Poppy a precocious French girl decides that she and her dog, Baguette need to search the city of Paris for the “brightest light” in the city. This fun tour of Parisian highlights is a fun introduction to what makes Paris special. Traveling from the Arc de Triomphe to the Louvre and on to many other places ending in the Eiffel Tower this fun loving girl and her dog go on an adventure.
A fun tale with stunning artwork, this book is a delight that will give you a smile, especially if you have ever been to the City of Light.
Geraldine is an average kid at school. Her favorite subject is lunchtime where she enjoys the meals her Amah makes her and sits with friends. One day, a student makes a statement about her stinky lunch and she is saddened by the fact that others are critical of her favorite food. How she overcomes this is warming and insightful for all elementary students.
Not only does this beginner book educate young students on how to read a graphic novels, it also is insightful about cultural differences and acceptance of others. I would highly recommend this book for elementary school.
How validating it is to see a book that depicts all bodies. Bodies not only with all levels of melanin but also with scars, ostomy bags, diabetic pumps, stretch marks, wheelchairs, spots, dots, hair, tattoos – everything!
This body positive book has one simple message repeated on each page – “Bodies are cool!”
In an elementary school, you are bound to get some giggles as people are in their swimsuits and underwear in some of the illustrations, and there are nursing moms throughout, but what a great opportunity to reinforce the message of the book. We all have bodies, all of our bodies are different, and all of our bodies are cool.
The illustrations in the books show everyone, I mean EVERYONE! Each time I read the book I find another person I hadn’t noticed the time before. Tyler Feder gives us a great opportunity to sit and look at differently abled bodies and talk about them, and our own if we feel comfortable. It is perfectly normal to notice differences – let’s teach our kids how to accept all the differences and how to be respectful about them.
I would encourage everyone to purchase this book so that students and families know that everyone is beautiful and that it is ok to talk about how are bodies are different, especially if we have tubes in our bellies, pumps on our arms, or a prosthesis.
First loves make your heart beat fast, make your cheeks burn pink, and make you shy even when they’re your best friend. Archie and Zack love eachother, and everyone knows this. Archie decides to write Zack a note, from A to Z, but he feels something is missing, so he hides it in a tree. He writes another one, but again hides it. He writes a third note, and hides that one as well. Three classmates find the notes: Zuzella, Zinnia, and Zelda. All who the note could be for since it didn’t say Zack – but each knew the note was from Archie to Zack because everyone knew they loved eachother.
This cute picture book is the perfect first love story, a perfect depiction of people who are just meant to be, and a perfect picture story of acceptance. I enjoyed that the illustrations add to the story, in fact, you need them to fully understand what Archie feels as he wonders whether this will be the note he gives to Zack.
If you are looking for an LGBTQIA+ fiction picture book to add to your collection, this sweet story is the one! Don’t forget to check out the cover under the jacket for a surprise!
Written in verse, this non-fiction book took me by surprise. With a few short stanzas Julie Abery has you smiling along with Coach Sakamoto’s efforts to help some of Hawaii’s young swimmers grow stronger. The poetic style of the book will make it accessible to many readers.
You find out in the Author’s Note that Coach (as he was known to his students) was not a strong swimmer himself, but was a great scientist and researched swim strokes to help guide his team. They started by swimming upstream in ditches and then a pool, soon all the swimmers had a common dream of going to the Olympics.
Sakamoto’s Swim Club is illustrated by Chris Sasaki, who easily brought to life the lush countryside of Hawaii. Some of my favorite illustrations are of the plans along the ditch the swimmers swim in and the views of the swimmers both above the water and below.
If you are looking to build add Pacific Islander books or add books with themes of courage and perseverance, this inspirational story is a must have.
The octopus lives in a cave where he can enjoy the big and small waves that push through his home. He loves the sand beneath his tentacles and his starfish neighbors, he especially loves to chase the crabs for his dinner!
This story follows the capture of the octopus from the ocean and into an aquarium where he is observed, tested, taught, and stared at. As he himself is being observed, he also observes the animals in their own glass cages and they all look sad. Our octopus decides he has had enough and one day, after a predictable, unchaseable, dinner falls from the top of his glass cage, he decides to escape.
The illustrations by Felicita Sala give personality to this strong willed, smart octopus. My favorite is the page where his tentacles are wrapped around the human’s arm and she removes them one by one. Both the text and the zoomed in illustration of this event left me smiling and really feeling like I was there with them.
I think the combination of the illustrations, full of motion, and the story of an octopus that just wants to be free, make for a great story. I can see using this with students to study narrative perspectives, as well as the conservation efforts of local aquariums.
Brave Face, a memoir by Shaun David Hutchinson, is not light-hearted reading. Hutchison explores his self-worth, sexuality, depression, and anxiety through a tumultuous time in his life. All of it – good, bad, and ugly. His journey is told honestly as he swirls through thoughts of self.
Shaun struggled to fit in even in parochial elementary schools with many trips to the principal’s office. High school finds him in all new surroundings in a much larger public school with none of his old friends around. His love of fantasy stories allows him to land a part in a school play and he feels at home with the students in the drama department. He learns he can “play a part” even in real life because of his sexuality. This leads to little things setting him off with feelings of anger and rage, such as his mom asking him to do a simple chore. In Shaun’s words, “By society’s definition, any gay man was going to live a lonely life of constant lies, die of aids, become the victim of someone who didn’t even see him as a human being, or worse. There was no future to being gay. Therefore, I couldn’t be gay. I had a future. I’d spent a lifetime building the vision of who I wanted to be, and that person was not a fag.” Some friends will walk away as he decides to come out after high school. But he is a smart man and continues to do well academically.
Throughout the book, Shaun shares his thought process and contorted inner self-talk and the role depression has played in his life. Which Shaun was he? Why was he smoking? The cutting and burning to hide his intellectual self-loathing. The drugs. The break-ups. The suicide attempt. The commitment for treatment. The recovery. The straight-A student. The brilliant writer.
His story is written to show there is light at the end of the tunnel. It could be an eye-opener that will help one in their understanding of self or others. Ultimately, it is a look into the mind that is a beautiful, exciting, and scary thing.
This book is a fun biography of Dr. Fauci. Following him from through his childhood, being raised in Brooklyn by a family of Italian immigrants, to being the shortest player on his basketball team, delivering prescriptions for his father’s drugstore, going to college, working on solutions to new diseases, and always, always questioning things. There are some great motivational moments throughout the book about not giving up when things get tough, but instead trying to work it out and push yourself through it.
Kate Messner follows Dr. Fauci all the way to present day, as he navigates the guidelines of COVID-19 and finding a vaccine.
The end of the book provides information on how vaccines work and their safety. You also find Dr. Fauci’s Five Tips for Future Scientists, a timeline of his life, a recommended reading list, a works cited page and photographs of Dr. Fauci.
Alexandra Bye is the illustrator of Dr. Fauci. The illustrations are bright and colorful, showing many emotions and inviting readers into this biography.
As part of the History of Crime and Punishment series, Abdo’s For-Profit Prisons explains the concept and history behind the creation of for-profit prisons. As early as 1825, the state of Kentucky began the practice of making money by leasing out prisoners. When slavery was abolished, the use of prisoners became more common as a means to replace slave labor. Newspaper accounts of the mistreatment and inhumane conditions forced Congress to pass legislation barring Federal prisons from leasing out their prisoners, but it could not curb private prisons on a national level. Individual states enacted their own patchwork of laws. But when the US got “tough on crime” in the 1980’s with drug possession laws and the 1990’s with three-strikes laws, prison populations ballooned and taxpayers didn’t want to pay for more prisons. Private investors were back in action. Private prisons are on the radar again today because of cost and treatment of inmates. This text gives plenty of specific details to teach readers about both sides of the prison argument. If this is a topic students in your school might investigate, perhaps in a street law course, then Harris’ text is worthy.
Parvin Mohammadi outwardly shows confidence in her boisterous comments and snarky remarks. But as with most fourteen-year-old girls, Parvin second-guesses herself, especially when it comes to boys. As the summer wraps up, Parvin has fallen for Wesley, who held her hand and then kissed her. They are an item, now, right? So why won’t he acknowledge her at the 9th-grade orientation two days later? As he explains, Parvin is just “too much”. Why does she feel so sorry for herself is one question she should be asking. But instead, she asks, how can I get him back. Enter the plan to slow her roll and make him jealous. All Parvin has to do is get Matty to ask her to homecoming. Surely that will let Wesley know he’s made a grave mistake. With best friends Fabian and Ruth helping to run the plot, Parvin pretend-flirts with Matty while also subconsciously flirting with her Farsi teacher and friend Amir. Intentions will become muddied, in as much as Parvin is muddied in realizing that she should not have to change who she is to impress a romantic interest and if she does, she’ll lose far more. This Iranian-American teen will see that self-confidence begins with self-love and her crazy hair, room-filling laugh, and prank-loving spirit are what make her Perfectly Parvin.
