The book, In a Jar is a sweet metaphor for protecting and sharing special memories. Llewellyn is a bit of a loner, collecting items in jars so he can peer inside and remember the wonderful things he had seen and done. One evening he meets Evelyn and shares one of his jars with her. This led to seasons of collecting together. When Evelyn moves away, she and Llewellyn share jars back and forth, maintaining their friendship by sharing their present.

The story will encourage children to collect, protect, save, share and reexamine what makes the everyday things around them special. Recommended.

By Julia Donaldson
Illustrated by Axel Sheffler

Julia Donaldson introduces us to five uniquely bizarre animals of the African Savanna. The five animals: Wildebeest, Warthog, Spotted Hyena, Lappet-Faced Vulture and Marabou Stork all believe that they are the ugliest of all the creatures that roam the Savanna. They chant a rhyming song as they move along meeting each other. At the end their off-springs prove that even though the might not be the most beautiful animal, they are loved and needed, A lesson everyone can heed.
At the end of the book the author and illustrator include two pages of drawings of other animals you might see on a safari. The illustrations are beautiful but don’t deter from the message.
A good read aloud to illustrate order of events.

 This young reader edition is adapted by the author, Keith O’Brien, from his adult book of the same title. In Fly Girls, O’Brien tells the widely unknown story of American female aviators in the 1920’s and 30′. Amelia Earhart’s amazing accomplishments and the mystery of her disappearance appears prominently in history books but how many know Ruth Nichols, Louise Thaden, Ruth Elder, and Florence Klingensmith? These young female aviators were held back by deep gender inequities during golden age of flying, and as O’Brien explains of their forgotten histories, “each of the women went missing in her own way.” 

The stories of these five “fly girls” show how they came from very different backgrounds and experiences. Nichols was a New York debutante, Thaden sold coal in Wichita, Elder was hiding her divorce, Klingensmith was working on airplane engines, and Earhart was in Boston making life changing decisions.

Airplane racing was a very hot sport between WWI and WWII but was completely dominated by men. The five “fly girls” struggled to find opportunities to fly, begged sponsors, borrowed planes, took risks such as daredevil stunts on the wings of planes. O’Brien tells all of these stories, including numerous fiery crashes and the tragedies that occured in the cockpit and also on the ground.

Fly Girls is in the vein of Hidden Figures and The Girls of Atomic City, telling the story of how a group of women banded together to break the glass ceilings, struggling against entrenched prejudice, to fight for the right to do the job which had been seen as exclusively for men.

This Young Reader edition includes a glossary, source notes by chapter, an index, and primary source black and white photos.

By Allison Sweet Grant and Adam Grant
Illustrated by Merrilee Liddiard

Leif and his friend, Laurel attempt many different ways to make his fall to the ground softer and easier. During his trials, all the other leaves taunt him but he perseveres. At last comes the time when an anxious Leif can not hold on anymore. Will his fall be disastrous?

The illustrations are simple but effective, giving each leaf a personality, This persistent tale lends to great discussion about never giving up, order of events, why and why not Leif’s inventions worked and the progression of the seasons. Great autumn read!

The book opens with Max writing invitations to his birthday sleepover, and feeling unsure about inviting the new kid, Sam, but his mom insists. Max can’t put his finger one what it is about Sam, just that there seems to be something strange about him. Throughout the story they never do come right out and say what the something is — the reader has to put the clues together. We learn he has a really good sense of smell, he’s not sure he can come to the birthday party because there’s a full moon that night, he likes his burgers really rare, after they change into pajamas that night he develops fangs and claws and really hairy hands, and when the moonlight shines on him, he runs out into the night. Though it never comes right out and say he’s a werewolf, the point is that though the boys are initially scares of his nighttime transformations, when they join him in his backyard adventures they all have a really good time and end up really liking him just as he is, not despite his weirdness, but because of it.

It’s rather got the feel of an olde world fable. Little Wise Wolf got his name because he loved to read so much that he came to know about many things and the other animals would come to him with their questions. But he doesn’t like being disturbed from his reading and complains about not having time for the other animals. When a messenger is sent to summon him to the bedside of the ill king, he doesn’t want to go, but is informed that one cannot refuse the king, so he sets off on a long journey. The trek is difficult, but he is helped along the way by the animals he did not have time for. After healing the king, he is offered a place within the castle where he can read all day undisturbed, but Little Wise Wolf realizes he must return to his friends, because he still has a lot to learn from them. From then on he is never too busy for those who come to visit him, and yet he still manages to read and learn in abundance. It’s got a lovely message, and while I can appreciate the way the illustrations contribute to the olde world feel of the story, I worry that the dark and drab colors will be a turn-off to many students and it may not circulate much.

Well, it’s title is in sparkly letters and it’s about unicorns, so you already know it’s going to be a hit with young readers. But I like it for the way it celebrates imagination. I like the way the text and illustrations play against each other, adding to the reader’s understanding. The text describes the setting as a magic forest; the illustrations show a backyard scene on the edge of some woods. When the text describes castles and magic wands, the illustrations show a tree house and a stick. The story tells of our young heroine stumbling upon a group of tiny magic horses who are learning to fly (and who look suspiciously like bunny rabbits), and discovering one who is sad because it can’t fly. After doing everything she can think of to cheer it up and help it, she decides to make him an ice cream cone, but she’s in such a hurry to take it to him that she’s running, she trips, and the cone lands on the “horse’s” head, which he turns out to like very much and is suddenly inspired to fly. So it’s essentially this author’s version of the unicorns’ origin story.

It’s a poem celebrating self-affirmation, recognizing and honoring all the things that make us each fabulous. I’m sorry to be redundant, but I can’t think of a better word: this book is unabashedly celebratory. It doesn’t just celebrate the big things, like wanting to be an astronaut, but all the little things, too, like making a great paper airplane and telling someone “bless you” when they sneeze. The illustrations are oil paintings that are vibrant and full of personality and offset the text beautifully, adding to the mood created by the text.

A young girl worried about her fishman father on those nights each month with no moon. Finding the crying girl, the sun took one of his golden rays and shattered it into a million glowing pieces for her to place in the sky to light her father’s way. She worked tirelessly to carefully place each star, slowly creating the constellations. A curious monkey snatched her bag of stars, still full after months of work and in the tug-a-war the stars were strewn across the sky creating the Milky Way.

How the Stars Came To Be is a solid new folktale. The book’s illustrations, however, are what really make the book shine. The author’s Indian roots can be seen in the almost henna-like illustrations. Recommended.

Starting with a description of one of Ronaldo’s most famous goals, this biography is sure to be a hit with young soccer players. The book highlights Ronaldo’s career progress from his professional debut in 2002 at age 17 to his move in 2018 to his current team, Juventus. Ronaldo’s commercial sponsorships are mentioned briefly, but some of his charitable contributions are described in more detail. Very little is said about his personal life. This book is definitely targeted at the soccer lover.

Born into slavery, John and Millicent listened to their parents’ stories of their people flying to freedom. Even after their parents, Samuel and Maggie were sold away, those seeds of freedom survived in their minds and hearts. When the overseer injures a majestic bird as if flies over the plantation, John and Millicent risk their safety at night to retrieve and tend it. The bird slowly recovers, but refuses to leave. Secret word reaches their ears that in a week, John would be sold to a faraway farm. Following the flight of the bird, John and Millicent run through the storm to freedom.

Freedom Bird is Jerdine Nolen’s second book in a multigenerational narrative of an African American family. Big Jabe and Thunder Rose, the first and third books respectively have the storytelling characteristics of a Tall Tale. In Freedom Bird, Jerdine Nolen’s powerful storytelling voice can be heard in the story’s language and cadence without the hyperbole found in Big Jabe and Thunder Rose.

An important story told in a powerful voice that belongs in every library.

The illustrations are beautiful, as are the life-lessons conveyed. The book opens by reminding readers that, “School is not the only place to find a teacher.” The author then goes on to share a variety of life lessons learned from her careful observations of the animal kingdom. Gorillas taught her to respect others, Lions and tigers and sharks taught her not to be afraid, a tarantula taught her to love little lives, etc. It’s a gem!

The illustrations are bright and cheerful (and I like that the garden setting is showed as an urban rooftop garden). The text is simple (one sentence per page), and rhyming. For a garden enthusiast family, it might make a good bedtime story, but the audience really is targeting very young kids, and I’m not sure how many of them are going to care about anthropomorphized veggies calling it a day. It does use a good variety of verbs, so could be useful that way.

The publisher’s recommendation says this is a K-3 book, but I think it’s really one of those picture books better suited to older students, so I said I would recommend it for grades 2-5. Though listed as a picture book, rather than as non-fiction, it is the true story of the first woman to ride a motorcycle around the world alone, in 1973. Though never named within the body of the story (simply referred to as “she” or “the girl”), the author’s note in the back tells us that it was Anne-France Dautheville who set out from Paris, carrying only essentials. She loaded her motorcycle onto a plane to fly to Canada, drove from coast to coast across Canada and into Alaska before flying again to Tokyo, and then Bombay. The story describes her route, driving through India and Afghanistan and Turkey, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Austria, and Germany, but mostly it describes her experiences of camping and meeting people and experiencing new places and foods. It’s more about setting the mood of adventure and exploration and independence and connecting with the world than a chronology of specific events. It really makes one want to take to the open road and go exploring.

Not every child lives in a place where they tap their own maple syrup from the trees, but every child has experience WAITING. And every child knows how time seems to go so slowly when you’re waiting. This book does a good job of conveying that, as well as a child’s attempts to see if he can speed things along: when dad says it won’t be time until the weather gets warmer, Ethan tries to convince himself that a sunny day means he can leave off his hat and scarf and mittens, only to discover that sunny doesn’t necessarily mean warm. When dad says it won’t be until the nights get shorter, Ethan realizes he can’t control that either. His final means of measuring time comes when he discovers a loose tooth, and dad predicts it will come out about the time the sap starts running, and it does!

Well-known author Lois Lowry (The Giver, Number the Stars) presents her reflections on World War II in verse.  Born in Honolulu four years before the bombing at Pearl Harbor, she opens with the image of herself playing on the beach with the attack of the USS Arizona on the horizon behind her.  With research to back her poems, she presents grim facts of the loss aboard the USS Arizona, for example, the fact that there were thirty-seven sets of brothers aboard. Part 2 moves on to the bombing in Japan, “another horizon,” where the Lowry family lived, with mention of people and artifacts found after the bombing.  Black and white drawings by Kenard Pak contribute to the artful depiction of the lens from Lois Lowry’s childhood.

While the suggested call number for this book is 940.54, the World War II section, this book is not hard research material. While facts learned are interesting, the verse style lends itself more to the emotions associated with World War II. Perhaps a better spot for it would be on the poetry shelf.

This book of 74 pages has short four to six page chapters with one black and white illustration per chapter. There is just the right amount of Korean cultural differences included to make Korean students feel recognized and non-Korean students to say, “Wow”, I never new that, “That’s cool.”

Mindy has been at her new school in Florida for a few months now. Lunar New Year is quickly approaching, reminding Mindy of how much fun Lunar New Year had always been with her mother and father. Unni, Mindy’s afterschool babysitter, is Korean, also. Unni’s mother is busy making special foods for their Lunar New Year celebration and makes extra for Mindy and her father.

Dad ( appa in Korean) wants to take Mindy to Orlando, FL, for the Lunar New Year Parade. Mindy’s not sure if she wants to go. How fun could it be without her deceased mother along. Appa tells Mindy to invite her friend Sally to come to the parade with her. At school on Friday, Mindy tells her class all about Lunar New Year during “What’s New with You?”. She even has special rice cakes to share ( not sell, like the trouble she got into in book #1) with her class.

On Saturday, appa suggests Mindy wear the hanbok (Korean dress for special occasions) to the parade her mother helped her purchase last year. It just fits. Off to the parade in Orlando with appa and Sally they go. The parade in wonderful and so big, but does not seem to have any Korean representation. Once the parade is over, Sally and Mindy see a huge Pikachu balloon floating by and run after it to take pictures. Sally and Mindy get worried, almost panicky, once they realize appa was not able to follow them through the crowd. Sally’s emergency cellphone battery has died. And neither one of them knows their parents’ cell numbers. Now what? Sally does have an emergency $20 bill for food, though. That is where appa and his friend find Sally and Mindy in the food court. The four of them have lunch, then make arrangements to meet back at Mindy and appa’s house for a Korean Lunar New Year dinner.

Mindy comes to realize that “without Mom here to celebrate with us, … I could still like it. And we could have new traditions and make new memories with our new friends.” (71)

Author Lyla Lee notes in her Acknowledgments, ” I wanted to write a book about the fun Korean traditions that my parents kept alive in our family despite the fact that we moved to the United States more than twenty years ago.”(75) She has succeeded in a most wonderful way!