Sports books, especially football, are very popular with elementary-age boys.  Miami Dolphins gives a history of the team since its inception in 1966.  Key players, coaches, and seasons are given extra attention.  A timeline of the team is included, as well as a ‘game recap’ — popular by TV game announcers.  This book will be a welcomed addition to the library.

Weather is a core science subject for primary grades in elementary school.  What Is a Forecast? does an excellent job in explaining exactly how the weather is forecast and why it is helpful.  Easy to read vocabulary and the photographs fit the text perfectly.  This book is a must buy for elementary schools to beef up their weather section.

Readers are introduced to Designer Cats which are trendy cats that look like a wildcat but have a domestic cat’s personality.  The Toyger is bred to look like a small version of the Asian tiger, even though it has no tiger blood.  As a hybrid, the Toyger is a cross between a domestic shorthair tabby cat and  a Bengal cat.  The process of breeding these cats to take on the facial markings and tiger patterns is discussed, as well as their behavior as pets, and how to care for them.  Oddly enough, there was no mention of how the name “Toyger” came to be.  I discovered from another online source that, due to the fact that this new domestic designer cat’s coat was reminiscent of a tiger’s, it was called a Toy Tiger, and shortened to “Toyger.”  Not all kids would have inferred that on their own.  I think kids would be quite interested in this whole series which includes Chausie Cats, Safari Cats, Bengal Cats, Pixiebob Cats, and Savannah Cats.  Back Matter includes Glossary of bolded words, Index and Web Sites.  “Web Sites” instructs the reader to learn more about toyger cats at  www.abdopublishing.com, however, when I visited the site, I could not find any information about toyger cats.

As the scene opens, 12 yr. old Ben is, yet again, the new kid at school being picked on in the cafeteria by a bully. When suddenly, the cafeteria table just folds up on itself without any help from people. Peter, a ‘loner’ ushers Ben away from the bully and the cafeteria.

After school, Ben’s mother has an invitation for Ben to join an after school Science Camp at the college where she is working. Ben soon finds out Peter is at the science camp, so Ben knows one person already. Dr. Hughes leads the camp which deals with quantum mechanics. ”  ‘Quantum mechanics inform our understanding and predictions for many things. Every natural process, whether chemical, or biological or astronomical, ultimately comes back to quantum physics…’  “ ( p. 16) From Dr. Hughes’ introduction, Ben soon finds himself being able to pull atoms and molecules together from the air to produce fireballs, rain clouds, snow, and ice in a process called actuation (much like in the movie The Sorcerer’s Apprentice with Nicholas Gage).  Ben is excelling at Science Camp! But then , Dr. Hughes and her equipment are kidnapped. Ben and Peter are taken to help the ‘good guys’ of Quantum League. But Ben is not a willing participant, especially after he’s told they have wiped him from the memories of all those who have known him – including his mother!

The ‘Old One’ (who leads the Quantum League) persuades Ben to help recover Dr. Hughes, by telling Ben they will restore his mother’s memory of him. Ben will become a double agent, no a triple agent, all for the cause of ultimate good over evil. Little by little Ben unravels the truth of how both sides are lying to him to accomplish their goals. Once Dr. Hughes is safe, Ben makes the decision to leave the League, to exile himself until he finds a way to reattach himself in his mother’s memory.

Fast paced, well told,  full of action, twists and turns,  and thought provoking characters.

I know some math teachers who would be disgruntled with this book, for some the artistic license that it takes with the precision of shape definitions:  apples, pumpkins, and balloons may be more or less spherical, but not exactly so, and as three dimensional objects, using the two-dimensional term “circle” to describe them would be even less accurate; some of the checks and seed packets that are meant to represent squares are a bit wrinkly & wonkey, which really makes them not exactly squares, and there’s no squares included on the recktangle page, even though squares are technically rectangles… But if you’re just trying to get a general idea of shapes across to preschoolers, and get them looking at the world around them, the illustrations are bright and the rhyming story of the trip to the farm is fun, with lots of hunting to be done on each page to see how many different things they can find to represent the shape in question.

There’s nothing on the book proclaiming it to be part of a series, but I kinda got the sense it was, so I did an online search and did indeed find many Tashi books by the same author.  I think the reason I suspected it was part of a series was that there wasn’t really any character development, and it read kind of like we were already supposed to know who Tashi was.  If you’ve got students who already know and like this character, this might be a good addition to your collection, but as a stand-alone book I didn’t find it very strong. One year when the rains don’t come as usual, Tashi sets off to try to find the dragon who causes them and ask him why; he meets a tiger along the way who points him in the right direction, explaining that there’s a young dragon who hasn’t learned to control his powers yet; upon finding the young dragon, Tashi discovers he’s sad and lonely because he ate his sister and his mother’s been put to sleep by a demon and won’t wake up; Tashi convinces the young dragon to sing to comfort himself, which wakes Mom, who explains how to unswallow Sis and agrees to send the rains, so Tashi was a hero.  I thought it was rather long and rambly, but maybe I would have appreciated it more if I know more about the main character.

The story opens with a coat that feels disgruntled at being left as a scarecrow, feeling he’s meant for better things.  When a young man comes strolling along the road, he seems to agree that the coat is too nice to be left in the field, and he puts it on.  The coat takes over from there: the wind catches in its sleeves and carries the man off to a restaurant where he enjoys a fabulous meal, and performs for the patrons in payment, even though he’s never played before.  As the music plays, the brown tones of the opening illustrations begin to fill with color. It’s okay, but I’m not sure I agree that it’s worth of the “short-listed book” award that the Children’s Book Council of Australia gave it.

It’s basically a pep-talk/lecture with cute illustrations.  The basic theme is there’s no wrong way to paint: it starts by insisting any idea is fine, then goes on to describe different methods different painters use.  It assures the reader that it’s normal to feel cross if it doesn’t turn out as you hoped, and insists that the important thing is to have fun.  The bright colors in the illustrations will lead children to pick it up, but many will be disappointed when they read it: it’s a bit preachy. But it does have a good message.

It’s one of those books that’s meant to help parents talk to their children about where babies come from.  The story opens with a young boy getting the news from his parents that they’re going to get a new baby.  Wondering just where they’ll be getting this baby from, he spends his day asking everyone he knows where babies come from, including his baby sitter, his teacher, his grandfather, and the mailman, but he’s not satisfied with any of their answers (babysitter says you plant a seed and a baby tree grows; grandpa says the stork leaves ’em on the doorstep; teacher says hospital; mailman says eggs).  So at the end of the day he asks his folks, who give him a basic clinical answer.  When he thinks over their explanation, he decides all the other folks had a piece of the puzzle except grandpa. The back of the book offers parents some suggested answers for when kids start asking for more details.  All in all, it’s a good tool for opening conversations between kids and adults, but be prepared for some parents who are not happy with information being available that they maybe aren’t ready to share yet.

I liked it.  This is the first book in this series that I read, and one thing I liked right off is though it is book five in the series, it provided enough background about characters and previous events that I was able to pick up in the middle and understand just fine.  Elementary school kids often pick up series books in the middle, and it’s good if reading them in order isn’t too important.  This one recounts the adventures the Spence Mansion trio face when their heads get turned by Hollywood promises and sign dastardly contracts with a producer who wants to butcher their story as he makes his own film.  The characters are fun. The writing is witty.  The illustrations are mixed with letters in a format that makes the book not too intimidating for reluctant/young readers.