This is a wonderful story of the life of Mr. Ives, America’s greatest musical composer.  It begins with his ability to find music in ordinary sounds, which will assist the young reader with relating their own experiences.   During the year of 1915, Mr. Ives is impacted by the sinking of a passenger ship called The Lusitania, torpedoed by the enemy. As he waits with family members on the platform, for the surviving passengers to rejoin them, he begins to sing.  Soon everyone is humming, singing a song which is healing and hopeful for the group.  The power of music is astounding.  From this he creates a piece From Hanover Square North, at the End of a Tragic Day, the Voice of the People Again Arose.

Included in the book are other pieces that he composed, such as Pocahontas for the Ballet. A paragraph of information of each piece, along with an illustration is the just the right balance of information for young readers.  The back of the book, includes extensive information for adult readers to share.  The further reading list and selected sources are obviously well researched.  Great information shared in a great format.  Well done!

Dramatic illustrations will pull the young readers into the book.  Images of the warriors in their war dress will lure people into the world of the Aztec Warrior.  Captions and vocabulary words are included on the page that they have relevance and connection to.  This should make for an easier interpretation for the reader.  The only thing missing is a map.  We need a map of the world which highlights the territory that the Aztec Warrior lived.  This way the reader can compare and contrast based on where they are on the planet.  This simple addition would meet many national and state learning standards, as well as be valuable to the reader.

This nonfiction book does an exceptional job of explaining in clear language and pictures the duties of an EMT.  The tools are included: ambulance, defibrillator, gurneys, oxygen masks etc.  Pictures are included of each of these tools and an explanation of how the EMT uses the tools to help the patient.  At the end of the book, There is a matching activity with the picture of the equipment and the words.  Also included at True and False questions, and a glossary.   Well done and recommended.

This counting book has fabulous illustrations and uses the counting as a way to introduce information about rocks and their relationship to the environment and humans.  Great information and superbly relates to a child’s world and will draw the reader in as the author guides us through a series of places and situations where the importance and purpose of rocks on in our world.  In the back of the book, are an in-depth description of books that an adult could read to children or read and then discuss with children.

Recommended.  I would like to purchase the entire series for my elementary library.

The illustrations really make the book come alive with the spirit of the story line.  Well done.  The story begins with a couple of witches brewing a delicious pot and then concluded that they needed Skeleton  for dinner.  The main character, a skeleton, determines that the witches to eat him for dinner, not have him over for dinner.  Off he goes, running through the grave yard while gathering friends who are in the invitation list and spreading the fear.  Finally a crow helps to clarify the situation and all end up eating a wonderful dinner together!

This nonfiction book is told in a story format while teaching the concept of the water cycle.  The main characters Kit and Mateo journey up to the clouds to learn the cycle of evaporation, cloud formation, and condensation.  Included is information about the different types of clouds, a glossary, additional reading, index, internet sites and the encouragement of the reader to go outside and observe clouds!

The construction of this book is of the highest quality with exceptional binding and shiny, thick pages.  This is greatly appreciated by school librarians. Great illustrations and appealing graphic design make this a book to pick up.

The text includes the history of Willis Carrier, the inventor of the air conditioner.  Told of his personal and researching information about the creation of the first air conditioning units.  Successes and Struggles, and his legacy are highlighted.

A section called, “You be the Inventor” encourages the reader to invent something based on an original idea that they have.  Patents are discussed, and a Timeline, and Words to Know, and  Learn More section with books and Web Sites are included.

In giving voice to memorable teenager Loa Lindgren, Blythe Woolston offers us a penetrating look into the heart of a wounded but marvelously unique soul working her way through the pain of losing loved ones to death, overcoming nightmares in which death (The Bony Guy) haunts and menaces her, coping with seemingly merciless parents, loving a little brother, retrieving her own hope, and making us care as she does.

This voice is not a common one. Loa, assigned to explain “The Freak Observer” by her Physics teacher, laces her experiences together with dreams and physics questions as she works her way through them. Compounded by confusion about Corey, her friend/lover, and his enigmatic, seemingly threatening postcards from Europe, Loa’s life appears bleak and unpromising.

Then change happens just when it should, and it is not, thank the stars, all up to her anymore. As her understanding shifts, there is starlight where before there was a universe of regret, and, as so often in life, new friends and art pave the way for hope, self-love, and fulfillment.

“The Freak Observer” is a conscious entity that pops into being in its own universe because there may be other universes to observe. So, in a sweet dream that comes at last, Loa finds she is able to breathe underwater in a world astonishingly beautiful and new, realizing “this is only another universe. And I’m its observer.”

Well-written and absorbing, this book is a fine path through the brain of a tender young person well on her way. Highly recommended.

The dinosaur tooth fairy has been lonely as it’s been a long, long time since the dinosaurs were around.  She hangs around the natural history museum and sees a child who has just, at that moment, lost a tooth, and the dinosaur tooth fairy realizes she needs that tooth.  She chases after the child, to her home, and has to wrestle the  human tooth fairy for it.  They compromise and the dinosaur tooth fairy gives the human tooth fairy a dinosaur tooth, and the dinosaur t.f. gets the human’s tooth.  They are now bff’s.  A little too much going on here and it’s confusing.  It’s a difficult concept for kids to think of how long ago the dinosaurs actually lived, but then to add the tooth fairy to the mix is unnecessary.