With photographs and simple text, this book provides an introduction to penguins.  The heavy use of pronouns, make the simple text less effective. Bold words defined in the glossary include waddle, webbed and flippers, but skips the word krill.

Contains table of contents, glossary and index.

Linked online resources include a more in depth description of penguins with more photographs.  Also included are downloadable print activities, links to elementary level informational websites, and a 1 and a half minutes video.  One of the website links was dead link.

With photographs and simple text, this book provides an introduction to the White House.  The heavy use of pronouns, particularly the word “it” make the simple text less effective.

Contains table of contents, glossary and index.

Linked online resources include a more in depth description of the White House with photographs.  Also included are downloadable print activities, links to elementary level informational websites, and a 2 minutes video of still animation, music, and textual information.  All online material are more appropriate for grades 2-5 so it does not match the audience of the actual book.

Is there anything a dog loves more than a treat? Woken from a dream of treats by an encouraging smell, the dog races off for the chance to earn any sort of treat. He tries all his best tricks first for a toddler eating cheerios, then a young girl with a hot dog, a young boy coloring with no food, grandma with dentures in a glass, grandpa brushing his teeth and finally an infant with a bottle.  His discouragement is evident until finally he’s called to his bowl for a treat, only to find it filled with toys not treats. Dejected, he retreats to pile of laundry to dream of his lost treats.  As the dream turns into a nightmare of monstrous dentures chasing him, he wakes to the call of “treeeeeeat….” The 2 girls have created a masterpiece of topped with dog bones and chunks of dried dog food.  What a treat!

The word, “treat” is the only word in the book.  The tone and expression in the repeated word, “treat”is seen in the expression of the dog and supported by the punctuation, font size and style.  Sure to be a hit as a read aloud but also a good example of the power of expression to convey meaning.

What readers are looking for! A smart girl who is good at math and does not take guff about it from anyone!

Summer vacation will start any minute. Alice can hardly wait to begin her vacation. Alice plans on using vacation to prove the Goldbach’s Conjecture. Twelve year old Alice loves math! When she gets upset, instead of counting to ten, she counts using prime numbers to calm herself down.

Just prior to the last bell ringing, Sammy invites Alice to his house for a very important press conference. Sammy’s father owns Delgado Industries and an invention is about to be unveiled. Alice turns Sammy down, but gets forcefully transported to the event in a black towncar, with a, “Mr. Delgado would like to see you.” (8)

Mr. Jones, Alice’s father who writes for the Philadelphia Daily News, is also at the press conference. Mr. Delgado begins the press conference by announcing his friend and scientist inventor, Dr. Adrian Learner, is missing. The press conference will only take place once Dr. Learner has been found. Sammy is deeply disturbed. Dr. Learner might be Sammy’s only friend. Sammy wants his father to hire Alice to find Dr. Learner. Mr. Delgado hires Alice, but as a way to get publicity, as a joke. This ticks Alice off! Alice only accepts to prove to Mr. Delgado she CAN find him. Plus, her father will get the exclusive story.

Alice takes on the investigation to find Dr. Learner. She visits his top secret lab, visits his super messy apartment, and eventually pieces together Dr. Learner should be at the University of Pennsylvania where Mr. Delgado and Dr. Learner first met. In the meantime, a silver Mercedes begins to follow Alice. The FBI becomes involved, too.

When Alice does find Dr. Learner, it is not enough for Alice. She still needs to prove to herself how he disappeared. Alice’s math equation needs to be  solved,   ” (one exit)+(security camera footage)+(disappearing man)=x”.  Then, maybe the equation should be “(one exit)+(disappearing man)= x-(security camera footage) … or maybe…(one exit)+(security camera footage)= x-(disappearing man) ” . (page 258)  Little by little Alice discovers Dr. Learner’s missing medical prescription was for an experimental drug to slow down Alzheimer’s disease.

Alice holds a press conference stating Dr. Learner’s disappearance was a scam. It turns out Mr. Delgado had staged the entire disappearance to help out his friend Dr. Learner keep his disease a secret, or at least until Mr. Delgado signed a government contract for Dr. Learner’s work.

The book’s cover illustration of Alice needs some revamping, if middle schoolers are going to pick it up and read it. The existing cover is fine for fourth and fifth graders.

The animal world is a diverse interesting place.  What do things as different as a zebra and a bumblebee or a hedgehog and a chameleon have in common?  This book explores differences while highlighting the similarities.  Each two page spread contains four illustrated animals and a description of how they are different in some way; appearance, behavior, or habitat. Then readers are invited to look closer.  Each spread closes with the unifying similarity, “We all have…”

The animal illustrations have expressive cartoon-ish expressions. The back matter contains explanations of why animals have each of the similar characteristics described in the book.

Use this title to invite young children to think critically about the world around them. Use in a science lesson or to help students recognize their similarities to the many diverse people of the world.

Whoosh is science success story of an African American man made particularly accessible to students by their first-hand knowledge of one of his inventions, the Super Soaker. The story begins with Lonnie’s childhood in Mobile, Alabama and the challenges he faced in pursuing his love of invention. Lonnie wanted to be an engineer, but an exam he took said he would not be a very good one. He was not discouraged by this challenge either.  At a 1968 science fair at the University of Alabama (only 5 years after allowing their first African American students), Lonnie’s home-made robot named Linex won his team first place.  From there he studied engineering at the Tuskegee Institute before working at NASA on the Galileo probe to Jupiter.  And still Lonnie tinkered with his own inventions at home. He came up with the Super Soaker idea while investigating refrigeration and air conditioning systems that were better for the environment than than those that used R-12.  One toy company after another refused to produce his invention.  His attempt to produce his inventions on his own flopped, leaving him in a discouraging and difficult financial situation.  He asked yet another toy company and they said “Wow” and now Super Soakers are sold everywhere.  With the money Lonnie earned from the sale of each Super Soaker, he now has an even bigger workshop where he continues to invent because, “facing challenges, solving problems, and building things is what Lonnie Johnson loves to do.”

This book belongs in every elementary library.

A single unhatched egg rests in a nest surrounded by four fluffy goslings.  Mother goose nudges the egg, “Hello in there! Are you aware…how long we’ve all been waiting?” A mother’s cajoling is picked up by the coots and crows. The world is moving through spring and life is brimming. The wait is measured by the bursting of buds and sprouts are breaking through.  The journey begins with, “A nest. An Egg. A chick like you.”  The four fluffy goslings look on as a beak breaks through the egg.  Finally the egg hatches a bewildered, bedraggled chick with a piece of shell still stuck to its beak. The gosling is urged out of the nest to discover, “The whole wide world is waiting.”

Warm colors and up close pictures lend the story intimacy and closeness.  The more panoramic views show the expanse of the world waiting to be explored.  The short rhythmic phrases feel like the baby steps picking up momentum until you’re running to catch up with spring.

On the first day of summer, Shaggy, Scooby, and their friends in Mystery, Inc., join their friend Fred on a trip to his boyhood camp.  The camp is pretty run down but Jasper, the owner, appreciates all the help he gets from Hank, the handyman.  After setting up the tent, having a meal, and telling scary stories, they relax for the evening.  Later that night a thunderstorm shakes the tent.  Looking out, they see a looming creature.  Racing off to the woods, they hide and wait out the storm.  In the morning, they follow tracks to a cave.  Although warning signs say to stay away, the kids decide to investigate.  With quick detective work, they discover the rocks are painted diamonds and the “wild ape-man” is really Hank.  Jasper is relieved and thankful.  Now he has the money to fix up the old camp.  The cartoon artwork is colorful and illustrations and text are well placed.

In this graphic novel, Shaggy’s Aunt Isabelle is a judge for the Chocolate Art Show.  It is being ruined by an unknown phantom.  She enlists Shaggy and friends to help solve this mystery.  They search for clues and eventually set a trap to catch the one responsible for stopping the show.  As in most graphic novels, many details are added in the illustrations.  One point that is disturbing to me is that Scooby is shown to enjoy eating chocolate.  Chocolate can be toxic to dogs depending on the type of chocolate and the size of the dog.  A young reader may get the idea it is okay to feed chocolate to their pet.

Back in the 1930s, Earnie Seiler was a tireless promoter of what was to become the Orange Bowl, one of the final major football contests of the season.  Seiler enticed top teams, the Oklahoma Sooners and the Tennessee Volunteers, to face off in the first game played in Miami.  The other chapters highlight noteworthy competitions and athletes from 1939 to 2012.  Anecdotes, sidebars, and photographs accompany the fact-filled pages.  Also included are a timeline of memorable  events, Orange Bowl records, and quotes.  Additional resources include books, websites, and a place to visit are in the back with the glossary, index and note about the author.  Extraordinary players and remarkable plays throughout add interest to this fact-filled book.