As Frog dances down by the cool of the pool, he is joined by duck, pig, sheep, cat, dog, goat, pony, donkey and cow, each adding their own dance moves. All of a sudden they splash into the cool of the pool, but that doesn’t stop the dance party! Questions to check comprehension and higher level thinking can be found on each page spread. Bright, colorful illustrations enhance this cute story.

This story is told in a tradional way having the Gingerbread man outsmart all of the characters until he meets the fox! Questions to check comprehension and higher level thinking can be found on each page spread. Bright, colorful illustrations enhance this cute story.

Little kitten crawls into bed to read, and falls asleep. When he wakes up, his book is missing! He thinks of all the possibilities to explain what could have happened to his book from a bear eating it, to a stegosaurus stomping on it. Well, after looking and looking, little kitten finds it under the bed! He loves his book so much, he crawls back into bed to read it and falls asleep again! Questions to check comprehension and higher level thinking can be found on each page spread. Bright, colorful illustrations enhance this cute story.

Edward wants to be a firefighter, so he decides to visit a firehouse. While he is there, the firefighters have a fire drill, and Edward gets to go with them! He has trouble with the drills, learning first hand how challenging the job is. However, when a real emergency occurs, Edward steps up to save the kitten that was stuck in the tree! Questions to check comprehension and higher level thinking can be found on each page spread. Bright, colorful illustrations enhance this cute story.

In this series, various animals are compared to human beings. While people and birds have similar activities the comparison in this case seems stretched, grasping at straws.

Both birds and humans sing .  Baby birds learn song patterns much the way human babies learn speech patterns. They both repeat over and over again until they pattern is correct. This is a fine comparison.

Other comparisons include: terns mate for life, dandelion down in nests compared to swaddling, some nests are woven and tied to branches compared to knitting, some birds are single mothers while others use two parents after birth, both birds and humans feed their babies, birds keeping a “poop-free” nest is compared to changing diapers, and “just like human kids , chicks learn by watching”.

The comical illustrations of birds in action are fun and entertaining, especially because there is always a photo of a real bird hidden in the display. The information is accurate and interesting. Some of the comparisons  seem too remote.

The timely issues of anti-immigration and Islamophobia are addressed in this YA novel by Australian author Randa Abdel-Fattah. Abdel-Fattah is an attorney of Muslim of Palestinian and Egyptian heritage who served as the Media Liaison Officer at the Islamic council of Victoria, a role that gave her the opportunity to write for newspapers and engage with media institutions about how they represented Muslims and Islam. Although the story takes place in Australia, the issues with refugees and white Australians closely mirror similar beliefs and attitudes seen here in the United States.

The two main characters are Michael and Mina. Michael is a white Australian teen whose parents are active in an anti-immigrant group. They take him to anti-immigration rallies. Mina is a pretty girl he sees on the other side of the picket lines. She is a Muslim refugee from Afghanistan who has experienced many adversities as she fled her warn torn homeland. Mina receives a cold reception at private school she attends on scholarship. Once Michael meets Mina, his parents’ politics become very complicated.

Mina and Michael tell their story in alternate chapters. The reader hears first hand the conflict Michael has with his parents for taking a stand to defend Mina’s family and other refugees. The pain of the persecution and harassment that Mina and her family suffers is clearly shown. The Lines We Cross is a story of how fear and hate can destroy lives, and how important it is to chose tolerance and love.

It is rare to find a YA novel with high functioning Autistic characters, and The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily has such a character as the narrator. And, it is female character.
Lily also has ADHD, and struggles every day to make it through school. Then one day, after being sent to the principal’s office for breaking a wall in her classroom, she meets Abelard. Turns out he, too, is on the spectrum. He’s handsome, and he has the name of Abelard, the philosopher who was Heloise’s true love. And, he enjoys medieval literature. They share an impulsive kiss in the principal’s office and then begin texting each other with lines from The Love Letters of Abelard and Heloise, a book Lily loves, with a character that she relates to. It is her favorite, most tragic love story.

Lily is beside herself with excitement and she and Abelard text, get together, play chess, and fall in love. The problem for Lily is that when things get rough, she begins doing what she is best at: destroying things.

Will her story have a happier ending than Heloise’s?

Cutter Boy explores many issues with sensitivity including self-harm, bullying, dysfunctional families, mental illness, rape, trauma, and post traumatic stress disorder. It also focuses on a topic that typically is thought of a concern for teenage girls, but in fact also occurs in boys. The main character, Travis, is bullied at school and feels that he ignored at home. He has a secret: he cuts with a razor blade, and finds that this makes him feel in control of the pain in his life. He becomes friends with a new girl at school, Chyvonne, but worries how he can get close to her without her learning his secret. As he spends time with her, he to tries to discover why his mother can’t acts like he doesn’t even exist.

In an interesting plot twist, Travis finds a way to cope.

This is a high interest, large font, fast read. It will appeal to readers who enjoy “teens in trouble” stories.

This is a DISNEY PRINCESS Story based off of a character in the movie The Princess and the Frog. Most readers will probably be familiar with the Disney movie. If so, this will build in added enjoyment due to familiarity with the characters and the setting.

Tiana is a restaurant owner in New Orleans, who married a Prince. Tiana is indebted to Mama Oldie from when she was a frog, now turned back into human form. Mama Oldie has sent a messenger to Tiana saying she needs help. Tiana quickly readies her restaurant for a day without her, then leaves in the morning to help Mama Oldie.

Mama Oldie had a set of twin magical pearls. One is now missing. The pearls need to be together for the magic to happen. Mama Oldie asks Tiana to take her remaining pearl back to New Orleans with her to find its matching twin. “When they are close to each other, they’ll glow”. (42) Tiana agrees to help.

Back in New Orleans a plan is developed to throw a fantastic party at Tiana’s restaurant with a pearl theme.  The entire town will come. Tiana’s dear friends Charlotte and Louis the Alligator help with the party preparations. Little does anyone know, Charlotte’s little known cousin Lucinda, who just came to visit, turns out to have a long history with Mama Oldie. As Tiana begins to make the rounds to all the tables, as hostess of the party, the pearls begin to glow. Cousin Lucinda tries to escape, but does not make it with an alligator sitting on her. Lucinda turns the stolen pearl over to Tiana. Lucinda had only taken it to annoy Mama Oldie.

There is a BIG bayou party when Tiana returns the pearl to Mama Oldie.

The giant comic book style ant illustrations on the front cover will grab the prospective  reader’s attention immediately. Then as the reader leisurely studies each ant will he or she discover that three of the ants on the front cover are actually enlarged photographs of ants. This continues throughout the book. It is a wonderful mix of silly verses factual, side by side.

The text describes the the ants life cycle, including jobs and duties from construction, to babysitting, to cleaning, to feeding, to farming fungus, to milking aphids, to building bridges between trees, and to building rafts in flood situations.

Humorously fun while being factually accurate.