Beginning readers can learn about unique homes build by Native Americans in the southwestern United States.  In simple sentences written in large font, homes made by the Pueblo Indians are described.  Excellent photographs show pueblo villages from early days to present.  Ink and watercolor illustrations depict life in and around pueblo homes.  Photographs show bricks drying in the sun and being used in walls.  Originally, doors were only in the roof, accessible by ladders which could be pulled up to keep out others.  Today, pueblo homes alsohave doors in walls.  A bibliography of books for further reading and a facthound Internet site is in the back with the glossary and index.

The Paypal email is marked “urgent.”  They need an information update.  But “updating” his information left one American teen with someone in Spain deducting money from his bank account.   This book is full of such cautionary tales, and good information about what to do and what not to do, in order to stay safe online.  Real stories from real teens will interest young readers far more than vague warnings; and though I felt I knew most of the rules for online safety, I didn’t. 

By the time I finished this book I had learned a lot about identity thieves, cyberbullies, and the sexual predators just waiting for that naive someone who will send a picture of themselves standing in front of their house or school, a sure tip-off to where they live.

The internet is part of our lives, and it’s sad that we need to know what’s in this book.  But in order to stay safe, we do need to know.  A glossary, contacts for where to get help, and titles of other books on the subject are a nice addition.

A Walrus World is another of Carolyn Arnold’s well-done and informative non-fiction books on animals.  Beautiful cut paper illustrations delight the reader as the life of a walrus is described from calf to adult.  Additional text boxes give furtherl information throughout the narrative story.  In the back is a map showing where walruses can be found, Fun Facts, a glossary, other books to , Internet sites, an index, author information, and a list of other books in the Animals series.  Recommended addition to any elementary library.

A girl and her grandfather plant a special garden to help her Nana feel better.  They design a garden with plants that are at their best at night.  As they work on the garden, they notice the variety of animals that are drawn to this special spot.  In the margins are facts about planning a garden, plants to use, and night animals.  The colorful and creative artwork is done by children of the Children’s Cancer Hospital at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Texas.  Additional gardening facts are in the back with a glossary, websites, and a paragraph about the author.  The individual artists who contributed work to the book are also in the back along with information about the Children’s Art Project.

This is the traditional story of the town mouse and city mouse. Little country mouse, Timmy Willie ends up visiting the city where Johnny Town-Mouse lives. Timmy can’t wait to get back to his home in the country and when Johnny Town-Mouse visits the country where Timmy Willie lives, he can’t wait to get back to the city. This is the original story, just with new illustrations. It is in a larger size than the traditional Beatrix Potter books, but I find that to be part of their charm. Really the pages look so similar, with a large amount of white on the page and a similar style of illustrating, there is little difference between this and the original book.

Wendy Rasmussen has taken the traditional Beatrix Potter story and retold it adding her own illustrations. In this  story,  Benjamin Bunny finds his cousin, Peter huddled in poor clothing outside of Mr. McGregor’s garden. Benjamin convinces Peter to go back into Mr. McGregor’s garden to get his clothes back. Among adventures eating the garden, getting trapped under a basket with a cat on top and getting rescued by the old Mr. Benjamin Bunny, the two rabbits end up safe and back at Peter’s rabbit hole. This is the original story, just with new illustrations. It is in a larger size than the traditional Beatrix Potter books, but I find that to be part of their charm. Really the pages look so similar, with a large amount of white on the page and a similar style of illustrating, there is little difference between this and the original book.

From the World’s Deadliest set of books, this one showcases deadliest jobs. Chapter 1 discusses deadly jobs. The book then goes into three chapters: “Sort of Dangerous” (truck driver), “Very Dangerous” (police officers) and “Extremely Dangerous” (fire fighters).  Each showcased dangerous job has facing pages of photos, explanations and a deadly fact about the job. The book will be good for boys with its great photos and subject matter. The book has a low reading level, but pretty high interest level. It would be a great set for elementary libraries. It is perfect for those reluctant boy readers.

This zany story is a combination of mystery, quest, fantasy and some historical fiction thrown in for good measure.  It is a free-association paradise which some students will really enjoy and others may find too bizarre or confusing.  It is the sequel to The Neddiad and reading that first book may have made this book seem a little less jumpy.

Read this book and you’ll learn how to write nonfiction that’s definitely not a boring list of facts.  Eyewitness accounts, personal letters, mysterious happenings, and dramatic historical events are among the many ideas for subjects.  Susan Campbell Bartoletti, author of Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow is just one of the successful authors whose works are used as examples.

Meticulous research, story maps, and choosing more descriptive words, such as “whispered” or “shouted” to replace “said,” are a few of the ideas that will help students to make their nonfiction more interesting.

With lots of quotes, dramatic pictures, and author interviews, this is an attractive book that I believe will be popular with middle school writers.  There are 18 books in the “Write Your Own” series, and I’d like to see the volumes on writing myth, and graphic novels in our school library.

I loved this fantasy/mystery and immediately recommended it to several of my students.  The main character, Griffin Penshine (6th grade), visits an antique shop with her mother only to be tricked and cursed by a Wish Stealer.  Griffin is a good girl who spends the rest of the book trying to reverse this evil magic and return the stolen wishes before she is corrupted as well.  Exciting and fast-paced, this makes a quick and entertaining read.  Appropriate for a nice age range of readers as it’s exciting without being mature in content or too scary.  Fantastic job with the cover art as well which depicts a sparkly wishing pond!  I highly recommend this book!