Some students may be put off by Ed Young’s somewhat dark mixed-media illustrations, but the really do a good job of evoking the mood of the story. This retelling of a Chinese folktale describes the efforts of the wind and rain and sun to win a bit as to who can force young shepherd girl (I like that the shepherd is a girl) to lose her cap. After the wind sends gales to try to blow it off, and the rain likewise storms at her through the night, it is the rising of the warm sun that shines upon her and warms her enough that she removes it herself when she begins to sweat.

It’s fun. We usually use the term “cat ladies” to describe women who have a lot of cats. But in this case the cat who’s telling the story uses the term to refer to the four women who take care of her. Princess is quite content with her comfortable world filled with the devoted attentions of the four cat ladies, until an interloper arrives. When a stray (grandchild?) shows up on the scene, the ladies’ attentions are diverted, and Princess begins feeling neglected. When she sets out on her own, she gets herself into a bit of a pickle, and it’s the stray who comes to the rescue. Princess decides she might be trainable after all.

This is a beautiful book! The color photos that fill the pages are vibrant and detailed. The text is a poem on the life of a frog. Because the text is simple and repetitive, with just a few sentences per page, it is good for beginning readers, and yet it is full of rich vocabulary (lunges and gaze and spelunks and ponder). The two page author note in the back points out the differences between anecdotal observations and scientific studies, but it doesn’t undervalue the anecdotes, pointing out that wondering and imagining are what help scientists come up with good questions to investigate. It’s not heavy on the information, but it’s the kind of book to spark curiosity.

It’s a cotton candy book. It will be popularly checked out, and loved by many, if only for its pretty, pink, sparkly cover and the pretty, sparkly rainbow on the last page. Oh, and because it’s full of fairies. It tells the story of Twinkle and her fairy friends, on their way to their Fairy Godmother’s garden party. As pretty as the roses are when they arrive, Twinkle’s friend Pippa wishes that more of them were pink, so Twinkle tries her hand at making them so, but making them so, but as she is still a bit of a novice with her magic wand, she manages to turn the entire garden and everything in it pink by mistake. When she is unable to undo her mischief, she fesses up to her Godmother, who opts for a perfectly pink party, at the end of which Twinkle’s fair power grew, and she is able to wish the world back to a rainbow of colors (on a very sparkly rainbow page).

It’s cute. Even if I don’t really like the font for some reason. The story tells about when a seed lands and starts sending down a root. The personified animals who live underground near where the root begins to grow (a mole, a family of field mice, and some ants), are all rather annoyed by the way the root begins to disrupt their lives. It blocks the paths the ants are trying to make, it pokes a hole in the mole’s bathroom ceiling, and eventually it pokes it’s way through the home of the field mice so badly that they have to move. For most of the book, about two thirds of the page area is dedicated to the illustrations of what is happening underground, with only the top third showing what’s happening above. Until they all storm up in their frustration, ready to bring the plant to its end, until one of the little mice stops them and pleads the plant’s case, pointing out that it provides shade and a view point for the ants and play space for the mice and tomatoes for all.

For a child, questioning the world starts with the everyday activities of life. Liwska poses question after question about such things as birthdays, being heard, and making choices just as a child might. Her sweet and sometimes humorous animal illustrations slow the reader and promote reflection and discussion. Liwska’s questions slowly progress into questions that dig deeper and instigate meaningful reflection of self and community. With her book, she provides an age appropriate way to encourage mindfulness in our younger students.

In South Sudan, Nya has to walk every day to a well to fill up water jugs for the family. Today, her mom makes her take her younger sister, Akeer along too. Akeer is tired and keeps slowing Nya. Nya tries to distract Akeer by pointing out things to see, and singing the clapping game song. At the watering hole, they drink deeply and play the clapping game twice before heading back towards home. On the return trip, Akeer drags her feet, walking even more slowly. Finally she starts to cry and sits down. Nya snaps at her, but then realizes Akeer is not usually a crybaby. When Nya knelt, she realized Akeer was sick with a fever and they were half a morning’s walk from home. Nya couldn’t leave Akeer and they couldn’t wait for what might be hours for someone to come along. Nya emptied part of the jug and had Akeer climb on her back and tied her on with a headscarf. Together Akeer and the jug were so heavy, Nya could only walk a few steps at a time before she had to rest. As she approaches the village, people rush to take Akeer and the water from her and she sinks to the ground exhausted. No matter how tired, her mother needs Nya’s help to carry food water for the 2-3 day walk to the clinic to get Akeer help.

The story is a powerful message on the scarcity of safe water for large numbers of the world’s people. The endpapers include information about Salva Dut, a former refuge who with his organization, Water for South Sudan, is installing wells to provide clean water. While told through fictional characters, the story also illustrates how access to clean water also made it possible for young girls to receive schooling.

Nya’s Long Walk is a picture book companion to Linda Sue Park’s novel, A Long Walk to Water.

Follow along as Ginny tries to find the perfect pet. She likes goats but they are too messy to have in the house. Ginny ventures to the beach, the hills, the forest and outer space looking for the perfect pet but definitely not a monster. If Ginny can not find the perfect pet, maybe she shouldn’t have a pet at all. Read this cute read aloud book to find out which pet Ginny gets in the end.

Blue is working to find freedom for her friend, Crow. However, she’s also very much a part of the ongoing war between Goswing and Grimmaea. Blue, being half Grimmaean, has a difficult time getting someone to listen to her. Hector is a journalist who is trying to help, but no one wants to listen to the stories he writes or the truths he shares. The draft age has been lowered and Hector is being pressured to enlist even though he’s only seventeen, It seems the world has gone mad while Blue and Hector work hard to get anyone to listen to reason.

EndGames is the sequel to NewsPrints. If you haven;t read the first book then this will be difficult to understand. It works to tie up some loose ends from the first book, but it does take awhile to get there. This book takes a pointed look at how pride and greed can fuel conflicts as well as looking at racial profiling and gender roles. There are no language issues. It does deal with war violence and racial prejudice.

It’s definitely the middle book of a trilogy, and one you wouldn’t really want to purchase without having the rest of the series available, too. But I give it points for standing on its own well enough that if a student randomly picks this one up without having read book #1 (which I hadn’t), they can enjoy this adventure anyway. Enough information is explained along the way so you get the gist of what has gone on before, but this one has it’s own beginning-middle-end. Readers who enjoy it would be drawn into seeking out the other books, but it wouldn’t hurt too much that they read them out of order.It’s the story of Egg (short for Egbert), and his friends traveling through lands where they don’t speak the languages in search of someone who can help them decipher a treasure map, while dodging others who are after their secrets. It’s got pirates and jungles and human sacrifice and slave traders and a bit of romance, too.