I love these books!  This is the third one by this pair I’ve gotten, the others being A Leaf Can Be… and Water Can Be…, and I have loved them all.  The illustrations are fabulous and support the text, which is poetical.  With just a couple words per page, the text serves to list different forms and contexts in which we encounter rocks, from mountains to paving stones to the moon.  In order to make the rhyming work, the words are often figurative, and just in case the illustrations aren’t enough to aid the reader in deducing the author’s meaning, pages in the back of the book offer further explanation for each of the names given to rocks in the main body of the book.  An excellent resource to accompany a unit on rocks, as well as a beautiful choice for casual reading.

It’s got cute illustrations, but the text left me a little flat.  Told in rhyme, it is the story of a mouse who finds a shoe, wanders around trying to find who it belongs to, and when it finally is offered to him by the kangaroo who tossed it because it hurt his feet, the mouse turns it into a bed for himself.  The rhyming seemed a bit forced at times, and lacked the rhythm that makes it easy to read aloud smoothly.

This is a such a natural addition to the Sheep in a Jeep and Sheep in  a Shop collection that I can’t believe it took them this long to create it.  It’s got all the rhyme and alliteration that make the other books such great tools for having emergent readers study word construction.  And the rhythm and rhyme give aid in naturally fluent reading.  And the illustrations are sweet and add to the telling of the story.  It’s a counting book as the collie’s efforts help one more and then one more sheep fall asleep.  And besides, with the reputation sheep have for helping us sleep, it makes a perfect bedtime story.

Written in the form of rhyming questions, and accompanied by delightful illustrations that capture the word-play of the text, this book teaches the collective terms for groups of animals while imagining what these groups might be getting up to (e.g. “Does a pack of wolves load up bags for vacation? Does a cast of hawks get a standing ovation?”).  I learned a thing or two reading this book: I knew a group of crows was a murder and a group of tigers an ambush, but I had never heard of a crash of rhinos or a shiver of sharks or a parcel of penguins.  A glossary in the back provides the common-usage definitions for all the collective terms included in the book, in case young readers didn’t understand the illustrations or word play.  I just wish it would have had (if anyone knows) reasons for how these collective terms evolved (a prickle of porcupines seems obvious enough, but why a rumba of rattlesnakes?).  This could be an excellent discussion topic for students after reading.

Utterly charming! Sure to be a classic! A beautiful story on many levels!  The large format sets off the fabulous illustrations wonderfully.  The characters and the circumstances of the story are very believable and relatable, with a bit of adventure thrown in to get the message across.  Three bear siblings, up to mischief while mom is away, accidentally break her favorite shell, and rather than face her wrath, decide that if they can replace it she’ll never have to know.  And so they set off in a small row boat on their quest.  After venturing far from home and searching high and low, with still no shell to be found, they start quarreling over who’s at fault for getting them into this mess, but when a big storm kicks up they stop worrying over fault and they each own up to the part they played, and head for home ready to confess.  Back home they bask in mom’s forgiveness, in the form of hugs and kisses and a warm supper, but they don’t get any dessert.  What kid can’t relate?  I think it’s fabulous!

Twins Noah and Emma and their volcanologist father have traveled from Hawaii to spend a year in Alaska.  Noah thinks Alaska is the most boing place on Earth and cannot wait to return to Hawaii.  Their dad wants to take measurements on a dormant volcano on an island and Emma wants to see an eagle’s nest.  Their neighbor, Alex, goes along as a guide.  Almost immediately, the mountain begins grumbling and before they know it, they are in real danger.  They race back to the boat, hoping their dad has made it back as well.  Throughout their rush, they encounter quaking, poisonous gases, choking ash, sticky mud flows, and molten lava.  The action is fast and the story is sprinkled with many volcanic facts.  Additional volcano information is found in the back.  Fans of the “I Survived” series by Lauren Tarshis will be attracted by this and other books in the “Disaster Strikes” series.

Posey is completely fed up with the first grade boys.  She hears the word “weirdo” from her older 4th grade neighbor and decides to make up a song about her classmate, Henry.  Her girlfriends think it is funny but her favorite teacher, Miss Lee, does not.  Her family encourages her to put herself in Henry’s shoes, but she is still angry that she is the one in trouble.  Now she has to use her princess power to think of a way to make amends.  This easy-to-read chapter book realistically captures the typical emotions and behaviors of many first graders.  Black and white illustrations are a great match to the moods in the story.

Friends Sydney, girl with a love of fashion, and Sidney, boy with a love of sports, team up to convince their parents they are responsible enough to have a dog for a pet  With two other friends, they start a dog-walking business.  Almost immediately, they hit snags.  A business requires a lot of their time and consists of smaller jobs that are not so much fun – creating advertising posters, picking up the poop, making fair schedules.  Keeping their friendship and convincing their parents they can care for a pet is almost more than they can handle.  Both Sydney and Sidney tell the story in alternating chapters, working through all the big dog decisions.

Based on characters created by H. A. Rey and the Curious George television series, in this science storybook, Curious George learns about germs.  George does not feel well and the man with the yellow hat says he is fighting a bad germ and puts him to bed.  Similar to Miss Frizzle’s Magic School Bus, as George drifts off to sleep, he dreams he is germ-size and inside his own body.  George learns about both good and bad germs, how germs are spread , how they can affect people, as well as how to get rid of and avoid bad germs.  Side panels give additional nonfiction information.  An experiment soup recipe, and suggestions for healthy habits are found in the back with a glossary.  What a great way to introduce germs to young children.

Based on characters created by H. A. Rey and the Curious George television series, in this science storybook, Curious George learns about the ocean.  This adventure actually begins in the sky.  Curious George and the man in the yellow hat are in a helicopter when they learn a weather satellite from space just fell into the ocean.  They are involved in the retrieval and get to ride in a submarine.  In his trip underwater, George learns about animals and plants that live there.  Side panels provide additional nonfiction information.  In the back are experiments and activities (answers included) and a glossary.  This is a great introduction to aquatic life, ecosystems, and sonar/echo science for young children.