil and how to tell, is presented first.  Because some foods grow easily from seeds and some from established plants, suggestions are given.  Next, placement of seeds or plants in the garden are suggested as well as how to tell when it is time to water.  This 32 page book has many useful hints on how to be a successful gardener.  “Signs” of additional facts are found on many pages.  The book is well organized, information is accurate, and the reader is encouraged to ask an adult or check with a garden store if further questions arise.  Text is easily read, illustrations are colorful and are well chosen to support text.  The Abdo Book Links site has many books and recipes.  Also included are a glossary and an index.

The title is a bit misleading because this book gives information on tomatoes – what they are, how to grow them, and how to care for the tomato plant. The font is large and photographs are clear and colorful.  Each photo has labels or additional information.  The book concludes with a  recipe for a cheese and tomato sandwich, a glossary, another book to read, three websites on gardens for children, and an index.  Good information about tomatoes for elementary readers.

The association between the name of Hershey and chocolate is so strong, it is hard to understand Milton Hershey’s first candy business was with caramels.  The highlights of Hershey’s life begin with his birth in 1857 and his first businesses making caramels in Philadelphia, Chicago, and New York.  In 1893, he saw chocolate being made and spent years looking for a correct recipe for his chocolate.  As his businesses grew, he added homes and towns for his employees.  He and his wife established a school for orphand boys.  He provided jobs, gave to charities, supported education, and made aailable cultural opportunities.  Since the camera was invented about the same time of Hershey’s life, most of the photographs are  black and white.  They are well chosen to complement the text.  Included is a timeline, chocolate facts, a glossary, an Abdo website with extra information, and an index.  this biography is an ample introduction to Milton Hershey.  Recommended for libraries.

Young readers learn the basic process of how honey is made starting from when a bee first visits a flower.  The book has bright colors, large close-up photographs and simple text.  A brief glossary includes pronunciation cues.  Also included is an index.

General basic information on volcanoes at best. The color photos were the best part of this book.

As a Washingtonian since the mid 1950s, I could not get past the two errors dealing with the 1980 eruption of Mount Saint Helens. On page 26, it is stated, “Hot ash led to fires.” And on page 27 it states, ” Forests were destroyed by lava, which hardened into rock.” Sorry, but no! The mudflows and the force of the pyroclastic blast / flow leveled and destroyed the forests.  Please check with the U.S. Forest Service.

I , also, take issue with the definition for the word ‘dense’ in the glossary on page 31. The glossary states – “dense heavy compared to other objects of the same size.” The Microsoft Encarta College Dictionary defines dense as, “tightly packed…very thick…”

The old adage – A picture is worth a 1000 words – is certainly true for the spectacular color photos of eight different ‘infamous volcanoes’ erupting, each one distinctly different. Each volcano is accompanied by a paragraph of text dealing with the when, where, and what of each.

The XTREME FACTS factoid/trivia found on each 2-page spread takes this volcano book from plain facts to awesome dramatic facts!

George Beard & Harold Hutchins have written yet another book much to the displeasure of their school principal. As a teacher-librarian, I don’t particularly mind the use of bathroom humor (pee, doo-doo, toilet paper, & poop), if it gets the usual non-readers, especially boys, to read, but their principal. George and Harold’s third epic novel has plenty of it,too. It, also, has quite a few phonetically spelled words: unforchenetly, invenchon, rearanging,  and new clear power plant. But George and Harold did write it themselves and without the use of computers either, from the look of the of the hand-written text. Thanks to  George and Harold, I won’t be able to look at cases of disposable diapers again in Costco without (giggling and) recalling the towns people using them when all of the toilets were stolen, THENCE the title of the book.

Includes 10 flip-o-rama animated cartoons.

Mike Thaler, once again, has Hubie all in a tither because ” I have to take a computer class this year.” Hubie’s imagination runs wild over over all the computer terms he’s heard: cursor, bites, lock & keypad, boots, monitors, pixels, ram, search engines, computer crashes, The Hacker & The BLOG,  and virus to name a few. “It all sounds very dangerous to me.”  Reality sets in on the last five pages as Hubie begins his computer class with his wonderfully friendly/helpful teacher Miss Pluggins.

I especially loved Jared Lee’s illustration of Hubie in a STAR WARS scene to accompany Thaler’s text “… or fly into hyperlink and hang out at a space bar.”

This short book gives the quintessential dates and mandates behind the battles the reader usually thinks about  dealing with World War II. Four chapters follow the Setting the Scene: The Last War? : Ch. 1 – The Beginning, Ch. 2 – The European Theater, Ch. 3 –  The Home Front,  Ch. 4 – War in the Pacific, followed by Map of the Events – What Happened Where? , The Story Continues: New World Powers, and Influential Individuals, Timeline*, Living History, Resources, Glossary, Index.

The concise timeline* helped but events in order from Europe to Japan to Pearl Harbor to Europe and back to Japan. This book filled in some missing pieces for me. Example: In 1941, Roosevelt and Churchill agreed to “Europe first… defeating Germany first. They would then move on to Italy and Japan.”  And how many days between  dropping the first atomic bomb, the second atomic bomb, and the Japanese surrender.