It’s a clearly written, rather comprehensive text that lives up to its title, covering such topics as The World Cup, famous players, equipment, positions, history, women in the sport, etc.  It’s illustrated with full-color photos that are well-placed to support the text.  The graphic layout is enough to highlight specific aspects of the text without being distracting.  And it’s got a lovely, sturdy binding.

It’s trying to be some sort of Fiction/Non-Fiction hybrid, combining a be-a-good-sport story with a bunch of informational blurbs and jokes.  The problem is that the informational blurbs and jokes are stuck in rather randomly, and interfere with the flow of the story, and the story isn’t strong enough on its own to stand up to the interruptions. It’s rather lame and pedantic.

I am normally reluctant to consider spending close to $20 for a book with so little text, but in this case I approve.  The familiar, rhythmic, rhyming text of three nursery rhymes (It’s Raining, It’s Pouring; The Itsy Bitsy Spider; Mary Had a Little Lamb) is broken down to a single phrase per page, which is paired nicely with supporting illustrations, making this a perfect tool for emergent readers.  Plus, it’s got a really sturdy binding.

It really is strictly for the very youngest students (PreK-K), as a tool for allaying fears or nerves that may arise from having a substitute teacher.  The illustrations are cute and inviting and support the text.  The story is written in rhyme, but I’m afraid the rhythm is a bit stilted/awkward at times.  It tells of a small kitten’s worries when she doesn’t see her teacher there to greet her as usual, and the questions that she has about how they will manage without her, but of course in the end it all turns out just fine.

This fanciful picture book biography of Lewis Carroll gives the reader a good sense of who the author was and how the famous “Alice in Wonderland” came to be.  Sprinkled with Lewis’s imaginary words and signature phrases, and draws the reader into wanting to read the works from which they come.

I love the illustrations.  They’re fabulous, and combined with and intriguing title, they drew me in, but then the story fell flat. The subtitle is, “Young Mel Blanc…before he was the Man of 1,000 Voices.”  But the only parts of the book that told us anything about who Mel Blanc was are the flyleaf and the author’s note in the back — the parts kids don’t read.  The text of the body itself did nothing to develop this character or give the reader a reason to care about his imagination.

It is rare to find a YA novel with high functioning Autistic characters, and The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily has such a character as the narrator. And, it is female character.
Lily also has ADHD, and struggles every day to make it through school. Then one day, after being sent to the principal’s office for breaking a wall in her classroom, she meets Abelard. Turns out he, too, is on the spectrum. He’s handsome, and he has the name of Abelard, the philosopher who was Heloise’s true love. And, he enjoys medieval literature. They share an impulsive kiss in the principal’s office and then begin texting each other with lines from The Love Letters of Abelard and Heloise, a book Lily loves, with a character that she relates to. It is her favorite, most tragic love story.

Lily is beside herself with excitement and she and Abelard text, get together, play chess, and fall in love. The problem for Lily is that when things get rough, she begins doing what she is best at: destroying things.

Will her story have a happier ending than Heloise’s?

Cutter Boy explores many issues with sensitivity including self-harm, bullying, dysfunctional families, mental illness, rape, trauma, and post traumatic stress disorder. It also focuses on a topic that typically is thought of a concern for teenage girls, but in fact also occurs in boys. The main character, Travis, is bullied at school and feels that he ignored at home. He has a secret: he cuts with a razor blade, and finds that this makes him feel in control of the pain in his life. He becomes friends with a new girl at school, Chyvonne, but worries how he can get close to her without her learning his secret. As he spends time with her, he to tries to discover why his mother can’t acts like he doesn’t even exist.

In an interesting plot twist, Travis finds a way to cope.

This is a high interest, large font, fast read. It will appeal to readers who enjoy “teens in trouble” stories.

This is a DISNEY PRINCESS Story based off of a character in the movie The Princess and the Frog. Most readers will probably be familiar with the Disney movie. If so, this will build in added enjoyment due to familiarity with the characters and the setting.

Tiana is a restaurant owner in New Orleans, who married a Prince. Tiana is indebted to Mama Oldie from when she was a frog, now turned back into human form. Mama Oldie has sent a messenger to Tiana saying she needs help. Tiana quickly readies her restaurant for a day without her, then leaves in the morning to help Mama Oldie.

Mama Oldie had a set of twin magical pearls. One is now missing. The pearls need to be together for the magic to happen. Mama Oldie asks Tiana to take her remaining pearl back to New Orleans with her to find its matching twin. “When they are close to each other, they’ll glow”. (42) Tiana agrees to help.

Back in New Orleans a plan is developed to throw a fantastic party at Tiana’s restaurant with a pearl theme.  The entire town will come. Tiana’s dear friends Charlotte and Louis the Alligator help with the party preparations. Little does anyone know, Charlotte’s little known cousin Lucinda, who just came to visit, turns out to have a long history with Mama Oldie. As Tiana begins to make the rounds to all the tables, as hostess of the party, the pearls begin to glow. Cousin Lucinda tries to escape, but does not make it with an alligator sitting on her. Lucinda turns the stolen pearl over to Tiana. Lucinda had only taken it to annoy Mama Oldie.

There is a BIG bayou party when Tiana returns the pearl to Mama Oldie.

The giant comic book style ant illustrations on the front cover will grab the prospective  reader’s attention immediately. Then as the reader leisurely studies each ant will he or she discover that three of the ants on the front cover are actually enlarged photographs of ants. This continues throughout the book. It is a wonderful mix of silly verses factual, side by side.

The text describes the the ants life cycle, including jobs and duties from construction, to babysitting, to cleaning, to feeding, to farming fungus, to milking aphids, to building bridges between trees, and to building rafts in flood situations.

Humorously fun while being factually accurate.