This non-fiction picture book tells the story of the invention of Crayola crayons. Crayons are such a ubiquitous part of childhood, it’s fun to hear the back story of how they came to be. This is a great way to introduce children to non-fiction connected to something they are all familiar with. The illustrations are colorful and inviting and help set the stage for the turn of the twentieth century, when this childhood toy came into being.

There are only three words used to tell this story: ours, yours, and mine. Normally I am a big fan of wordless and nearly-wordless picture books. But this one seems to struggle with making its point. I think it’s trying to say it’s better to share than to worry about what’s yours and what’s mine. It begins by showing a young panda entering the cave of an adult panda asking if it’s theirs, to which the adult panda replies that it is his. After a series of “this is mine; this is yours,” the adult panda sends the youngster off with a kite. As the young panda wanders through the forest following his kite, he keeps running into other woodland creatures who are possessive of their stuff. Eventually the little critters all grab onto the string of the kite and are flying away until the grown panda pulls them back to earth and then they all end up hanging out together in the cave, sharing all their stuff. It’s just a little vague.

Beautiful illustrations and poetic text introduce students to the different types of homes animals build. The vocabulary is rich, the illustrations are lush, and it ends by acknowledging that Earth is the home shared by us all. It really is a lovely book.

The story consists of a dialogue between the narrator trying to tell the story and the panda who is intended to be the main character. But when the narrator declares that the panda has a problem, the panda protests that all is well, and turns the table on the narrator, suggesting that perhaps the narrator is the main character and the panda is the problem. The panda suggests a whole series of problems, including raining jelly beans and aliens and a trip to the antarctic, until they are in such a muddle they need the narrator to find them a way home. It could be useful in teaching story elements.

I think maybe I would appreciate it more if I were more familiar with Robinson Crusoe (I keep meaning to read that!). But since my students are probably even less familiar with the famous adventure novel than I am, I suspect they, too, may find the story a bit flat. They would probably relate easily to the uneasy feelings the main character faces when he shows up at a costume party in a costume that gets him teased, and the desire to leave early that results. But when our hero does escape the party to go home to bed and ends up dreaming of a life of adventure on a deserted island, I’m not sure most of my students would get the connection. Though they would appreciate the ending in which his friends show up with apology notes, asking to hear more about the character he had dressed as.

It’s a celebration of the power of imagination. The illustrations are charming and fanciful. A little girl complains to her grandmother that she’s bored, so grandma suggests she go play in the garden, where she’s sure she saw a tiger earlier. Young Nora insists she’s too old for such silly games, so she sets out to prove her grandmother wrong. As she ventures forth, she does find some of the other things her grandmother said she would (dragonflies the size of birds, plants that want to eat her — or at least her toy giraffe — alive, and a grumpy polar bear — which talks, no less), but she keeps insisting there couldn’t possibly be a tiger. When she does indeed find herself face-to-face with a friendly tiger, she asks it if it is real, but the tiger turns the question back at her, asking if she is real, which leaves her puzzled. The two come to a deal to believe in each other, supposing that that will make them both real.

Best graphic novel ever! If you can call a 38 page, 11.25″ X 8.75″ book a novel?

When the world is threatened with the destruction of all books by the evil Doctor Glockenspiel if his demands are not met, who will save the day? The top secret agents fail.

Lyric McKerrigan takes it upon herself to stop this villain using various disguises and a tool box full of books that win over each guard and hunchman that stand between her and Doctor Glockenspiel. When Doctor Glockenspiel releases the book eating moths as his last resort, Lyric McKerrigan “shines a flashlight onto book. The moths love flashlights… The moths like stories even better than flashlights.” Soon Doctor Glockenspiel is back in jail and the world’s books are safe once again!

Illustrator Vera Brosgol has won both Eisner and Harvey Awards and received a Caldecott Honor for her past work. This book is in true comic book style which young and old readers will enjoy.

Fabian Starr wants to be in a rock band. Fab’s friend Emilio would rather be an inventor. Both of their friends, Lola is thinking about giving swim team a year off. Together they agree to give being in a rock band a chance for one month, but they need a drummer badly. After posting audition posters in the middle and high school wings of their school, two people show up at Fab’s garage for auditions. Thank goodness the strange high school student (Zee), who just moved in across the street from Fab, comes over to audition. Zee’s audition is over the top! The band is formed! Lola gets the band their first gig playing at her 6 yr old sister’s Princess birthday party.

Emilio is not too confident about the band. He builds a dog-sized unicorn which shots “a small jet of rainbow sparks”(80) out of its horn to ‘wow’ the party-goers, in case, the band does not. Never fear, the band is fantastic! When asked the band’s name, Fab yells out, ” ‘We’re called Electric Zombie!’ ” (101)

Lola’s cousin thinks the band is ready for the middle school fair, with their adrenalin pumping Fab, Emilio, and Lola agree to sign up. Will Zee agree, too? Fab is not so sure. Fab is beginning to wonder if Zee might actually be a zombie. The reader is left with this cliff-hanger. Read book two- “Shock and Roll”, maybe it will give Fab the answer he is after concerning his neighbor Zee.

Zombie lovers and middle school rock band lovers will enjoy this book. I am not sure there will be a bigger audience for this book, though.

The book does have one color illustration per chapter.

Modern day Robyn Hood are her sidekicks the Hoods are up against the Havocs. The Havocs pick pockets and steal from anyone and everyone. They poke fun at Robyn and her Hoods “who only took from bad guys to HELP people in need.” (15)

Each time the thefts end with a cloud of smoke and the victims yelling and accusing each other of stealing from them. Robyn and her Hoods decide to look for the Havocs at the open-air market, where there are always large crowds of people. Sure enough Robyn spots a Havoc. They run in their direction, but find nothing. After chasing after another suspicious person, Robyn trips over an open sewer grate. Again they find nothing. Then Robyn concludes they should look down in the sewer. There the Hoods find the stolen valuables. They collect it to return to the victims.

“After returning the STOLEN goods, the Hoods convinced everyone to STAY OUT of the market so they could face the Havocs.” (36) The Havocs want their loot back. When the Havocs ‘LUNGED‘ at the HOODS they trip over ” the camouflaged trip line at their feet.”(43) The Havocs release a thick cloud of smoke. By the time the smoke clears, the Havocs are gone. Robyn and the Hoods have returned the valuables, that is the important part. They “will FACE the Havocs another day.” (48)

Good over evil wins again in this updated version of Robin Hood and his merry men. This version has color graphics on each page by Abigail Dela Cruz. The text has a key word in bold or a stylized font in almost every sentence adding to the enjoyment and to the reader’s comprehension. After four short chapters, the reader is on to the next book in this series.

Book #7 in The Graveyard Diaries series takes place in “The small town of Marshfield … known for its four old cemeteries. Local people call the place Graveyard City.” (29) What better place for an urban legend dealing with a ghost to take place.

This story reads and feels like a reality TV show GHOST HUNTERS. There are no silly little anecdotes.

As Jared and his mother drive home, on a December evening, they take a short cut through one of the town’s cemeteries. There, they almost hit a girl with their car. They volunteer to take her home, as she (Tammy) has hurt herself from a fall in the cemetery. Once they arrive at Tammy’s house, she disappears. The house is terribly run down, looking like no one has lived there in years.

A little by little, Jared researches the house at the public library. Jared meets a local librarian who remembers when Tammy died back in 1961. Jared and his two closest friends (they’ve named themselves the Zombie Hunters) will try to help Tammy if she is a ghost who wants to escape or a ghost who wants to be rescued. When Jared enters the house Tammy tells him to leave them alone. Jared flees the house after seeing an allusion of flames. These ghosts do not want his help. He will leave them alone.

The book concludes with a page of five steps entitled TRACKING GHOSTS and a second page of eight items entitled GHOST FACTS.

This is a fast read for those young people who either believe in ghosts or are border-line believers. The slightly enlarged type hint this is a hi-lo book. The single black and white sketch in each of the ten chapters keeps the mood alive and moving.