This 7.5″ X 6.25″ book opens with a photo of the blue sky, a few clouds, and the sun  opposite the word “day”. Turn the page, photo of a black sky with a full moon opposite the word “night”. Turn the page again, the reader sees a ferris wheel in the day time opposite the word  “day”, followed on the next page by a similar ferris night lit up against a nighttime sky opposite the word ” night”. This continues three more times with a mother and child, a house, and a child. The people , locations, and objects in the offerings  of day and night are not the same. Only the concept of light for day and dark for night are totally consistent.

The story begins in August with the celebration of 5 year-old Nell’s birthday.  ”  ‘ When will my birthday come back?’

‘ The holidays,’ said Mom, ‘will help you keep track.

There’s one every month, except sometimes there’s two.

They’ll help pass the time between birthdays for you!’   ”

Each month is signaled to the reader by a little flag inset on the page. The story told in rhyme tells of an activity Nell associates with the holiday.

September – Labor Day, October- Halloween, November – Thanksgiving, December – Christmas, January- New Year’s, February – Valentine’s Day, March Saint Patrick’s Day, April – Easter, May – Mother’s Day & Memorial Day, June Father’s Day,  July – 4th of July, and back to Nell’s birthday in August followed shortly by a Monday barbecue (Labor Day).

Tom Mills’ illustrations are cute and humorous in this book of clues about things associated with  Halloween by Anne Margaret Lewis.

Clues appear on the left page, with the response hidden under a fold on the right side. The  fold  reads, “What am I? What could I be?”

Includes: spooky ghost, friendly witch, pumpkin, funny bat, silly scarecrow, owl, happy monster, black cat, skeleton, busy little spider, and a trick-or-treater.

The last page spread has all eleven items shown with the text, ” What am I? What could I be? I am Halloween. That’s me!”

Printed on sturdy paper stock.

Clues appear on the left page with the response hidden under a fold on the right side under the questions, “What am I? What could I be?” The two page spread illustration has just enough showing at the seam (about an inch) to help the reader guess before opening the folded page.

Includes: Christmas tree, Christmas angel, gingerbread man, Christmas wreath, reindeer,  Christmas stocking, snowman,Christmas present, Christmas elf, candy cane, and Santa Claus.

The last page has all eleven items shown with text,”What am I? What could I be? I am Christmas. That’s me!”

Printed on sturdy paper stock.

Copyright 2011 publications on the planets and space, can be confusing at best.  This text covers eight planets, four dwarf planets and and the asteroid belt.  Another 2011 publication, in my library, is titled…13 Planets. Suffice it to say that the planets in this text definitely do exist, even though there may be more out there!  Each two page spread covers a planet with cryptic, yet highly interesting facts.  I like having a resource that quickly facilitates comparison of the planets.  Gorgeous photographs and insets are prominent on each page.  The Planet Venus page shows a thermometer and the relative planet temperatures, with Venus being the hottest at 800 degrees fahrenheit. Another extreme fact explains why the sun and the moon look about the same size, as viewed from the earth.  Primary patrons will appreciate this quick reference with it’s wonderful visuals.

This is a large picture book with fabulous cartoon type illustrations by Chris Gall.  It’s the humorous accounting of a day in the classroom at a school where the regular teacher doesn’t show up, and instead, a substitute.  This is no ordinary substitute teacher, it’s actually a substitute creacher.  (The “T” in teacher was erased from the blackboard and a “Cr” was added to the remainder of the word).  This substitute creacher has eyes in the back of his head, appears to be somework of space alien.  The creacher warns the kids with tales of doom regarding previous misbehaving students.  Then he tells the story of a bully who stole Halloween candy from a magical gnome and the gnome cursed him with forever looking like the “creacher” his was dressed up as.  Yes, it was the teacher himself! The students feel sorry for the substitute and he passes out candy to make up for his error and on the way home offers one to an elderly man, who happens to be the gnome.  All is forgiven and the creacher transforms back into a boy and returns to his childhood home.

Contains 7 mini-chapters (usually of 1 – 3 paragraphs) : Xtreme Werewolves, Werewolf History, Becoming a Werewolf, Strengths and Weaknesses, Real-Life Werewolves, Werewolf Movies, and Werewolf Games. This book will treat the eye more than the intellect with its large amount of graphics in comparison to the amount of text.

A few points of interest: a person can become a werewolf during a full moon, by being bitten by a werewolf, or by being cursed. Zeus , in ancient Greece, turned a man into a wolf, “In 1764 King Louis XV [of France] sent troops to kill the Beast of G`evaudau…” , and in 1590, a serial killer said he was a werewolf.

Some words of interest from the index include: lycanthrope, clinical lycanthrophy, hypertrichosis, Jo-Jo the Dog-Face Boy, shape-shifter, and wolfsbane.

Dog “doings” cover the gamut of dog breed/personality types and behavior through intensely bold, crisp, clean, comic-style illustrations and terse rhyming text. Each page illustrates a dog you have known…”Dog inspecting/Dog protecting/Dog that knows the way to guide/Dog that knows just where to hide/Dog in a chase/Dog in disgrace”.  Primary readers, many of which who adore dog books, will pour over these pages, again and again, riveting to the pictures and the stories they tell about beloved dogs.  Beginning readers will find easy success in learning to “read” these pages back to their parents, after a few ‘run-throughs’.  I wish I had a video of my six month old granddaughter totally engrossed in my reading of this book to her.  She couldn’t take her eyes off the pages.

Cheese loving mice Horace, Morris, and Dolores live and breathe cheese until Dolores suddenly becomes allergic to it before the 1st Annual Everything Cheese Festival. Dolores and her mother work hard to become cheese-free. In the end, Dolores becomes a cheese-free gourmet after one last allergy attack brought on by the temptation of the upcoming Everything Cheese Festival.

Amy Walrod’s “cheesy” illustrations make this book a visual delight: Movie posters  of “Gorgonzola’s Revenge” and “Dr. Cheddar and Mr. Hyde” outside of the Muenster Movie Madness theater, an orange cheese ball machine (instead of the usual gumball machine), Delores’ x-ray full of wedges of cheese, a cafe’ with tables made of giant wheels of cheese, and sitting around a cheese fondue pot under the night stars.

On the heals of a very successful crowd pleaser, Rhyming Dust Bunnies, comes  Here comes the big, mean dust bunnies! Although the sequel lacks the punch of the first book, primary kids will still enjoy this clever take on bullies.  The rhyming text affords the elementary teacher a place to take off on an exploration of rhyming words and or “family words”.  The bold, comical illustrations gravitate children to these humarous books!  Be sure you read them in order!!