Jeffrey Bones is a detective (think Nate the Great) and solves mysteries.  In this particular episode, he helps the clown at his friend’s birthday party find her missing clothes by using deductive reasoning.  Kids learning to independently read will enjoy being able to read this story.  The type is clear and large, the illustrations are simple and attractive (not too distracting), and the mystery might stump them.  It just depends on how good their deductive reasoning is.

For those interested in learning more about mythology, Egyptian Mythology is a good place to start.  First of all, the book is designed very well and is easy to follow.  There is a clear Table of Contents, Glossary, and Index.  The ratio between text and graphics is about 40/60.  The photo captions nicely explain the graphics, as well as restating what was in the text.  What amazed me was the overlap between Egyptian and Greek mythology.  Also, there are so many ‘current’ stories which are versions of myths.  All students who love mythology will find this book intriguing.

I loved this bedtime swashbuckler!  This clever and richly illustrated picture book captures the imagination as we follow little Charlotte Jane’s early years as the young child of a pirate couple.  Well loved by doting parents, Charlotte lives life to the fullest squeezing all the juice out of every day.  However, she declares, “bedtime is not juicy”.  So after staying up all night, she’s exhausted and can’t swash buckle at all!  Her Mom and Dad help her look for her oomph but it is no where to be found until Charlotte finally crawls into her hammock for some dreamy adventures.  The illustrations are gorgeous and detailed, causing me to pause to look carefully at each page to soak it all in.  The perfect bed time story book for young elementary students, I will recommend this one at check out time.

Elmer the patchwork elephant saves the day again with this latest story in the series.  A little elephant in a torn superhero costume asks for help to repair his suit.  Elmer leads him past everyone without being spotted to old Aunt Zelda who sews up the tears and sends Super El on his way for more superhero adventures.  A sweet and fun story with colorful and bright illustrations and lots of cheerful animals to capture young imaginations.

Elmer is a darling patchwork elephant who is featured in this series.  It’s Christmastime in this story and Elmer is in charge of all the young elephants on a walk up the mountain to choose a Christmas tree while the adults wrap gifts for Papa Red (elephant Santa).  That night, Papa Red arrives to pick up the gifts in his sleigh so he can deliver them to those who need them.  The young elephants are thrilled to watch him from behind the bushes and fall asleep only to find a gift tucked next to them in the morning.  Cute and fun, colorful and sweet, young ones should enjoy this twist on the Santa story.

This is a really interesting 32 page non-fiction book featuring 10 of the tallest and most amazing skyscrapers in the world.  Filled with large and beautiful photographs of these buildings, the reader gets a birds-eye view.  Each page has just enough interesting and unique facts to keep the reader’s interest.  The page layout and graphics make a pleasing and easy to read format.  All can be summed up in my 12 year-old son’s comment, “This is a cool book!”.   The ATOS level 5.9 (.5 pts) is a good match with the material’s target interest level (3rd – 6th gr).

Like the sport books by Orca Publishing, this short novel will appeal to reluctant boy readers who want an easy-to-read book featuring older characters.  17-year old Sammy is usually the hardest-hitting member of his baseball team.  However, when his team signs up for a wooden-bat only tournament, Sammy finds himself in a hitting slump, unable to get his timing down with a different-weight bat.  No one is harder on him than himself, frustrated and hot-headed over his inability to hit.  The temptation to use performance-enhancing drugs is strong, especially by  Sammy’s dad.  Sammy, however, finds other ways to impress the scouts.

This is a wonderful book for young children about penguins.  The pictures are beautiful and clear.  The vocabulary is easy to understand, and the book has a simple glossary at the end.  The book reads quickly and is informative and interesting.

I thought this book was going to be about a spoiled little girl, and was pleasantly surprised that she was kind, hard working, and able to make a good situation out of her disappointment.  It was sweet and thoughtful.  The pictures add to the wonderful personality of the story.  A fun story for young children.

This graphic novel brings together many super heroes, and some villians, and aliens.  It was somewhat confusing trying to keep the past and present straight.

This book is a fast read for third or fourth graders.  a great book for comic lovers.