This rhyming bedtime story chronicles the adventures of children who participate in a Night Parade, “while mothers and fathers lie sleeping.” The children dance around stars, skip around signposts and “make cakes for the moon with an old wooden spoon and get frosting all over their faces.” The magical verse and vibrant illustrations will make this book a bedtime favorite.
Sometimes Ruby needs just one more….one more minute to sleep, one more push on the swing, or one more scoop of ice cream on her cone. This story, that every toddler and adult reader will relate to, is brought to life with GORGEOUS and engaging illustrations.
This simple story follows the path of a bouncing ball as it journeys from a small boy, to a small girl, and back again. The illustrations are bright and engaging.
One of six books in the Big Machines series, this book describes a number of big floating machines and provides a few interesting facts about each. Each “big” machine is rated Big, Super or Mighty!!! Photographs are set off by illustrated text and sidebar information. The book includes a table of contents, brief quiz, glossary and index.
Brachiosaurus is one of six books in this series. It describes the dinosaur in relative terms–as tall as a four-story building and as heavy as 12 elephants. His head was “small,” he ate “plants,” and the dinosaurs died “long ago.” There are interesting illustrations, a table of contents and a glossary.
This is a lively tale about Nadine, a boastful cow who claims she isn’t afraid of anything. Her skeptical friends ask if she might be afraid of lightning, or the woods? “Not me,” bragged Nadine and she heads for the woods to prove her point. The book, written in rhyme, describes Nadine’s adventures (and misadventures) in the woods; as darkness draws near, Nadine dashes for home to a hero’s welcome.
This whimsical bedtime story follows the antics of an octopus as he helps a boy get read for bed with a bath (in egg salad), teeth brushing (with paint), and monsters in the closet. This quick and silly book will be enjoyed by young children, as well as the adult reading the story!
Ankylosurus is one of six book’s in Smithsonian’s Little Explorer Series. The book provides a thorough description of the dinosaur, its behavior, and its historical significance. Lively illustrations will captivate young aspiring paleontologists. The book includes an index, glossary and recommendations for additional reading and internet resources.
Mike Evans, AKA Dino-Mike, is the young son of world renown paleontologist Stanley Evans who are currently on a dig in Montana. When Mike finds the actual work involved in the dig tedious and boring his father suggests, ” Why don’t you go explore the other dig sites…but be back before dark…” (p. 19) Soon Mike is off in the nearby forest chasing down a mysterious girl. The girl, Shannon, is out hunting a real T.Rex, which Mike is having trouble understanding since, “they went extinct more than 65 million years ago!” (p. 31)Shannon reveals a boy, Jeff, has brought the T.Rex to this time. ” ‘ He thinks dinos should never have gone extinct. He’s trying to save them by introducing them into different time periods. Unfortunately, he doesn’t realize how much damage he’s doing or how many people he’s putting in danger. That’s why I’ve come back here to stop him…’ “ (p. 76) Shannon and Mike come up with a plan tricking both Jeff and the T.Rex into one of Shannon’s high tech gadgets capturing them both. After Shannon slips off with Jeff and the T.Rex, Mike comes across a nest of dinosaur eggs just as his father is looking for Mike for dinner. It seems the T.Rex was storming around the area looking for her long lost eggs.
The story line is fast-paced and clever. Franco leads the reader along willingly, just like Shannon does Mike. There is just enough dinosaur information to make the young would-be dinosaur aficionado think he is in the know, mixed in with new dinosaur trivia to grab and ‘wow’ the reader. The dinosaur jacket Mike’s father gave him is pretty amazing, as well, with its high tech gadgets. Add all this together with Franco’s numerous black and white story sketches and this new series should sprout wings and take off!
Includes a sewn binding, glossary, and Dino Facts about T. Rex.
A few years ago, building secret fairy houses was quite the rage. Little girls loved using natural materials to build these hideaways outside. However, I haven’t seen the interest in this for quite some time. In Ocean Secrets, fairy houses built on or near the beach are part of the story, but not to the point of having a series named for them. This book has a big variety of subplots: friendship between two tweens, a much-loved older home’s questionable future, lobster pots being stolen, mysterious lights in a closed-down hotel on an island, underwater fairy houses, taking care of wildlife, and working together to beat the thieves. The storyline itself is interesting but the audience it is written for is confusing. The vocabulary is at about a fourth grade reading level and the fairy house bit is interesting to second graders, many of the subplots are appropriate for second-graders but the thieves have guns and are not so appropriate. It’s just kind of a conundrum as to who this story is meant for.