Patricia Polacco has been cranking out wonderful picture books based on personal stories for years.  An A From Miss Keller is an account of her own experience in school with a writing teacher nicknamed ‘Killer Keller’ because of her high, strict standards. Patricia works hard to achieve a coveted A grade from Miss Keller, but doesn’t seem to move past her regular C.  Patricia has an elderly neighbor whom she calls Pop who listens and gives her sage advice.  For her most important homework writing assignment, Patricia must write a personal narrative, but it isn’t until Pop suddenly dies that she is able to express her true feelings.  Miss Keller gave great exercises in using descriptive language and let her students know that she believed in them and that they had the ability within them to write great things.  This is such a touching story and shows how a really good teacher can inspire and draw work from her students.  If only there were more Miss Kellers around today.  This is a must purchase for both elementary and middle school libraries as well as any writing teacher.

There are so many things which bother me about this book that I don’t even know where to begin.  But since I am a visual person, I’ll start with the ‘photographs.’  These, of course, aren’t really photos but just someone manipulating internet images onto an outdoor image.  Much of the information is also straight from the internet, much of it from Wikipedia, so I’m not sure how accurate that is.    Then there is the whole time issue which concerns me.  Apparently bison originated in Eurasia and came to North America over the Bering land bridge about 10,000 years ago, right when these cats were disappearing.  Plus did horses then look like horses today?  Young kids love to look at pictures of saber-tooth tigers, however, these pictures are obviously doctored and the text isn’t of the highest quality.  Your money is better spent elsewhere.

With a good imagination, you’ll never be bored.  This is a story about Niko, a boy who excels at imagining adventures.  He has even gone so far as to build his own spaceship by recycling boxes and other things which could pass for controls.  Niko is on his way to the moon along with his dog, Tag, and trustworthy friend, Radar (a robot).    Unfortunately, his sister and a neighbor’s cat have tagged along.  They make it to the moon and don their spacesuits and helmets and go on a hunt.  Miffed at his sister, Niko leaves her there and starts for home.  Tag is upset, the cat is upset, Radar is upset, so Niko goes back and fetches his sister.  The story is how I would expect an imaginative boy to act.  The illustrations are outstanding as many of them feature black pages representing space, and white text.  Hopefully Niko’s creativity will spur some in students reading this book.

Strange and wonderful is right!  This amazing, intelligent invertebrate is a mollusk.  The book features extremely accurate, detailed illustrations rather than photographs.  Pringle includes a wide variety of factual information which captures the attention of any reader.  It is written mostly in engaging text rather than isolated snippets accompanying a photo.  The fascinating introduction to the octopus tells of different species, its intelligence, shapes, colors, textures of skin, methods of hunting, survival, and predators.  Henderson’s accurate, appealing, and colorful illustrations are well paired with the text.  A glossary, index, additional resources, and related quality websites are included.

Glamourpuss lives with the “gazillionaire” Mr. and Mrs. Highhorsen.  She has the best money can buy and is spoiled beyond belief.  She doesn’t go downstairs, she descends.  She doesn’t lie down, she reclines.  She even changed the ordinary “me-ow” to just ME!  One day, Mrs. Highhorsen’s sister, Eugenia, comes for an extended visit – with Bluebelle, a tacky Chihuahua.  Glamourpuss is horrified.  Bluebelle is taking all the attention.  When the Highhorsen’s and Eugenia left for a while, Glamourpuss discovers Bluebelle has destroyed all her costumes.  It was then Glamourpuss realizes Bluebelle just wanted to be more sophisticated like Glamourpuss.  With a few helpful instructions, Bluebelle becomes not only more stylish, but a good friend.  The ink and watercolor illustrations are humorous and depict the classy owners from the neck down – the perspective of a small pet.  This would be a fun book to use when discussing adjectives.

This book on crystals gives the reader more information than many introductory books.  Starting with how crystals are formed from minerals, this potentially complex subject is presented in a very readable format.  A variety of crystals are mentioned.  One learns how crystal shapes are formed by their facets, how crystals grow, where they can be found in nature, and how people use them.  The reader is encouraged to view websites, critique short articles, do experiments, reflect on what they know about crystals and defend their opinions.  Glossary, index, bibliography, and websites are included.  This book goes a step further than most resources by providing opportunities for the reader to contemplate, analyze, and/or appraise given information.

Reginald is not your run-of the-mill zombie.  Instead of brains to eat, he wants peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  As hard as he tries to get one, humans run or refuse to deal with him.  As fellow zombies lurch through town in search of brains, Reginald tries to persuade them to try the enticing peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  One day he notices Abigail Zink, in a crowd of townspeople, holding a lunch sack containing the long sought-for sandwich.  As he shuffles toward her, the other zombies enclose looking for brains.  Reginald grabs the sack and tosses Abigail’s lunch into the gathering of zombies.  As they devour the sandwich, they discover how delicious they are!  The townspeople realize the zombies are just hungry.  In no time, zombies are working for humans, being paid with PB&Js.  Reginald, however, continues to be unlike the other zombies.  He has discovered a new food – pizza!  A fun zombie story with a twist for young readers.

Julie Murray has written another nonfiction book for young children.  Beginning readers learn about having fish for pets.  The photos are full-paged and colorful.  The vocabulary is appropriate and the text is large.  A variety of fish are shown although none are named.  A simple glossary and index are included.  The ABDO website offers further information and activities.

In this beginning reader’s nonfiction book, young children see photos of a variety of horses.  Very basic information is provided.  Photographs are full-paged and colorful.  Although names of the different breeds are not included, the common features are described and shown.  Glossary, index, and an ABDO website with additional information, videos, and activities are included.

Although this book is mainly about grizzly bears, other mammals are compared to them.  The grizzly’s features are compared to the wolverine and the three-banded armadillo.  Wild boars are also omnivorous and will dig to find roots and insects.  Like bears, the skunk will hibernate during cold months.  The American bison is large like the grizzly, inhabit similar places, yet remain active during the winter months.  Both the grizzly and jaguars are solitary animals and share similar life cycles.  The title is rather misleading.  When selecting this book, one expects to learn about the grizzly bear.  However, the focus is comparing the traits with a variety of other animals.  While one learns a great deal, it is difficult to put it all together.  A trait chart on page 30 finally clarifies the reasons each of the animals can be compared to the grizzly.  Also included are a glossary, bibliography, websites, and an index.