This factual book is written in four sections: What are Gray Wolves?, Pack Life, On the Hunt, and Pups. There are an average of two sentences per page. Included within the pages of text are a map, a graph, and two charts. Wolves’ physical characteristics of height, weight, and color are stated, as well, as what they eat, their habitats, and where they live. The photos of the wolves are captivating.

The map on page 5 showing the wolves range around the Western Hemisphere is correct, but the sentence below the map states eastern Greenland, when according to the map (and National Geographic from the book’s www.factsurfer.com) the wolves reside in western Greenland.

Includes: Contents, Index, Glossary, and www.factsurfer.com.

Dare I say this young adult novel can be both entertaining and educational?  Sophomore Year Is Greek To Me is Meredith Zeitlin’s second young adult novel.  Though the first one is titled with a reference to “Freshman Year”, this is not a sequel.  In this story young Zona Lowell is leaving her beloved New York City lifestyle to be a new student in an international school in Greece while her father does research to write a book.  Zona herself is an investigative writer for her school newspaper, and while she has to let that be maintained by her friends back in the states, Zona throws in plot moving newspaper article inserts throughout the book.  Reading them is mandatory to make sure one doesn’t miss interesting plot points and character insights.  Zona will adjust to life meeting new friends, chasing after a “crush” who wasn’t all that, and settling into a friendly happiness with a boy that just gets her.  But the connection to Greece is not just by chance.  Zona’s departed mother was Greek and Zona has never met her mother’s side of the family. The whole climax of the story involves Zona going to stay with her Greek relatives by herself for the two week Easter holiday break from school.  Not only is this educational and foundational for Zona, but readers can learn a thing or two about Greek Orthodox Easter celebrations and Greek family structure.  I’d be curious what research path Zeitlin took because this reader would have liked to have tagged along.  A charming 15 turning 16 year old, coming of culture novel that girls as young at 7th grade might enjoy.  This stand alone is probably an additional purchase for most school libraries.

This United Kingdom non fiction picture book dealing with the celebration of Christmas uses high interest photos with low word count to open dialogue between the young reader and an adult.

I point out U.K. because of the use of ‘crackers’ (p. 17) and the types of desserts (mince meat pie [ p. 19]) used in this holiday’s celebration.

I found the same grammatical mistake in two places: (p. 18) ” How do YOUR family…” and (p. 12) ” What do YOUR family put…”

The best part of the book just might be the “Notes for adults” found on pages 22-23 on how to use this book with young children. The book is said to support “Early Years Foundation Stages”.

Contains an Index and Contents.

Clifford the BIG red dog is pairing up with word opposites while Emily Elizabeth and he visit a zoo. They see at least nine animals and compare them to Clifford: small / big – penguins / Clifford, sleeping/awake – koalas / Clifford, light/heavy – butterflies / Clifford, dirty/clean – hippo / Clifford, noisy/ quiet – howler monkeys / Clifford, hard / soft – tortoise / Clifford, up/down – birds / Clifford, curly / straight – chameleon / Clifford, and wet / dry – seals / Clifford.

After the story’s conclusion, there are four pages which include a 2 or 3 sentence factual paragraph about each of the nine animals Emily and Clifford saw while at the zoo.

The book’s front cover is a tactile  bonus for preschool children and kindergartners alike.   A thick board cover with a cutout of Clifford is filled with a soft padded red fabric inset of Clifford. Clifford’s padding is almost flush with the board, so it should not cause a problem when shelving this book.

Jan Brett’s skilled and customary art style accompany the speculated tale of how a young cave boy becomes friends with a Paleowolf. In customary storytelling fashion, three times the cave boy stops to ask the Paleowolf a question and then deny the animal any of his roasted Wooly Rhino bones. Each time the Paleowolf leaves, Kip the cave boy discovers and eludes a dangerous animal in the nick of time. “Finally, Kip made a speech. He said, ‘Wolfy, if you will use your keen nose and your fine ears and your sharp eyes to keep me from being eaten up, I promise to share with you all the Wooly Rhino ribs and even Mammoth meat that I cook over the fire.’  ”

From inside back cover, “The images and ornaments of her borders were inspired by the cave paintings and artifacts surviving from this time.”

Caged like an animal. Training for a mission. This story begins In Medias Res, or in the middle, launching the reader into Nathan’s tortuous life without knowing why he is treated in such a way until 20 pages into his life.  Nathan is a half blood – half white witch and half black witch. Both white and black witches live among the humans in this modern English setting. Nathan has strong ties to his white heritage as he is raise by his grandmother on that side. But his 17th birthday is approaching. With this birthday he should receive his 3 gifts at his Giving ceremony. While he always assumed it they would be given by his grandmother, securing his connection to the white side, the Council takes him away from his family, setting up a struggle that will pit Nathan between his mother’s white side — a mother who committed suicide to avoid the family drama and trauma– and his father’s side — a father who Nathan has never know, who he has been told may want to kill him, and who he still has the strongest desire to meet.   This story has tones of the racial tension of our past as Nathan struggles between his white and black sides early on.  The 1st book in a trilogy, readers can easily sense that the story just won’t be wrapping up any time soon.  If witches are the new vampires, this Sally Green’s Half Bad trilogy should do well with middle and high school grade readers.

What does it take to establish one’s self in an inner city St. Louis school – as the new girl, the overweight new girl with bright curly red hair? Erica wants to be accepted like all kids, but she’s also brash. She wouldn’t get pushed around and when she’s not afraid to speak her mind, it lands her in a fight with one of the “tough girls” in the school. But the opportunity comes to save face while in the principal’s office and it’s there that Alicia makes her first new friend. This friend is in a rough crowd though. The outside activities of this crowd include assaulting random people for fun. Called the “Knockout Game”, Erica gets caught up in it for two reasons. First, she’s a good videographer and people like that love to watch themselves even more than doing the evil deed. Second, the gang leader takes a liking to her. But video of these assaults could never lead to something good. This novel is for the student who thinks tough acts are the way to go and for those who probably watch that on TV. G. Neri’s Knockout Games is not for the faint of heart. This story is somewhat sickening, but it will get circulation in most high school libraries.

Gorgeous photographs illustrate this informative book on dolphins, written in Spanish.  These intelligent mammals are fast swimmers that hunt and play together.  Physical characteristics,  the life cycle, and habitats are explained.  This is a terrific resource for anyone looking to know more about this amazing animal with few enemies.

This book on ancient Egyptians, written in Spanish, is jam-packed with information and fascinating photos.  One can almost imagine life 4000 years ago.  There are many facts about pharaohs, the methods of preserving mummies, the construction of pyramids, and activities of these ancient peoples.  In the back are questions and with answers from Anna Garnett, an Egyptologist and expert on mummies, along with information concerning Cleopatra VII, the last queen of Egypt, and Julius Caesar, emperor of Rome.  The layout is captivating and spectacular.

Gilbert Stuart painted portraits of several famous people, but capturing a pleasing likeness of President Washington was a challenge.  This book begins with a letter of apology from Charlotte, one of Stuart’s 12 children, promising Mr. Washington that she and her siblings would be better behaved the next time he came to the house for a portrait sitting.  The grim president sent them a book of Rules for Good Behavior for Boys and Girls – some of which are mentioned.  In another letter, Charlotte suggests he should smile as it would make him “very Nice”.  Stuart also unsuccessfully tried to have his children play away from home when Washington was there.  The book is filled with the children’s humorous antics – which finally elicited a smile from Washington.  Portrait accomplished!  There is an author’s note in the back.  Even though there is no record of the behaviors of Stuart’s children, this rendition presents a humanizing look at both Washington and Stuart.  The amusing illustrations are a colorful combination of ink, acrylic, and digital media.