An eight year old boy is “pleased” to be invited to the dinosaurs party, but he soon has doubts once he arrives. “There are plenty of meat eaters in here. Are you sure you want to go?”  The invitation reads, ” Dear Special Guest    you are invited to be (‘be’ is crossed out) dinner at the dinosaurs’ party at 3 pm on Saturday. Yours   Mr T. Rex   xx”

The boy squeezes between the other dinosaur guests who are playing musical chairs. The bouncy house pops when the stegosaurus jumps in it.

Some uncalled for, pointless bathroom humor surfaces when a line begins to grow outside of the bathroom. Various dinosaurs are shown dancing around and crossing their legs while waiting for T. Rex to step out of the bathroom.

Then the boy decides to leave and grabs a party bag. The T. Rex begins to chase him. The boy finally looses the T.Rex after a wild bus ride home. As the boy rests at home on top of his bed with the dinosaur bed spread, he thinks,

“ I mostly enjoyed the dinosaurs’ party,

There is just one little snag.

I don’t think the bag I picked up… 

Was really a PARTY BAG!” 

His ‘party bag’ has a T. Rex hatchling  emerging from an egg.

Hercules makes Hera, the queen of the gods, so jealous she “drove Hercules mad with rage. In his madness, Hercules killed his wife and children in a fire.” (p. 4) To gain forgiveness for this action Apollo’s oracle tells Hercules he must “Perform 10 tasks for your cousin Eurystheus, king of Mycenae.” (p. 5)  So begins this accounting of the 12 labors of Hercules. This retelling is an “adaptation of Hercules’ story is based on the book The Library, written by Greek historian Apollodorus.” The labors have Hercules killing the Nemean lion, which his cousin purposefully omitted to tell “was invulnerable to weapons.” This is not the only time Hercules’ cousin, King of Mycenae, keeps valuable information from him, either. Hercules kills Hydra, but since his nephew helped him, the king won’t count it as one of Hercules’ labors. Hercules captures the Cerynitian Hind , brings back the Erymanthian Boar, cleans the king’s stables by diverting a river, and chases away a flock of nesting birds. Some of the other labors include bringing the king the Cretan Bull and feeding King Diomedes to his own cruelly mistreated horses, so Eurystheuscan  can have four of the mares.

Author- Blake Hoena and illustrator – Estudio Haus do not pull any punches on telling Hercules’ story just because it is in graphic novel form.

Includes: glossary, www.facthound.com, and index.

An informational text about the theropod, Allosaurus.  Topics included are body features, era, range, hunting, babies, and fossils are all covered.  Contains table of contents, glossary, additional information, and index

All but one of the artist rendered illustrations show the Allosaurus with a layer of fur.  In no place does it provide evidence to support this rendering.  In conclusion, the book’s unsupported illustrations contradict accepted scientific thinking on external dinosaur physiology.

High Hopes is a stable where people can board their horses as well as take riding lessons.  Libby, an almost 12-year-old girl, has dreams of earning a blue ribbon at an equestrian show, and spends most of her time there.  When she is saddled with a challenging horse, it seems her dreams will never come true.  But riding teaches Libby quite a bit:  learn to be confident and be a leader, work hard, be patient and understanding, be a good friend, and to be kind, because things aren’t always as they seem.    For girls who love horses, this book is for them.

This nonfiction title is divided into chapters covering different features of Northwest Native American plank houses.  The elementary level text is enriched with photographs, illustrations, and a map.  The chapter, Building a Plank House would benefit from a diagram to provide a visual explanation of the multiple steps described only in text.

Contains table of contents, glossary, additional information, and index. Glossary terms are also defined on the page they first appear.  A recommended title to support Washington State mandated Native American curriculum, Since Time Immemorial.

This book follows Oscar Gutierrez’s rise as a professional wrestler while also providing background knowledge of the sport of wrestling.  Simple text and action photos create an engaging read.

Wrestling specific terms are defined on the page they are first used. Contains table of contents, timeline, index, glossary, and a list of both additional print and electronic resources.  Holds definite appeal to young boys and shows an example of a successful Mexican American.

This is a reprint of a 1973 book in which Andy approaches a bored group of older kids pulling a wagon with his name spelled in large letters.  The older kids claim he’s too little to play as they grab his letters and use them to create a series of rhyming words; ran, man, pan, ran and hand, band, sand, stand.  “Can I have my name back,” Andy repeatedly asks and the kids always answer with, “No.” Finally he grabs his name and walks away leaving the kids and the remaining letters in a jumble.  A great book for reinforcing both decoding and rhyming.

In this fantasy adventure graphic novel, a young boy named William goes off in search of his sister who is trying to find their father’s spirit. In the process, he meets a mercenary named Barbant, a magical goat, and a troubadour named Counterpane. Together the trio go on an adventure across the magical lands. They meet many monsters and kings in the pursuit of what happened to William’s father.
The book’s plot is rather dull and confusing. The artwork is just OK. The reader is led to believe that the adventure will be a grand one but, the adventure is rather short and boring. I rate this book as a marginal purchase for a school library.

— Kellyn S.

Covering a 24 hour period in 3 hour increments, this book shares the diverse plants and animals found in the Sonoran Desert.  A hummingbird whirs it’s wings, peccaries grunt to one another, a rattlesnake slips out from under a rock as the day progresses.  As night arrives, the nocturnal animals begin their nightly adventures. Well paced descriptive text is framed by wonderful cut-paper illustrations.  Pronunciation included in the text for unusual or difficult to pronounce plants and animals.  Each two page spread has factual captions about the portrayed animals to supplement the narrative.  The book wraps up with Fun Facts, glossary, index, and internet link as well as the identification of a desert and a world map.

I noticed that this book was originally written and published in 1982 and that might explain why it seemed a little dated.  The illustrations are cheerful, highly detailed and colorful.    In this story Mrs. Hen’s egg rolls out the her next and down a hole.  Friend Pakkun the wolf (he doesn’t resemble any kind of wolf I’ve ever seen) volunteers to go and get it.  Underground he encounters strange creatures and they go to sea where he swims with other strange creatures.  They go to dinosaur land and meet Mr. T Rex, who is friendly beyond belief.  They finally travel up Mt. Sulfur and in a cave find the ground littered with eggs, all starting to hatch.  Mrs. Hen’s egg is the smallest and he takes it back to her above ground.  All is well.  Kids will enjoy looking at all the details.