The terms carnivore, herbivore, and omnivore are defined on the first page.  The text is large and although there are only a couple of sentences per page, young readers will appreciate the information included.  Beautiful close-up photos show a variety of carnivores.  Some of the carnivores mentioned may be a surprise, for example, spiders.  These meat eaters use venom to soften food in order to eat.  Also, the Venus fly trap is a plant that ingests insects.  A picture glossary is in the back with a book and internet resource, and an index.  The format is pleasing and information is plentiful.  This is a great nonfiction resource for primary readers.

Told in a rhyming text, AAAB format, a young girl narrates the zombie-like qualities of her best friend.  “She’s my best friend, but I won’t lie, Penelope smells like something died.”  Epelbaum’s artwork does a great job showing classmates and adults being repulsed by Penelope.  The young, blonde narrator tries to get Penelope involved in activities, but things just don’t go well.  Penelope starts biting things and people, including the narrator.  Penelope is hungry, but only for brains!  As the story continues, the young girl begins to change… into someone very much like her gross, in-dead friend.  Just the book for a creepy read-aloud!  Zombie vampires!  Yikes!

What a great nonfiction book about sunshine for young readers!  Large, colorful, illustrations show animals enjoying springtime sun.  The rhyming text informs the reader about all the ways the sun affects our lives.  Verb word choice “beams”, “sparkles”, and “glimmers” add another dimension of interest to this attractive book.  The acrylic and digital artwork uses a warm palate of colors to create a joyful arrival of spring.  The last pages add further facts along with an internet site.

This is a gentle, rhyming story of a little girl whose family was poor but loving.  The Christmas ball was approaching and all the school children were looking forward to something new to wear.  Mabel had been dreaming of a dress the same beautiful color as her lavender blue sheets.  As her classmates joyfully raced home to prepare for the dance, Mabel slowly walked with her mom.  Once home, her parents and grandparents surprised her with a gorgeous gown they had created while she was at school.  Mabel’s dress was a success but the love of family is what made it the best.  The artwork, in cool pastels, is a good match for this tender story.

Detailed, colorful watercolor illustrations enhance this story of a dinosaur-loving family.  Son Carl wants to be a dinosaur and the entire family gets involved with choosing a dinosaur with particular qualities or characteristics.  Twelve dinosaurs that walk, fly, or swim are emphasized as each family member tries to make a decision.  The artwork is large, ample, and vibrant.  The last pages provide additional facts about each dinosaur in the story.  An interesting feature is a timeline of periods from the Permian to the Cretaceous so one can see in which period each dinosaur live.  This is a great mix of fact and fiction.

Hip-Hop Culture, part of the Hip-Hop Insider series, takes one on an informative, fast-paced and fascinating trip through hip-hop history up to today’s influences such as Lin-Manuel Miranda’s use of hip-hop in Hamilton. Written by history teacher/author Judy Dodge Cummings, readers quickly see the widespread influence hip-hop has had since 1973 with its birth by DJ Kool Herc trying to fulfill a need for new school clothes by throwing a “concert” at a local rec center where he and his sister charged admission.  Here he began combining songs during drum sections and this form of hip-hop became deejaying – one of four connected touchstones.  From ghetto to global stage, from need to commercialization, Cummings lays out the influence of deejaying as well as the other three –emceeing, dance, and graffiti — have had in cultivating hip-hop culture and likewise how hip-hop has influenced our word, dance, music, dress, and politics.  Complete with bright color photos and historic side-bars, a timeline, essential facts, glossary, resources, and notes for each chapter, the 112-page text maintains an upbeat feel.  While written for the young adult audience, Hip-Hop Culture provides provocative food for thought and discussions at a higher level that one would initially imagine.  Recommended for libraries who need a more recent copyright date.

At first glance, I was impressed with the illustrations that accompany the text.  It’s almost a cross between a middle grades book and a graphic novel, which makes it a great option for students to bridge that gap.  The main character, Dexter Drabner, has an active imagination, and I think students will connect with him.  The story begins with a dream sequence and continues with Dexter filling in for one of his favorite superheroes, Toby Falcon, who is a skateboard-riding spy!  An accident in Dexter’s science classroom causes a large, mutant rat to be on the loose.  The only turn-off was the emphasis on “rat gas power” (flatulence) to produce electric power.  Overall, though, this is an engaging book designed for students grades 2-5.

This informational text about the Hubble Space Telescope covers how the telescope works, what missions it is has been apart of and what it is. Informational text features complement the text and add to the learning. There is even a diagram of the Hubble Space Telescope. The end of the book includes a section of books and websites to learn more about it.

The illustrations and simple text were the first things that attracted me to this book. It starts out with a view from space and the words, “The world is full of great big things:”. It goes on to show really big things: a canyon, billions of stars, the wide desert. And then it focuses on one mouse who travels throughout the book in the wind, on a massive train, through a forest, with only a crumb and at the end reaches another mouse and gives them the crumb. The message is that great big things are very small when you go through them for someone you love.