“All I Need to Be” is a wonderfully illustrated picture book that encourages the reader to be okay with themselves as they are. The main character reminds us that it is okay to look within ourselves when the world gets to be too much. When students read this they will more than likely see themself in the many different characters on the pages. This would be a nice addition to a library that may be in need of SEL books for younger readers. I would recommend this picture book.
In my opinion, Wild Dreamers is an amazing book. It’s about a Cuban American girl named Ana, she and her mother have been living out of their car after her father’s name popped up on the FBI’s most wanted list. They were hiding her from her father after he was wanted for domestic terrorism. But, wild dreamers is a story of two teens, both of which are facing significant challenges in their lives. Leonardo and his family escape Cuba on a raft but he struggles with panic attacks ever since his father drowned on their journey. When Ana and Leondardo meet it’s like a Kindle being lit, but meeting again feels uncertain. When they join new schools -the same school- they bond on their mission to save animals, including Pumas. Overall, Wild Dreamers is a sad story with sparks of hope. The writing is lyrical and magical, benefiting this novel in verse. – 9th grade THS student
In this fourth installment of the adventures of Charlie Hernandez, he and his friends must save the land of the living from dark forces by traveling back in time to the 1950’s in Cuba. Charlie is a morphling and able to transform in moments of crises into animals that help him save the day. While trying to save the past, present and future, the 3 friends encounter many of the monsters and figures from previous books as well as a few new ones – the Phantom of Time, Tragaldabas, La Carreta, La Llorona, La Mano Paluda, Queen Joanna, Madremonte, and Charlie’s dead grandmother are just a few of the many mythological and story characters Charlie encounters. The action is non-stop, as in previous books. The monsters from South American mythology are frequent and, for me, mostly unknown. That has been my only frustration as a reader. I don’t have the background myths and legends to fall back on, though Charlie certainly does. I’m occasionally at a loss for who is who, but by book 4, it is nice to see a few of the creatures from earlier books reappear. The books could use a glossary of legendary creatures for a quick reference. There are usually some context clues, but for me, I could use a few more. There are always a lot of characters – good & bad – to keep track of! Anyone who has enjoyed the series previously will undoubtedly enjoy book four. Since it leans on the past three books for reference, I’m not sure I would recommend jumping right into book 4.
From Judith Henderson, the author of “AAAlligator!” we now have “Willa and Wade and the Way-Up-There”. A humorous picture book/graphic for young readers about friends Willa (an ostrich) and Wade (a penguin) who will do anything to fly! The two birds try a variety of things from pogo sticks to jumping off cliffs to meet their goal. This is a fun book about perseverance and determination. Early readers will enjoy the bright and engaging illustrations and read how sometimes, your goal cannot be met easily. I recommend this silly read for all elementary libraries. Especially if one is looking for more books that are similar to Elephant and Piggie.
This graphic novel for young readers is cute and will be relatable to students. A school story about Puffin, whose mom becomes an ambassador to the United Avian Nations. He has to move to New Stork City and start in a new school for international students. Like all new students, he is worried about fitting in and is missing his cold and watery home. Penguin is assigned to be his “buddy” but is overwhelmed with the many activities he’s committed to and thus is concerned about adding on being a buddy to the new kid. Puffin struggles to fit in and is laughed at and misunderstood as many of the birds at school are not water birds. In the end, Penguin realizes that Puffin is struggling and does what he can to make things easier for him. They end of in the drama club together and during a performance, Puffin saves the day. The illustrations are great for a graphic novel. I particularly like the very funny and relatable introduction of the various birds in Puffin’s class. Canada Goose, the fashionista. Downy Woodpecker, the drummer. Loon, the gossip and all the others you will giggle about. There are many school stories that will interest students and thus I recommend this one as an extra purchase. It would be a great purchase if you need more graphics, especially if you have the extra money for it.
This humorous book written by James Preller is a funny tale about a moose that wants to be in a tree with his friends the two birds. There are few words on each page that are simple for early readers. The illustrations are engaging and allow for readers to understand the story without necessarily understanding the printed words. It is a book that even as an adult, made me smile. I recommend it for early level readers. It was enjoyable.
Marion Dane Bauer has created a well written book about our Solar System. There are interesting facts given about all of the planets in order of closest to furthest from the Sun as well as other objects that are in the system. It has a Glossary at the beginning with clear definitions of more challenging words as well as their pronunciations. The final page also has interesting facts to encourage more reading. The illustrations are vibrant and engaging and will make readers more interested to learn more. This beginning reader is a good addition for any library in need of non-fiction books at a lower level.
This book is the perfect fusion of poetry, planetary facts, and illustrations, with a bonus fold out feature on every page. It will speak to all types of readers, and be a source of inspiration for teachers looking for ways to introduce poetry. Each poem is a different style; the book includes a sonnet, ode, villanelle, ballad, concrete poem, and an acrostic, to name a few. The first is a sonnet for the solar system, followed by an ode to the Sun. Then, each planet poem is introduced in order of how it appears in the solar system, a clever way to structure the collection. I particularly enjoyed reading each poem and then opening the foldout to learn more about each planet, including facts I didn’t know. Did you know that we named craters on Mercury in honor of Earth’s artists, musicians, writers and dancers, like Shakespeare, Picasso and Dr. Seuss? Or, that Venus spins in the opposite direction as Earth? Or that Uranus is a sideways planet, making scientists believe that a rock the size of Earth knocked it sideways billions of years ago, causing it to spin like a barrel? I don’t love that the foldout pages don’t tuck back in very easily; I’ve already bent one page. Readers will need to be reminded to be careful. Overall, a very accessible, inspirational book, whether you want to read all the poems/facts, or choose one poem for a library/classroom lesson. Highly recommended.
True to form, Ellen Hopkins latest book pulls readers right in! Sync follows twin siblings, Storm and Lake, as they try to navigate their circumstances of being pulled apart and sent to different foster homes, repeatedly throughout their adolescent years. Although the siblings are physically forced apart their connection cannot be broken, not through time spent in juvenile detention or on the streets. Fortunately for each, they have people to love and care for no matter the circumstances.
Lake is placed with a foster family who is very conservative and expects her to follow suit; however, she has a girlfriend and wants to challenge the ideals consistently pressed upon her within the foster home. Storm is placed with a loving, caring foster father, but ends up in juvenile detention after trying to seek revenge on someone who sexually assaulted his long-time girlfriend.
In the worst of circumstances, the siblings are unable to connect – trying to keep tabs on each other through their caseworkers. Although things seem pretty hopeless for both twins, they continue to persevere.
Students who like to read about difficult topics and trauma will be pulled in by these characters and their circumstances. Ellen Hopkins knows how to tug on a reader’s heartstrings. If you have other books by this author in your collection, you will want to add this as well.
Marine biologists study the plants and animals in the ocean. They learn about how humans impact the oceans.
This book is a Blastoff Reader from the Careers in STEM series. There are 2-3 sentences per page and uses many text features such as bold words, table of contents, glossary, photographs and captions. They also include brief information about a famous marine biologist.This book explains what a marine biologist is, does, and how to become a marine biologist. The books in this series introduce readers to careers they may not be familiar with.
