Early elementary nonfiction book about zebras. There are 1-2 sentences on a page and the information is basic. Many text features are used including keywords, headings, table of contents, map, glossary, and index. Readers can also access quick stats in the back.

Houdini, the rabbit, was a natural magician’s assistant. He kept the team together, helped them relax, and performed pre-show checks. He made sure everything was ready for Monsieur Lapin’s show, but one night things go wrong and the magician is accidentally turned into a rabbit. Houdini knows the show must go on so he becomes the magician. Houdini was a hit, but it soon was not as exciting as it had been and during his greatest trick, he turned the magician back into a human. Monsieur Lapin and Houdini soon realize that the spotlight is best when it is shared.

The illustrations in this book are hilarious and tell more of the story. The other rabbits antics will certainly have readers laughing.

Calvin is sad that his next door neighbors are moving away, but it is even worse when Harper, the biggest bully at Carver Elementary, moves in next door. In addition to trying to hide from Harper so he doesn’t discover that he lives next door to Calvin, the science fair is coming up. Calvin wants to win first so that his dad will by him a new video game. In the meantime, Calvin’s dad invites Harper to the movies and encourages Calvin to find out why Harper might be so angry and encourages them to be friends.

The storyline is easy to follow and it touches on the topics of bullies, foster care and homelessness. The black and white illustrations complement the story.

This is book 4 of The Carver Chronicles. Although this is a series, they can be read out of order without feeling like you missed something in a previous book.

A spoiled, snooty queen is unhappy with her cup of tea and sets out in a hot air balloon to find the perfect cup of tea. She travels around to Japan, India, and Turkey and meets a child in each country. She drinks a cup of tea with each as well as snuggles kittens, kicks a ball, and dances. On her journey, she discovers that the perfect up of tea is the one that you make yourself and share with others. The queen becomes less spoiled and instead of being lonely, has found three new friends. The colored pencil illustrations add to the story.

A picture book biography of Dr. Kathy Sullivan. The book goes back and forth between Kathy as a child and as an adult. The pages written as an adult have text in italics. The text is simple and written as a story. Kathy dreamed of having adventures and she loved maps, books, and foreign languages. She thought she might grow up to be a spy or diplomat, but most people told her those were not jobs for girls. She learned to be a pilot as a teenager.

The end of the book gives more details about Kathy, as well as mini biographies of fourteen other women astronauts.

Click-Clack Waddle-Waddle Dot-Dot Dewey Dew does not want to go to school. He is going to school at Ms. Brightsun’s School for Little Learners on Planet Earth. When he gets to school everything is different from the cubbies and books to the students that come in different colors and have two eyes and five fingers. A confused Dewey with a dorf (tear) in his eye stood in the back of the room until a little boy notices him and asks him if he wants to play and everything is alright.

The author has included alien language and that could lead to discussion of identifying what each word means. This could be a good read aloud for those nervous about starting a new school.

Steve is a fine horse that want to be exceptional. He finds a gold horn one day and believes this will make him exceptional. He ties it on his head and shows the other forest animals which leads them to find things to tie to their head. Steve loses his horn and he is so sad until he sees it in a pond. Steve realizes that he doesn’t need to horn to be exceptional.

The illustrations in this book are quirky, but the lack of color leaves me wanting more. The gold horn is a tan color and everything is muted in tans, black and white. The text uses a variety of fonts and dialog.

The 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio made Usain Bolt’s name famous, a house hold name. Usain Bolt became the only man in history to win the triple-triple: “winning the 100-, 200-, and 4 x 100-meter relay races in three consecutive Olympics.” (23) Usain began racing in his native country of Jamaica by age twelve.

The left-hand page contains two or three sentences about his running career. The right-hand page is totally filled with an appropriate photo from a race. The photos show the euphoria of this sprinter’s achievements.

To see Usain Bolt in action the book directs the reader to go to: abdokids.com and enter code OUK9473.

The title pretty much says it all. Twelve giant pieces of whimsical art from across the United States of America have been photographed for this book. There is usually a sentence explaining why the attraction was built. It reminds me of the 1950s and 60s. Eye catching gimmicks to get your attention and often your dollars.  The book includes a United States map with each of the 12 roadside attractions marked: 1) the Donut Hole- CA, 2)Spoonbridge and Cherry – MN, 3) Jimmy Carter Peanut Statue – GA, 4)  World’s Largest Pistachio – NM, 5) Lucy the Elephant – NJ, 6) Blue Whale of Catoosa – OK, 7) Queen Connie – VT, 8) Cadillac Ranch – TX, 9) Giant Van Gogh Painting – KS, 10) World’s Largest Rocking Chair – IL,11)  Beach Ball Water Tower – FL, and 12) Giant Eyeball Sculpture- TX.

If your state missed the cut, try the “Facts for Now” on page 32 which will lead you to other roadside attractions from all fifty states, at www.factsfornow.scholastic.com keywords Roadside Attractions.

Yeah, a craft book! Author – Sammy Bosch introduces the book by giving some background on what a wetland is and what types of animals live there. Each of the eight animals has a sentence or two about them in a round bubble next to their photo, also, in a round bubble. The craft supplies are easy to acquire at Michaels, or Hobby Lobby, JoAnn Fabrics, Wal Mart, K-Mart or the like. This is a BIG plus, as far as I’m concerned! Several of the crafts use parts from egg cartons, Chenille stems ( pipe cleaners), paint, glue, pom-poms, and googly eyes.The finished craft is presented on the left-hand page, while the step-by-step directions are on the right-hand page. If the direction has its own photo, its number is inside a dark circle. Otherwise, the number for the direction is inside a light colored circle. When a specific photo is not given for the direction, looking at the photo of the finished craft is close at hand and easily furnishes any answer to the crafter’s question.

The crafts include: an Egg-cellent Turtle, Tennis Ball Turtle, Springy Bobble Frog, Scaly Shimmering Fish (a use for my unusable scratched up CDs), Crawling Cup Alligator, Hungry River Otter, Fuzzy Muskrat, and a Colorful Striped Salamander.

Super simple and super cute.