Two books are bound together as one in this pen pal story between sixth-graders Sophie and Katie.  “Sincerely, Sophie” is first, featuring Sophie from New York City, struggling when her life-long friend, Jessie, ditches her for a more popular, boy-crazy crowd.  If that isn’t enough, Sophie’s parents announce they’re getting a divorce.  Sophie, who is told to use the pen pal assignment as a geography lesson, pours out her heart to Katie as a means of dealing with all the changes in her life.

Next we have “Sincerely, Katie” from California, who has problems of her own when her best friend, Jake, begins to shift his attention to another girl.  Both girls need each other, seeing each other through middle-school angst.  It’s a clever format that works!

CHINA offers a tidbit of information to whet the appetite of students yearning to begin their exploration of the world and its many cultures. A country as large and diverse as China is not easily put into 29 pages. Short 2 page chapters will introduce the “learning to read” / “reading to learn” reader to such topics as: Tibet, wildlife, the people, daily life, going to school, working, playing, food, holidays, and the Great Wall, usually accompanied by two colorful photos. The “did you Know?” and “fun facts” trivia pieces sprinkled throughout the book give more tantalizing morsels of information that the reader won’t want to miss, but don’t fit into the other entrees.

Includes: Table of Contents, Index, Glossary, and www.factsurfer.com web site.

Faith Hickman Brynie has written a book which supports the National Science Education Standards for K-4. The standard states for:

“Organisms and their environment

Organisms’ patterns of behavior relate directly to the environment (kinds and numbers of other organisms, the availability of food and resources, and physical characteristics of the environment).”  Wildebeest, elephant, spiny lobster, snow goose, caribou, bat, whale, butterfly, salmon, flamingo, jellyfish, zebra, and crab are all given a page to support this standard as to the migration of animals.  The questions most often answered are: what, when, how far, where, and sometimes why.

“… the two different reading levels [are] presented in this book (new reader and fluent reader)…”   on each page of text. First a large font typed paragraph with short sentences is given followed by a smaller typed font paragraph with longer sentences which includes additional information.

Includes: Table of Contents, Index, Glossary, web sites

Jake the Penguin is trying to sleep, but there are strange sounds coming from somewhere in his room.  His dad comes in to try to find the ghost, but there is nothing there!  Van Genechten’s penguins are lovingly illustrated, and the dim night-time room’s atmosphere is spot-on, but this picture book doesn’t stand out from others with the same theme.  Originally written in Dutch, the translation for this version comes off as slightly awkward (for some reason, it is written in present tense), and the creaky noises are written as clumsy onomatopoeia, making it difficult to use as a read-aloud.  The story seems to be building up to something, but fizzles out at the end instead of popping.  Not bad, but there are other, more effective books about night-time fears.

Good, no-nonsense read-aloud fun.  Farmer wants to give his animals bath, but naturally the pigs resist!  With humorous rhyming quatrains and bold, bright illustrations, Wilson’s story takes the Farmer through a process that results in him learning to love a good mess.  This book would be great for reading out loud at story time or one-on-one.  Not a stand-out in story or illustration, but a fun addition to collections for younger children.

Intricate mixed media illustrations accompany this environmental fable first published in Italy.  A proud bear has a sword, which he uses to cut through everything in his path.  To prove that his sword is the sharpest in the land, he slashes his way through a forest, which sets into motion a series of events that will eventually change the way the bear sees the world.  The fable is clearly a message to take care of the environment, and the illustrations reflect the message well.  This book is probably best for older elementary school kids who will be able to look closely at the pictures and see their parallels with the story.

Sunday Chutney’s parents move a lot, and as a result she’s always the new kid in school.  Sometimes, it bugs her that she doesn’t get to stay in one place, but her imagination and love of new experiences keeps her sane.  Blabey’s picture book about imagination and self-acceptance is softly illustrated in acrylic and mixed media, and his heroine is quirky and good-natured.  The message of using your imagination to keep yourself company comes across well, and Sunday is a helpful role model for kids who find themselves often transplanted.

By the creator of the comic strip, “MUTTS”, Me…Jane is an exquisite example of a picture book biography.  Detailing the young life of Jane Goodall, this gorgeous book explores the magical connection between a young child and the world around her.  With her stuffed chimpanzee friend, Jubilee, Jane joyously interacts with her environment – hiding in the hen-house to see where eggs come from, reading books about Tarzan, and dreaming of living in Africa.   McDonnell has created a magnificent work of art – many of the pages feature lovely watercolors on one side, and scientific animal rubbings and sketches on the other, mirroring Jane’s dual nature of joy and inquiry.  A few pages even contain actual sketches by Jane Goodall herself.  The minimal words are simple and elegant, and perfectly capture the mood of the story.  From the opening photograph of Jane with her stuffed monkey, to the ending picture of adult Jane reaching out to a real chimpanzee, this book is simply a pleasure, and a must have in any library collection.

At first glance, this adorably designed picture book is cute and fun.  A small mouse peeks into each of his animal friends’ diapers to see what’s inside, and readers have the opportunity to pull down the diaper and see for themselves what kind of poo is hiding within.  However, the subtle lessons in the book (the differences in animal droppings, using a potty instead of a diaper) are overshadowed by the lift-the-flap concept.  Also, the casual manner in which the animals pull down each other’s undergarments to see what is underneath is a little disturbing and could prompt unwelcome behavior in the littlest of readers.  While the pictures are precious, filled with bright colors and furry details, this may not be the best choice for well-used libraries as the lift-the-flaps are fairly fragile.  There are better book choices to use when teaching children about potty training.

Mary Elizabeth Salzmann jam-packed more information about money, nutrition, and value than I would have thought possible in a 24 page book meant for school children. This kid friendly interactive book takes the reader in small steps along with the main character Adam through life lessons about using money wisely.  “Meet Adam! Adam’s parents give him money. He gets to decide what to buy. Follow along with Adam as he tries to make good decisions.” ( The reader must make some allowances for Adam’s utopic life : his parents always have money to give to him, his parents always let Adam keep the change, and sales tax is automatically included in the price of the item. )   The reader follows Adam through his 5 food purchasing choices : snack – $3.51, dinner- $4.55, dessert – $4.00, lunch – $4.00, and breakfast – $3.75. Each time, some possible choices will be too expensive and some will not be a good value.  ” Remember that value is a combination of price, quantity, and quality. You usually can’t have the best of all three…”

There is an incongruency on pages 18-19 over the price of the yogurt and the amount of money Adam has available to spend.

I especially like that the money is always a photo of our most current coins and bills, instead of an illustration.