“Palominos are not a true breed. Instead, they are a color type… occur in many different horse breeds… most are classified as light horses.” Since palominos are not a breed, the book gives general information on “Care”, “Feeding”, tack, growing from birth, and training after it talks about palomino horses’ coloring and markings.

Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, meets up with his father, in Africa, after 30 years apart, only to have him snatched away by scientist- Frederick Kiber who’s been working on teleportation. Tony is able to rescue his father, save the day, and keep his secret identity for awhile longer.

An action packed graphic novel with some higher level vocabulary to boot.

This book is fascinating!  Bredeson has done a terrific job in explaining health, disease, and medical practices done during the Middle Ages.  The explanations are short, to the point, in easy to understand language, and totally entertaining.  The accompanying illustrations are equally well done.  In order to get kids hooked on history, this book should be in all school libraries.

The subtitle for this book is “Bizarre, weird and Wonderful Puzzles with Science,” which pretty much describes the random acts of science questions throughout this book.  Example:  “You are in a room filled with 100% methane gas.  What would happen if you struck a match.”  The answer (found at the back of the book0: Nothing would happen because there is no oxygen in the room.  I plan to share this book with our science teachers, who might enjoy asking the class a puzzle a day.

Why does a tea kettle go strangely quiet just before the water begins to boil?  Which two liquids, commonly found in your home, when poured together will not mix?

These and other science questions are posed, with the answers at the back of the book, making a great read for those students with inquisitive science minds.

Abyssinian cats are a recognized breed of the Cat Fanciers Association (CFA). Abyssinian cats get their name from the former name for Ethiopia from which they were once thought to have originated.

“Unless they are eating or sleeping, these busy cats are always on the move…Abyssinian cats are athletic and smart.” (pg. 8)

This breed’s physical description: weight, body shape, coloring, ears, tail, eye color and shape are described.

Eight two-page spreads explain basketball terminology ( jump ball, dribbling, passing and stealing, foul, air ball, jump shot, slam dunk, and basketball scoreboard) in three or four sentences with an action basketball photo.

Rules of the game are not covered.

Page 11’s photo is of a wheelchair game of basketball.

Includes: Word Hunt, Your New Words, Four Basketball Greats (two are women), Index, and Find Out More.

Clean sources of energy are briefly introduced using water –dams, wind – wind farms/turbines, and sun – solar panels in 3 or 4 sentences per 2-page spread next to an accompanying photo.

Subtle, factual, and not preachy.

Includes: Word Hunt, Your New Words, The Sun’s Energy at Work, Index, and Find Out More.

Judy Moody’s  2nd grade younger brother, Stink, has earned a $5.00 gift certificate by helping in a college study.  After using his gift certificate to buy a Super-Galactic jawbreaker, Stink writes a letter to the jawbreaker company to state, “It did NOT (I repeat NOT) break my jaw.” The company responds by sending Stink a letter accompanied by an assorted box of 21,280 jawbreakers. Stink’s ensuing dilemmas begin.

At the end of each of the nine chapters, there is a child drawn comic explaining an idiom found in this book.

There is a complete list of 30+ idioms, found within this story, at the end of the book.

In this book we find adventure, mystery, and intrigue.  All wrapped up with a werewolf, a couple of ghosts and some creatures.  It’s a fun book.