Smash!:Exploring the Mysteries of the Universe with the Large Hadron Collider by Sara Latta, illustrated by Jeff Weigel uses the graphic novel format to excite readers about physics.

When Nick travels to see his cousin Sophie in “GENEVA, SWITZERLAND–HOME OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST PHYSICS LABORATORY” (8) where her parents are scientists, they will both help each other. Nick needs an idea for a comic contest back home and Sophie knows all about the physics behind the Hadron Collider but is not good at art. An art trade-off for a science trade-off is about to begin. ( Since this reviewer is not good at creating art or physics, the use of ‘kid dialogue’ is an important part of this book’s experience.)

Sophie breaks down the Standard Model consisting of a collection of theories into smaller and smaller parts, while Nick figures out how to turn them into Super Heroes.

“WOW! IT’S LIKE SOMETHING FROM A SECIENCE FICTION MOVIE! [Nick] BELIEVE ME– THE STUFF YOU’RE ABOUT TO SEE BEATS ANY MOVIE YOU’VE EVER SEEN…” [Sophie] (39) Yes, this reminds me of two different Star Wars movies. First, when Darth Vader and Luke face off with Luke falling, falling, down, down the humongous shaft and second, when Han Solo and Kylo Ren face off with Han falling, falling, down, down a humongous shaft. Some of the equipment in the Geneva laboratory remind me of those shafts.

The reader will be familiarized with the particles and forces in physics through the graphic novel format, given five more pages to review once Nick and Sophie are done, a glossary, and given a few books, visual media, and websites to check-out.

Just by looking at the cover of The Bug in the Bog by Jonathan Fenske readers will think they know this book’s plot. The frog is slyly looking at the bug with a toothy grin. When I read Jonathan Fenske’s dedication “For Epomis beetles everywhere.” I did not know there are, in fact, beetles that eat frogs. Surprise! Guess what happens to the frog in this book when the fog bank rolls in and nothing is visible?

Chuckle away at the illustrations, too. It is a book of few words. After all, it is a pre-level one, Ready-to-Read book by a Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Winner.

Can Zip, the young outer-space humanoid, out wit his mother when it is time to go inside for the day and go to bed? David Milgrim has done it again! This very easy to read story set in outer-space will connect with young playful children. It is magical on more than one level.

Parents and teachers will be able to help their early readers succeed in reading this book by using the pre-story tables of sight and bonus words.

“Don’t miss the questions about the story at the end of this book.” is the last thing stated before the story begins, but in this copy of the book there were no questions. Perhaps because this book only contains thirty-nine different words total.

My Bed :Enchanting Ways to Fall Asleep Around the World fills the eyes with cultural customs and treasures from around the world through the theme of beds. They are candy for the eye.

Each of the twelve pages, representing twelve distinct regions of the world, are filled with painstakingly made hand sewn, embroidered, figures with sleeping areas created using felted wool as a starting point. The Netherlands’ bed sits in a floating houseboat. “Brazil[‘s], Mexico[‘s], and other countries[‘] of South and Central America” are sleeping in hammocks. Afghanistan’s bed consist of “soft, hand-woven rugs”. Each page is a lesson in culture from the living quarters, to the native plants and animals of the region. They are candy for the eye.

We Love Fishing! presents the delightfully charming story of the reluctant odd-man-out. “Bear, Porcupine, Otter, and Squirrel love fishing.” Squirrel just wants to hang out with his friends. After all, squirrels do not eat fish, no matter how they are prepared. Squirrel keeps his lack of enthusiasm to himself and goes fishing, to be with his enthusiastic fish loving friends.

Marc Rosenthal’s illustrations gave this reader laughs, chuckles, and giggles throughout the book!

Simply looking at the adorable cover of The Duck Who didn’t Like Water will quack you up. The duck is holding an open umbrella in the rain while wearing a lemon yellow macintosh rain slicker and yellow rain hat. Oh yes, and there is a green frog sitting straight legged on top of the umbrella. Duck is a little OCD when it comes to water. When a terrible storm makes a hole in the roof of Duck’s house (on stilts above the cattails) Duck discovers not only a frog on his front porch, but a true friend in the making.

Basic information about Italy is covered from: location with maps, landscape and climate with a seasonal temperature inset, wildlife with photos, communities, customs, school, food, and celebrations.

I found Italy, in the COUNTRY PROFILES series, the easiest to understand when it came to the use of local place names and vocabulary in captions. This is most likely because this is the country I am most familiar with in this series. Also, Amy Rechner does a great job of including definitions within the text.

Students will appreciate the two pages of quick facts containing Italy’s flag, money, capital city and other information they most likely will be required to give in a report on Italy.

The www.factsurfer.com links gave more information from at least three other resources. Most of the links were working today.

What disappoints is the Timeline section. The reader must jump up and down from the top to the bottom of the pages to follow the sequence of Italy ‘s history. Only four of the lines are straight directly connecting to their spot on the timeline. The other eight are lines in three segments giving the appearance of a maze.

Basic information about Thailand is covered from: location with maps, landscape and climate with a seasonal temperature inset, wildlife with photos, communities, customs, school, food, and celebrations.

Students will appreciate the two pages of quick facts containing Thailand’s flag, money, capital city and other information they most likely will be required to give in a report on Thailand.

The www.factsurfer.com links which should have given more information from at least three other resources were not working very well the day I went to see them. Of the three Scholastic Thailand books shown, only one of them had information. All the links that matched the photo of this particular Thailand title went to other countries.

What disappoints is the Timeline section. The reader must jump up and down from the top to the bottom of the pages to follow the sequence of Thailand’s history. There is not a single line connecting the appropriate picture to the year on the line. There is a three segmented line which usually crosses the book’s ditch from the left page to the right page.

The Wildlife section includes six photos of indigenous animals, but also talks about another five animals that are not pictured.