Henry thinks he talks a lot, but his parents only hear gibberish.  Henry decides to choose a great word, however he has no idea how it will look or sound.  When he cannot find one around his things in the house, he asks some of his outdoor friends.  Neither cat, bird, nor bunny has one for him.  As he looks around for his mother, she is no longer in sight.  How upsetting!  As he worries and begins to cry, the perfect word comes rumbling out, “Mama”!  (Henry uses his first word for everything so perhaps Dada’s feelings won’t be too hurt!)  The illustrations are done in pencil and pastels, a perfect match for this gentle, simple story about one of the first developmental landmarks.

Duddle Puck arrives on the farm in a blue baseball cap and proceeds to show he is a very odd duck indeed.  He clucks with the hens, honks with the geese, oinks with the pig, neighs with the horse, and gives a hip-hip hooray at the farmer’s party.  All the animals try to help him find his quack and become a proper duck.  When they all demonstrated quacking, Duddle just giggled at the irony.  Then “he roared a mighty QUACK – a – doodle – doo!”  This rhyming story not only reinforces sounds different animals make but also celebrates individuality.  The illustrations are in vivid earth-tone watercolors.  Visually pleasing, the backgrounds alternate between full color and white.  Although not major characters until the end, the farmer and his cat can be seen attending to various farm duties.  Another fun creation by Karma Wilson.

There is quite a bit of information for thought in this book, considering there is only one sentence per page. John Wallace does a fabulous job of instilling wonder with his soft watercolors and ink illustrations. His illustrations of having fun in the sun at the beach teaming up with the informational text by Marion Dane Bauer, in this sixth part of their series on weather for young readers hits the mark. SUN has me wanting to go outside to gather some warmth in the daytime and by night to see the other stars in the Milky Way Galaxy of which our sun is a part.

Though our sun is not the biggest star in the sky or the hottest, it is the closest one to Earth. Our sun gives us light, heat, vitamin D, and is just the right distance from Earth so water can be in all three states of matter- solid, liquid, and gas.

There are eight more “Facts about the Sun” on the very last page dealing with size, distance, temperature, and age of the sun.

The reader’s point-of-view will be tested with this book. A young alien, working on earning his Galaxy Scout Solo Explorer badge, crash lands onto Earth in the middle of an elementary school playground.  The third graders, in Mrs. Buckle’s class, hurry out to meet him. Little by little, Spork and the third graders need to apply their classroom rules dealing with respect, especially -“Treating others as we would like to be treated (the Golden Rule)”. Jack makes a disparaging remark about the sound of Spork’s name. Others want to touch the space ship without asking. And Trixie hides Spork’s Gloop which he will need to repair his space ship because Trixie wants Spork to stay. Then, Mrs. Buckle announces Drop Everything and Read, Spork literally drops the tub of markers he is carrying. Trixie soon realizes she needs to return the Gloob to Spork. When she hands it back to Spork it accidentally falls to the floor breaking the container. BOOM! The Gloop fixes all kinds of classroom errors: untucked shirts, untied shoes, cluttered cubbies, and holes in the knees of jeans. Trixie “hung her head. ‘Now that your Gloop exploded all over the classroom, there isn’t any left to fix your flying saucer. And it is all my fault.’…’Oh, don’t worry about that!’ …I’ve got more Gloop. ‘ ” (51)

After the story ends, Spork gives the readers three activities “right out of [his] Scout training manual” (56)- Planets of Peril quiz, R-E-S-P-E-C-T the E.T. quiz, and Space facts: True of false.

Nancy Drew has never been to summer camp and Nancy needs a vacation. Nancy’s best friend Bess talks her into being a camp counselors at Bess’s old camp. Chapter one ends, “Please don’t let there be a mystery to solve at Camp Cedarbark!” (14)

It’s Nancy Drew, so, of course, there will be a mystery. The mystery revolves around a camper who drowned about 5 years ago. One of the new counselors (Bella) wants to hold a seance, after dark, with her ouija board, to keep the drowned girl’s spirit away. Nancy takes the ouiji board away from Bella saying she will tell the new camp’s owners if the seance is held. Next, during the counselors’ swim test of treading water, both Deborah and Nancy are yanked under the water by their ankles. A few days later, the counselors’ training period is over. “Even though the past two nights had been filled with creepy, ice-cube-down-the-spine moments, it was hard to recall those feelings when the sun first shone into our cabins. Even more so now, when our cabin was full of giggling, smiling campers.” (83)

The incidences at the lake set the tune, but Nancy’s up beat spirit keeps this chilling story from becoming too scary. Nancy works with the camp’s new owners to solve who is out to sabotage the camp. Is it one of the campers, one of the counselors, or someone from the small nearby town who is out to close the camp? This story has as many twists and turns as one of the camps’ trails.

I have been at camp as an adult chaperone and this book brought back the wonderful feelings of being at summer camp.

This ‘Carolyn Keene’ writes in the present with references to Netflix and smart phones. This is not a reprint of a former Nancy Drew.

This book is more visual than text oriented, with usually two sentences per page. Those young readers who want military books will enjoy the live action photography.

Official United States military photos from the United States Department of Defense and U.S. Army fill the pages with planes and helicopters both on the ground and in the air. Troops are shown walking into the back’s of open carriers, as well, and repelling out of helicopters. Page ten shows the interior of a C-17 Globemaster (most likely) filled with four rows of 22+ troops in full army gear waiting to get to their destination.

There are specially trained people to load the various transports. Planes are used for equipment, such as, tanks and vehicles, as well as for moving troops. Helicopters are used for moving weapons, fuel, and rescue missions. “Huge ships carry thousands of soldiers. The ships can hold thousands of tons of cargo.” (14)

“Transport is the first step in many military actions!” (20)

The www.factsurfer.com at the end of the book did not seem to take this reader to any more sites.

Hal is a Hoist and Lift forklift. Hal works very hard at the warehouse moving crates all day.( Author / illustrator Ken Bowser has labeled those crates with: silly string, bumble bees, tarantulas, snow skis, kite string, toilet paper, marbles, and monkeys among other things.) When Hal gets to the last crate to move that day, ” ‘ What is this?’ he thought. Automatic Robotic Forklift the label read. Hal was puzzled. ‘A new fork lift?’ he worried. ‘Huh?’ ” (16) Was Hal’s job on the line?  Then, Foreman Frank tells Hal, ” ‘Al’s here to assist you and you’ll be his boss!’ …He could NEVER replace you, Hal! You know this place better than anyone!’ ” (22)

Young readers who enjoy Disney/Pixar’s CARS will enjoy this book, too.

The last page asks four “Big Questions” to help the reader fine tune his comprehension of this story.

Snail and Slug is a  tale of friendship between a slug and snail. Snail invites Slug into her very large home (which has a cellar, a sink, and a dishwasher) because it is so hot outside. The two develop a friendship even though they have differences. While on a picnic, Slug stands up to a bully (a banana slug). Snail and Slug become such good friends that Snail asks Slug if she would like to share her home. The illustrations are bright and colorful and the expression on the character’s faces add to the story.

The story of how three young girls: Maria Merian, Mary Anning, and Maria Mitchell changed science. The stories are told separately, occur at different time periods, and are written in verse. Maria Merian observed and painted pictures of the life cycle of insects. Mary Anning looked for fossils. Maria Mitchell mapped the night sky. All three were doing things that were deemed unladylike, but they persevered and influenced science. There is an author’s note at the end discussing how and why she wrote this book. Although this is a work of fiction, she also includes a bibliography about each girl and notes the books that were written for young readers.

The Telling, by Alexandra Sirowy, is a murder mystery and a coming of age story, which deals with social issues confronting today’s teens sensitively.  Lana McBrook divides her life into “before” and “after.”  Before includes her stepbrother, Ben; after does not.  Ben was murdered under suspicious circumstances; then others involved with Lana and Ben are also murdered.  This story is tightly written, with believable characters having realistic interactions.  There are interesting plot twists, and very good storytelling.  However, Lana does tend to go on a bit with some of her descriptions. The author is in no hurry to delve into the murders, prefering to establish the main characters and their relationships first.  The main thrust, besides the murders, is in exploring interactions among the main characters.  Lana was never part of the “in-group,“ keeping to herself along with her best friend.  After Ben’s murder, she is welcomed into this group and devotes a lot of time in learning how to resolve the sudden change.  There are elements to attract audiences of different types of literature.  There is a murder mystery, a ghost story, high school tensions, the meaning of the changing aspects of friendship, and, above all, courage in the face of adversity.  A murder mystery with surprising twists, an element of otherworldlyness, high school social angst, and personal growth for the main characters, The Telling will draw the reader into its web from the very first sentence.  Highly recommended.