Author Archives: Midge Livingston

Rover and Speck: This Planet Rocks!

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By Jonathan Roth

This fun graphic novel is an adventure that delves into the science of terrestrial planets. Rover lands on a planet and is ready to search for information only to find Speck who had landed before and was unable to power up it’s solar panels. Once Speck is charged up, they travel in search of life forms. They discover a type of “rock creature” and find that they are friendly when they hear music. While the story is not realistic, there are many facts about planets that are interspersed throughout the book. The back pages show images of the Mars and the Rover that was sent to it. Students will enjoy this book and learn along the way – Highly Recommended!

Rick: the Rock of Room 214

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Written by Julie Falatko, Illustrated by Ruth Chan

Rick is a rock who lives on a shelf with other items found outdoors by students that learn in room 214. Rick finds that the students seem to have many adventures and he wants them too. He wants to be the rock that does more that sit. He wants to have adventures like going through a volcano, falling off cliffs and posing on a majestic mountain. One day, he falls into a backpack and goes outside looking for new things to do. What he finds are many rocks who are quiet, and no longer want adventures in their lives. Will Rick find what he wants or will he end up being a quiet rock sitting in a field? This is a very cute book that wonderfully explains how one can find adventure and enjoy life wherever one is, even if it is just sitting on a shelf in a classroom. I would highly recommend this one!

Tim Possible & the Time-Traveling T. Rex

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Written by Axel Maisy

The main character, Tim Possible, is an adventurous boy who worries a lot. He and his best friend, Tito, run into a time traveling T-Rex whose time machine has turned evil. This humorous and adventuresome book will be a great addition to a library that may see a need for more books along the vein of “Captain Underpants”, “DogMan” or “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”.

Noodle and the No Bones Day

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Written by Jonathan Graziano, Illustrated by Dan Tavis

What a wonderfully adorable book about a pug and his person. This tale emphasizes that it is okay to have an “off day” every once in a while. Noodle and his person, Jonathan – the author, have busy and adventuresome days every day but when Noodle is feeling under the weather, Jonathan becomes concerned. Soon he realizes that there are days where one must just take the time to relax and be content to just be. A highly recommended tale for elementary students that really explains that it’s okay to have a “no bones” day.

The Moon from Dehradun: a Story of Partition

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Written by Shirin Shamsi Illustrated by Tarun Lak

This is a beautifully written and illustrated picture book about the partition of India in 1947. It follows a family that suddenly has to leave their home and move to what is now Pakistan where they find an empty house and move in (presumably because that family had to move to what is now India). While recommended for ages 4-8, this book would be a more relevant purchase for intermediate grades. The story will be relatable to individuals who have an understanding of refugees and individuals that flee from their homelands due to fear. This book also contains maps, a glossary as well as the author’s family experiences in the back that would better explain the story to more advanced intermediate readers.

Pig Makes Art

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Written by Laura Gehl Illustrated by Fred Blunt

This book is an “emerging reader” book about a pig who creates art but leaves out the cat from the picture. The cat gets bored and takes a nap so the pig makes art on the cat while it’s sleeping. This makes the cat angry. In the end, pig and cat both make art together as friends. This book contains a list of word families, sight words and bonus words. It also has questions about the book on the last page.

Astrid the Astronaut: The Astronomically Grand Plan

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Astrid, a lover of all things outer space, is excited to start the new year with a new after school club at school, The Shooting Stars. Being in the group is step one to her goal of becoming the first astronaut that uses hearing aids. She is a determined young lady with a great deal of grit although because of her focus on becoming an astronaut she ignores her best friends desire to be an artist assuming she wants to go to space camp as well. This short book is a wonderful starter into reading chapter books. It not only discusses goal setting, working as a team and being kind, but also being a good listener and friend. I would recommend this book for emerging readers.

Chickadee: Criminal Mastermind

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Written by Monica Silvie Illustrated by Elina Ellis

What a fun book about a bird who feels he is a rebel compared to the rest of his nest mates. His mom and dad teach all of them to never leave the forest and don’t go near the houses. All summer and fall our little “rapscallion” is staying safe in the forest but when winter comes along he is cold and heads to the houses to become the “thief” that he is. This is a humorous book that discusses how we can help birds that do not migrate in the winter by leaving food out for them in our yards and neighborhoods. There is a three pager at the end of the book discussing facts about the Black-Capped Chickadee. There are also online resources and book recommendations.

Out of a Jar

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by Deborah Marcero

Shows a bunny sitting on a jar in a forest.

This picture book discusses feelings and when Llewellyn the bunny experiences tough feelings he puts them aside in a jar and locks them away. This works well for him for a while until suddenly, he isn’t feeling much of anything at all. One day, the jars all break. See what happens to Llewellyn when his feelings all get loose. This book is a good addition to your S.E.L. library. Younger students will enjoy and understand what happens when one does not express their feelings and keep them inside. I would recommend this book for elementary school (k-3).