Out in the snowy woods, little Wade, the moose, is having daily fun with his friends when he discovers his antlers are loose. (Young readers will identify with having their 1st loose tooth.) For four days, Wade is careful at play because he does not want to loose his antlers. His antlers are so useful. But then, after four days Wade decides to go tobogganing with his friends. “At the bottom, everyone tumbled off and headed back up–everyone except Wade. He stood stock-still. Something was different. He reached up to check his antlers. They were gone!”

His mother gave Wade a party and put the antlers in a special box. Wade soon noticed how much lighter his head felt and how much faster he could run.

In summer, little by little Wade grows a new set of antlers.

Christine Battuz’s illustrations are full texture, color,  and whimsy as the forest changes from winter, to spring, to summer, and then to fall.

An informational book about Earthquakes. This book is apart of a series about Natural Disasters geared towards younger students. There are two to three simple sentences per page and the book is full of text features. This book has a STEAM focus and gives information about the forest and how it relates to science, technology, engineering, art and math. The art section seems forced where the other sections are teaching us about earthquakes.

An overview of a forest habitat. This informational text includes many text features such as table of contents, glossary, index, and key words. The photographs are full page and sometimes a two page spread. This book has a STEAM focus and gives information about the forest and how it relates to science, technology, engineering, art and math. This does make it seem to bounce around a bit, especially for those looking for information about forest habitats. The science section and the key stats give the most information in this area.

Louie the Unicorn , who lives with his parents in Story Land, is going off to New York City for fame and glory after seeing a flyer fly by on a breeze advertising the NEW YORK SCHOOL of PERFORMING ARTS. Louie’s parents do not want him to go, but could not possibly allow him to be SAD, what a disgrace that would be in Story Land.

Louie is so naive and optimistic about everything he encounters in New York. Candy wrappers on the street are decorations placed there for him. Honking cars are cheerful greetings to him. Louie’s responds, “Tallyho, humans.” (14) Everything is rosy to Louie, even select words in the story are in red ink, which matches the cover of the book.  Louie finds the  Sunshine and Sparkle Dust Cafe. He eats literally everything there, only to find out about ‘paying’. This is a new concept to Louie. Victoria Sponge, the cake-lady, and Louie work out payment by using Louie’s horn to make the perfect holes in Victoria’s doughnuts. Then off Louie goes to NEW YORK SCHOOL of PERFORMING ARTS which is just around the corner from the Sunshine and Sparkle Dust Cafe.

At NEW YORK SCHOOL of PERFORMING ARTS Louie soon meets follow student Arnie the Unicorn who is the exact opposite of Louie. Arnie is rude, self-absorbed, and has an active fan club at the school. Arnie wants to be the only unicorn at the school. When Louie asks for directions to the first set of auditions, Arnie gives Louie a map to the boiler room. Somehow, Louie gets locked inside the boiler room until after the auditions are over and Arnie is named the lead in the latest school play. Naive Louie sees no connection between missing the audition and Arnie’s map.

Meanwhile, Victoria’s cafe will be closing permanently if it can not get customers. Louie and his roommates decide to put on a show of their own to help out Victoria. They make and hang up posters all over town, only to have Arnie’s fan club take them down or deface them saying the show will be in the supermarket vegetable aisle. Never fear, optimistic Louie goes to the supermarket and brings the audience through the streets to the cafe in a conga line. The show is a success! The Sunshine and Sparkle Dust Cafe will be staying open.

Afterwards, Louie goes to see Arnie in Unicorn and the Chocolate Factory. It is wonderful. Then, Louie writes a letter home to his parents telling them all about his recent experiences in New York, especially about his new friends. Louie will be staying in New York at the NEW YORK SCHOOL of PERFORMING ARTS.

Be watching for book two of the Unicorn in New York series – LOUIE Takes the Stage!

Written in first person with illustrations of Louie, his friends, and sights placed in front of photographs of New York sprinkled very generously throughout the book.

With surname like hers, the young heroine in Lianne Oelke’s debut novel, Nice Try, Jane Sinner, certainly has good reason to have, when it hits, a crisis of identity regarding her faith in light of her family’s strong religious beliefs. Feeling like a fraud, Jane makes a failed but public attempt at ending it all, only to find herself still alive and politely asked to leave her high school so she won’t provide a bad example to her fellow students.

Determined to somehow make a new start and find her true self, Jane reluctantly enrolls in the ersatz Elbow River Community College and auditions for a reality show in which, to her surprise, she is cast. Called “House of Orange” in homage to the vintage orange shag carpeting in the house, the online competition features other quirky characters vying to win money and a car by outlasting each other: the last resident wins. Under the constant scrutiny of the HOO camera crew and the student producer, Jane keeps a journal of her progress and her tactics to survive, sparing herself nothing in the way of truth. Her journey is engrossing and humorous, taking the reader along for the bumpy ride of finding love, her voice, her backbone, her hope and herself.

Set in Canada, this book is satisfying, worthwhile and highly recommended for Young Adult readers ages 14 and up.

Eye of the Storm is a well researched and skillfully written description of a NASA’s critically important project to study the dynamics of Hurricane Intensification. The text is oriented toward intermediate readers. Scientific jargon is either replaced with concise plain language or clearly defined so as not to be off-putting. The book begins with a human interest story relating to the experience of a Staten Island family that chose to ride out Hurricane Sandy at home. Due to reports designation Sandy as a Category 1 storm, the lowest level of sustained wind, this choice seemed sound. Unexpectedly, Sandy suddenly intensified and completely devastated the area where the Dresch family lived. The mother lived, but the father and daughter perished. The NASA project, the Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) drone was implemented to study the way hurricanes form and build strength. In this way, forecasts can be much more useful in determining emergency response needs and accurate evacuation requirements. The book is a well-balanced combination of the science of cyclonic storms, the technology NASA is using to study them, and the people performing the work. This is supported by excellent photography and detailed graphics. The politics surrounding these devastating storms is also examined. Eye of the Storm is a compelling treatment of this valuable NASA project and is recommended.

Learn about the King Cobra – it’s habitat, appearance, defense, hunting, and lifespan.  Short, simple sentences make it accessible to young readers.  Dramatic photographs are sure to attract snake fans.

The facts seem to lack organization and photographs do not always directly support content.  Contains a simple Table of Contents, Glossary, and Index.  Only two of the three recommended booklinks worked.

Sophie Mouse is excited for the upcoming Maple Festival.  She and her friends, Hattie Frog and Owen Snake, are especially looking forward to the ferris wheel.  During the week leading up to the festival, Sophie’s Mom’s bakery assistant is away visiting friends and the the bakery is extra busy getting ready for their booth.  Sophie volunteers to help her mom and comes up with some fun new recipe ideas.

The day of the festival, Sophie heads out to explore all the new attractions.  At the top of the ferris wheel with her friends, she notices no one is at her Mom’s bakery stand.  As soon as she can, she heads over to check in with her Mom.  To help attract customers, Sophie creates a sign using a large maple leaf.  Soon there is a long line waiting for the booth’s yummy baked goods.  By the end of the day, the bakery stand is empty.

Large font, simple words, and some supporting illustrations make this a solid transitional chapter book for second and third graders.  This series does use diverse and complex sentence structure not found in many transitional chapter books, making it stand out.