This title is a follow-up to Rosie’s Walk and Pat Hutchins has done an excellent job with our friend, Rosie!

Rosie has laid an egg and it hatches when her back is turned. She looks all over and her chick, with part of the egg shell on its head, is right behind her. Rosie finally turns to greet her chick when her friend all shout “Behind you!”.

Children will delight in pointing out the chick behind Rosie on each two page spread. Great discussions will follow about the ‘near misses’ of the chick as it passes a cat, a fox and other hazards. Familiar illustrations and a fun story – buy it!

This title is part of an early chapter book series under the Branches division of Scholastic. Tooth Bandit is the second book in the Stella and Night Sprites series.

Stella can see sprites and fairies with her glasses and her adventures with them are chronicled in this series. In Tooth Bandits, Stella discovers that sprites are taking coins that the Tooth Fairies leave under children’s pillows. They use the coins to decorate their scooters. she hears all of this from a shy night sprite called Piper, who she catches trying to swap a paper clip for Stella’s coin. Stella shows Piper and the other sprites how to decorate their scooters with glitter, sequins and stickers, thereby saving future coins from possible thievery. She also helps shy Piper make friends with the other sprites.

While the language is very appropriate for the target audience and the illustrations are well done, the story will appeal to a small group of readers who might be really excited by fairies. The story drags a bit and the reader may wish for less sweetness and more excitement. Make this an extra choice.

Billy is a boy like any other except he wants to be a cheerleader.  No one seems to understand.  His family questions him and the kids at school laugh at him.  But Billy practiced and practiced on his own.  On the day of the big game, he cartwheeled, jumped, smiled and yelled.  And the crowd went wild.  The book closes by restating all the characteristic that make Billy a “boy” and then reaffirming he is also a cheerleader.  Text is simple with dialogue appearing in speech bubbles.  Illustrations are colorful and support the text.  The book introduces the concept of gender identity without clearly stating it.

Arms and hands are part of your body.  Your arms can lift and bend and your hands can touch and pick things up.  This simple text introduces the reader to body parts including how they work together and how they are similar to some animal body parts.  The book ends with a labeled diagram of the arm and hand.  Labeled parts include wrist, forearm, and biceps that are not mentioned in the text.  Includes table of contents, illustrated glossary, index, and link to crafts, games, videos and more.  The linked text and images on the Abdokids.com site support the text, but the external links are not age appropriate.

Jess is feeling very sad because it’s her birthday and she is missing her parents. She hasn’t even received her birthday present in the mail!
In order to cheer Jess up, Ella and her friends plan to make a magical glitter bomb as a birthday surprise. However, Ella does not stick to the recipe and adds extra of the special ingredient just to be sure it goes off, sending a glittery message into the air. Unfortunately, when Ella delivered the special surprise, it went off with such force, it broke a priceless statue at the academy! Ella is sure she will be expelled, until the guardian angels realize a bird has hidden the missing mail and Jess’ birthday present in the statue!! This story is filled with cute, adventurous characters that readers will fall in love with. This is the second book of the Angel Wings series.

Ella is an angel at the Guardian Angel Academy, with big dreams to be a guardian angel someday. Although Ella is an angel, she seems to get herself into all kinds of trouble. Ella has made some true angel friends in Poppy, Tilly and Jess, and she has met a grumpy angel, Primrose!
In order to cheer Tilly up from her homesickness, Ella goes on an adventure to Rainbows End, a forbidden area where the remembering flowers grow. When Ella finds a flower to take to her friend, she loses her map to find her way back home. Good thing she has true friends to come to her rescue! This story is adorable in the cutest way with all of the many special ideas written within! Readers will fall in love with the angels and their adventures!

“This is the Baby, wrinkled and gray.  This is the Baby born today.” All the world embraces a baby elephant on the day she is born.  The earth supports, sisters cuddle, the herd trumpets, the lagoon baths, and the peacocks dance for the baby.  The rich language, repetitive phrasing, and sweet illustrations make this a lovely read.  Use as a mentor text for young writers to draw out descriptive language in their personal narratives.

Two children and their dog enter a cave lit only by their flashlight.  They climb and crawl as they face cold, bats, crawling things, shining eyes, and giant paws.  Finally, a light appears and the reader is hopeful that the frightened huddling characters have found a way out.  But it is only their dad telling them to find a quiet game because the baby is sleeping.  After some thought, the cave becomes a barn for the kids to ride their horses as they create a new, but not any quieter adventure.  A good choice to inspire imagination and creative play.

Created by the pair that gave us Some Bugs, Some Pets combines rhyming verse with mixed media illustrations to create a fun engaging read.  The repetitive “some pets” is followed by descriptive verbs and surrounded by colorful supporting illustrations.  This book makes a great read aloud and is sure to insight a lively conversation about both pets and word choice.

With the adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards, titles featuring age appropriate engineering concepts are needed in our school libraries.  Making Machines with Pulleys is solid example, including informational text interspersed with images and diagrams.  The three projects provide hands on opportunities that directly support the pulley concept discussed on the previous pages.  Each of the projects has a difficulty level, introduction, materials, clear step by step directions, and a “What did you find out?” concluding section.

Includes Table of Contents, Fun Facts, Glossary, Find Out More, and Index.