Wow!  Was I surprised when I read this book–I loved it!  The language is simple and just right for beginning readers.  The illustrations are clever and colorful.  The storyline is exciting and funny.  This is a great book for kids who haved learned some basic sight words and phonics to begin their lifelong love of reading.  I will be sure to add the other books in the series to my school library.

South Pacific Mythology is a very well-written and put together book.  The reader will learn that the South Pacific is called Oceania, and that is divided into four main regions.  Each region is composed of several islands and cultures.  What is interesting is that although the regions are near each other and share many characteristics, the myths of each culture is different and not many, if any, overlap.  Another interesting point is how South Pacific mythology differs from other cultures, such as, Gods are created out of nothingness.    In other aspects, this book has a distinct color palette of earth tones running through it.  There is also an upper and lower border along each page using an Aboriginal pattern which unifies the book.  Each chapter encompasses two complete pages, defining the origins of the myths, giving an example, and using a visual graphic.  This is a complete book of mythology and should be included in every school library’s mythology section, along with the Greek and Roman mythology.

“Showoff” is book 4 in the Griffin Bing series, so fans of “Swindle,” “Zoobreak,” and “Framed” will be excited there is more to come.  The venue is  a Mall Dog Show, where chaos erupts with Luther ruining the chances for 3-time winner, Electra, of defending her title in the upcoming Global competition.  The boys devise a plan of turning Luther into a prizewinning show dog in order to raise the money to cover the lawsuit expenses.

Dog-lovers will be amused by this romp.  I think this book is best-suited for an elementary school library.

The Comanche were pretty fearsome people.  They raided and fought both other Native American Indian tribes as well as the white man.  From an early age, boys were trained to become warriors.  This book has a couple of  ‘Comanche Facts’ interspersed, one of which, Quanah Parker (his mother was white and named Parker, and his father was a Comanche chief), is interesting and should be given more respect than given.  His name isn’t even in the back section of  ‘On the Web’ which gives more websites to find further information.  so why bother even giving his name in a fact?  Yes, kids love the military and warriors, but let’s give them some interesting and complete information instead of just showing them pictures of weapons.  This book seems very incomplete to me and not worth the high price.

This book highlights the African Zulu tribe’s fighting weapons and techniques.  The book begins by stating that in the late 1700’s, Shaka Zulu rose to power.  Not so.  Shaka was born in 1787 and was the son of the Zulu chief.  However, when Shaka was six years old, his father sent both him and his mother back to her tribe in shame.  Shaka hated his father.  It was in 1815 when the chief died that Shaka went back to the Zulus, killed most of his relatives, and began building the Zulu empire, using great military organizational skill.  He was ruthless and reigned with terror.  His mother died in 1827 and he was devastated, became depressed, and made several tactical errors.  A year later,in 1828, he was assassinated by two half-brothers.  This book doesn’t speak to any of these facts, but leads the reader to believe that Shaka ruled for many years, until defeated by the British.  It’s an interesting subject but so much has been left out that the facts that are there are skewed.  There would be so much more to say about the warriors than the little that was mentioned here.  Not worth the expense.

Marley and her best friends, Leah and Jane, have a long-standing tradition of surprise water-balloon attacks — one surprise attack allowed per year.  They also love to play Monopoly, using their own, revised rules.  It’s this long-term, BFF friendship that’s at stake when Marley’s parents split up.  Her life crumbles as she is to spend the summer at her Dad’s; Dad has arranged for her to spend the summer babysitting bratty twins.  Marley loses her entire support group when her best friends dump her for their thespian friends.

Author Audrey Vernick manages to add plenty of humor and tender moments to keep the dismal storyline going.  As can be predicted, Marley and her father bond by the end of the summer, with Dad saying, “We’ve been helping each other get through a really difficult time. I’m not sure you realize that you’ve been helping me a lot too….I never pictured there being any genuine up-side to being in this situation, but I think it’ll give us a chance to get to know each other in a different way, a meaningful one.”

This proves to be true.  Marley and her father’s relationship is strengthened because of the divorce.  A budding romance with her neighbor, Jack, and “taming the twins” also give Marley inner strength.

Butterflies and moths are much alike.  This very informative book compares differences in wing color, time of most activity, their look at rest, body shape, antennas, and the process of changing from caterpillar to adult.  Also discussed, are the many ways in which they are similar.  There is a short quiz and additional facts in the back with a glossary, index, and suggested books for further reading.

This is the most recent of Amelia’s notebooks.  Amelia has two best friends – Nadia, from her old home in California, and Carly, at her new home in Oregon.  When Nadia comes for a visit, Amelia expects her best friends to like each other.  They don’t.  Amelia doesn’t understand why and feels caught in the middle.  The hand-lettered text, doodles, conversation bubbles, and side notes give the feel of a real journal.  Although the setting is middle school, the focus on friendship is appropriate for elementary as well.  It contains a good message on how many problems with friends are made, and can be solved, with words.

Josh Gregory gives a concise summary of the events that lead up to, and leaders who shared in, one of the pivotal conflicts of the Civil War.  He provides an unbiased look at both Union and Confederate leaders and decisions.  After descriptions of events, a map is included to illustrate the proceedings of the three day battle.  The layout is pleasing and attention getting.  Every page has an illustration or an additional information box.  Although the reader level is about 6th grade, learners from upper elementary to middle school will find useful information.  Included are two pages of influential people, a timeline, internet links to primary sources, books, websites, a glossary, and a comprehensive index.

Beginning with two True/False statements, each chapter also presents a question which will be answered within the book.  The Wampanoag, who settled in what is now Rhode Island and eastern Massachusetts, are among the earliest to live in North America.  Wampanoag sachem, or chief, Massasoit was leader when pilgrims arrived in the fall of 1620.   Another known Wampanoag, Squanto, had been captured in 1614, taken to Spain, worked for a shipbuilder in London where he learned English, and then returned to America in 1619.   Squanto, helped the pilgrims survive their first winter.   Although the book’s focus is on the Wampanoag people, the information presented is disjointed and confusing.  One illustration and caption of Pequots is never explained in the text.  Today, modern Wampanoag people value their history and are working to preserve their native language and traditions.