This is the traditional Sleeping Beauty fairy tale, but Sarah Gibb has added her own distinct style. Her artwork is beautiful and the twisting vines and flowers seem to take you from one page to the next. She uses black silhouettes on many pages, just as she did in Rapunzel. There is no lingering fright in this story; the evil fairy is quickly mentioned and then quickly a quick-thinking fairy helps to soothe things. This is a lovely version of the scary Disney fairy tale and won’t cause any nightmares.

This is a story about a divided family, a family affected by divorce, told from the point of view of the child, Cardell.  Cardell had a perfectly good mama and a perfectly good daddy, but they lived on different sides of the desert, and Cardell spent time with both of them.  Cardell was a coyote.  Daddy had remarried and Cardell’s stepmother and stepbrother were fine.  But now a new neighbor, Otis, was coming around and trying to court his mother, and he wasn’t sure that was okay with him.  His mother had chased off other suitors but Otis was different.  After a time, Cardell got to know Otis and found him to be a good guy and good for his mother.  This story takes a difficult situation and makes it easier for kids to understand.  A great read aloud for younger and middle grades.

Gordon Korman is a popular author among third through seventh graders.  It almost feels like you are eavesdropping on conversations while reading his books, the dialog is so natural.  Unleashed is book 7 in the Swindle Mystery series.  Korman’s popularity is oftentimes based on having so many series with multiple books in them; kids enjoy getting to know the characters and then want to read another story that is based more on the plot.  In this episode, as in all other episodes, there are a number of side stories intertwined.  The kids’ school is having an ‘Inventa-palooza’ — an invention contest.  Griffin gets sucked into entering by his arch nemesis, Darren, namely because Griffin’s dad is a professional inventor.  But Darren’s ploy is just to make a fool out of Griffin; he already has what he thinks is the winning invention made with the help of his father’s company.  Griffin is stumped; his dad’s creativity just didn’t passed along with the genes.  He hopes to rope in his brainiac friend Melissa, but she has already entered the contest herself.  Her invention is a system to keep Luthor, a Doberman dog, from chasing a truck down the street.  The first time it’s used, it works brilliantly, but then it gets stolen.  They can’t figure out why or by whom.  Griffin’s invention involves a household appliance, and although it seems to work, it causes power outages whenever its turned on.  The humor is pervasive throughout the whole story, especially during the blackouts and Darren’s hysteria.  Those familiar with Korman’s other books will enjoy this one as well.

This is the newest in the beloved Encyclodedia Brown detective series (# 13) . In The Case of the Midnight Visitor, Encyclopedia solved ten baffling mysteries, including the case of a kidnapped millionaire, a dangerous dog and it’s mean owner, a well known big-town crook, and more.

As is usual in this series, at the end of the book are the solutions to each case.

Kakapos are the largest parrots on earth, endangered, and living on an island off of New Zealand.  These large birds are nocturnal and cannot fly.  These birds have been indigenous to New Zealand for at least a thousand years, since records started being kept.  This book has some highly detailed photographs showing these unusual birds and their habitats, traits, and life cycle.  I’m not sure that the kakapo qualifies as one of the world’s weirdest animals, but certainly in the endangered series.  It seems to be merely a holdover from a time long ago.  This book will make an excellent addition to the bird shelf in an elementary library.

The U.S. Civil War is part of the A Chronology of a Divided Nation series. Also included in this series are The Battle Over Slavery, Yankees and Rebels, and the novel The Songs of Stones Rivers. The series includes chronology, biographies, and cause and effect.

The U.S. Civil war title includes time lines, info-graphics, color illustrations and black and white photographs, maps, a glossary, an index, references to text and web resources, and questions aligned with the Common Core.

The Untold Story of the Black Regiment is part of a series including The Untold Story of the Battle of Saratoga, The Untold Story of Henry Knox, and The Untold Story of Washington’s Surprise Attack. Written for mid-elementary aged students, this particular title tells the inspiring story of the black soldier who fought in the Revolutionary War.  Many people do not that black soldiers fought in this war of independence, only to never realize freedom in their own lifetimes.

This book contains info-graphics, timelines, color paintings and maps, a glossary and index, and text and web references for further reading.

This is part of The Revolutionary War series that also includes Battle for a New Nation: Causes and Effects of the Revolutionary War, Patriots and Redcoats: Stories of American Revolutionary War Leaders, and A Rebel Among Redcoats: A Revolutionary War Novel.T

This title includes info-graphics, sidebars, fact boxes,  definitions, critical thinking questions, a table of contents, glossary, referrals to other books and internet sites, and an index.

Andrew Luck is the son of a professional football player and was a standout quarterback for Stanford, and was the first player chosen in the 2012 football draft.  Chosen by the Indianapolis Colts, Luck was to be the golden boy to deliver them to the promised land.  Luck set new records in his first year, but in four years he has not yet gone to the big game.  Luck is one of the premiere players in the league.  This book will be a big hit for boys in particular who are in grades three through five, who are just getting interested in sports.  Andrew Luck is a great role model for them to hero-worship.

T. A. Barron is a prolific writer and student of all things relating to Merlin.  In this small book, Barron has condensed the secret to a happy life in seven little words: Gratitude, Courage, Knowledge, Belief, Wonder, Generosity, Hope, and Love.  Sounds pretty easy, but to paraphrase Confucius, ‘life is simple, it’s people who make it confusing.’  And Barron seems to adopt this philosophy. After reading his book, it seems to be accurate.  We need to stop and think about what we have, what we need, who we need, and so on.  These seven words pretty much convey everything in life that is important.  This would be a perfect gift for a young adult, or someone who is confused and floundering.  It’s a great recipe for life.