I’m not generally inclined to be a fan of abridgments, as I find them somewhat disrespectful to the author’s original work, but if you’re in the market for such a thing, this would be a reasonable choice.  It is a beginning chapter book, suitable for young readers, with short chapters and full-page color illustrations.  The illustrations suit the silliness of the story. It’s adequate for what it is.

It’s got a great title, and it’s written with a great voice, that brings out the personality of the main character.  The cartoonish illustrations, likewise, are drawn to contribute to the personality of the characters, but there’s a gray undertone to the color scheme that detracts and leaves them a bit drab.  The story itself is fine, but not especially compelling:  dog’s in trouble for wreaking havoc on the furniture, because she thinks she’s battling monsters, but it turns out that she needs glasses, so she gets taken to the doggy optometrist, tries on a bunch of glasses, but opts for contacts instead, and all is well.  It left me a bit flat.

A delightful story with a message we all need reminding of from time to time.  Told in rhyme with a poetic rhythm (without being too sing-songy), the story tells of a meek, tiny mouse who lives at the base of a large rock, perpetually ignored by all the other animals.  Atop the rock is the perch of the lion, whose loud roar and prideful boasting makes him impossible to ignore.  Deciding he needs a roar of his own to get himself noticed, Mouse works up the courage to face the only one who can teach him, and makes the long climb, overcoming his fear of becoming dinner in order to seek his goal.  Upon waking the lion with his timid request, we all discover the lion is afraid of mice, which puts the little guy in a place of power as he assures the lion he means no harm and would like to be friends.  So they both learned that day that no matter one’s size, “we all have a mouse and a lion inside.”  The illustrations give the characters personality and use perspective well to create a sense of drama.

This book is outstanding! The artwork is gorgeous, colorful, and so unique! The story follows a cow (Tina) who has 3 sisters with no imagination. Tina goes exploring and climbs a tree where she meets a dragon who teaches her to fly. Eventually her sisters come looking for her and expand their horizons…literally. The moral of this story is “Yes, Why Not?” Told with a sparsity of words, the reader will come to discover that imaginations and a willingness to try will result in success.
This would be great for story times about dragons, cows, imagination, exploring etc.

If you are looking for a book about how planes work, this book gives only a VERY general overview. It takes a broader approach for a younger audience about air travel in general (including a chapter on airport security). I can’t imagine that students older than third grade or students with knowledge of the Wright brothers or planes would find this book very helpful. Students just beginning to learn about these subjects might, though. For a broad overview of air travel and a younger audience (advanced reader in 2nd or 3rd grade), this is a decent book. Cute illustrations, quiz at the end and a wide array of general info. Some readers may want to go deeper though.

This beautifully illustrated picture book uses the voice of Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson to describe the work and teachings of Gandhi, through the perspective of a young boy not fully the lessons he’s being taught and chaffing at the behavior expected of him.  He says of the eleven principle teachings of his grandfather, the one he struggled with the most was the teaching against waste.  In an act of defiance, one day he tosses his stubby little pencil into the grass, only to be sent into the night to spend hours hunting for it.  Eventually, his grandfather explains that wasting resources is a way form of taking from those who have less, and gives him an exercise to recognize the two types of violence: physical violence and passive violence, and the impacts all our thoughts and actions have upon the wider world.

Highly readable and highly informative.  It covers everything from the lore that surrounds owls from a variety of cultures, to the different types, anatomy, hunting, and mating.  A generally all-encompassing book, illustrated with beautiful watercolors that support text.

This is a book where the illustrations are crucial to telling the story. Told from the perspective of a solitary fox, the story opens with the words, “This is the forest where I lived with my family.”  Yet the illustration shows a suburban subdivision.  As the book continues, the fox reminisces about the times with his family, while he wanders through the human habitat.  The color scheme of the illustrations does an excellent job of contributing to the mood of the story, opening with dark and drab colors, brightening in the end, when the fox watches the strange two-leg humans digging near signs of a future wildlife preserve and a future wildlife underpass.  When his curiosity draws him through this strange empty burrow, he finds his way home, reunited with his family.  An author’s note in the back discusses conservation efforts working to minimize the impact of human encroachment on wild habitat.

A fun book for exploring language — namely words that have multiple meanings, both as nouns (specifically animals) and verbs.  Each page contains one very short sentence consisting of repeating words (Bats bat. Steers steer. Dogs dog dogs.), and silly, cartoonish illustrations that support the multiple meanings.  Just to be extra clear, within each illustration is also a brief definition of the verb (“to steer = to guide”).  A two-page spread in the very back offers further discourse on the origins of the different usages of each word, in case anyone is particularly curious.

It’s fun.  It’s a rhyming story, a counting story, and a build-upon-itself repeating story.  It begins in the middle of the sea with nothing to see; then there’s nothing to see but one tiny island just big enough for me and Annie McPhee; then two wee dogs who thought they were frogs, followed by three perky pigs wearing wigs….By the time they’ve spotted ten rascally rats skipping in hats, Annie McPhee shouts, “Too crowded for me!” and the two original island inhabitants set off to sea on the head of a whale, leaving the tiny island to the rest of the crowd.