Category Archives: Reviewer’s Library Type

I See…

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I See… by Patrick George is one of five books in a series about the five senses.  All books in this series have clever and amusing illustrations.  The bold color and bold designs with a twist are engaging and entertaining.  The series would be appropriate for toddler through beginning readers (1st grade) or for struggling readers. Each picture requires a second look.

For this book eyes are featured throughout and also the use of contrast between black shadow and color. A magnifying glass that appears to bring a ladybug into focus, also looks like a bloodshot eyeball.  The shadow cast by a single, lit bulb forms an eye in the background of one page. Tunnels form eyes as well as wheels and headboards. The headboard is shown in dark silhouette and on the next page the reader sees that what appeared to be a menacing, monster-headboard is really just a teddy bear up against it. Adults and children will enjoy finding these cleverly disguised gems. This series would make a fun read aloud that could incorporate many interesting activities.

I Touch…

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I Touch…by Patrick George is one of five books in a series about the five senses.  All books in this series have clever and amusing illustrations.  The bold color and bold designs with a twist are engaging and entertaining.  The series would be appropriate for toddler through beginning readers (1st grade) or for struggling readers.   Each picture requires a second look.

Look at the cover and see the cat’s whiskers are also two hands. Fingers and hands that are featured throughout the book form trees, elephant trunks, puppy noses and an Eskimo, to name just a few things. Adults and children will enjoy finding these cleverly disguised gems. This series would make a fun read aloud that could incorporate many interesting activities.

I Smell…

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I Smell by Patrick George is one of five books in a series about the five senses.  All books in this series have clever and amusing illustrations. The bold color and bold designs, with a twist, are engaging and entertaining. The series would be appropriate for toddler through beginning readers (1st grade) or for struggling readers.
Each picture requires a second look.

On one page we see a skunk.  The words on that page are [I smell] “…awful. Keep away!”  The skunk’s tail forms another exclamation point. The black tip of a dog’s nose becomes a black bag belonging to a thief.  One draw back to this book is the page referring to poo. Stinky poo to be exact… a swirled pile with flies around it.  While many kids will not be able to contain their laughter, and thus be hard to bring back to the story after this type of unexpected surprise; some children will be uncomfortable with the image. The ending may pose a disruption to a class read aloud as well: “My favorite smell is… you.”  Mom and baby are pictured.  Kinder and 1st graders may take that statement to the opposite extreme with various vocal exclamations of “Yuck” and “You???”  Those two items may make this a difficult class read aloud or depending on how it’s handled, a very lively read aloud.

I Taste…

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I Taste by Patrick George is one of five books in a series about the five senses.  All books in this series have clever and amusing illustrations.  The bold color and bold designs with a twist are engaging and entertaining.  The series would be appropriate for toddler through beginning readers (1st grade) or for struggling readers. Each picture requires a second look. Notice on the cover the plate is also a mouth? Inside you will find that a lollipop is also a tongue and a boy’s spaghetti on the left page, is a bird’s worm on the right page.  Adults and children will enjoy finding these cleverly disguised gems. This series would make a fun read aloud that could incorporate many interesting activities.

I Hear…

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I Hear by Patrick George is one of five books in a series about the five senses.  All books in this series have clever and amusing illustrations.  The bold color and bold designs with a twist are engaging and entertaining.  The series would be appropriate for toddler through beginning readers (1st grade) or for struggling readers.   Each picture requires a second look. At first glance a flower appears to look normal, but upon closer inspection we see the flower has an ear. So too does the trophy that the crowd is cheering about.  Notice on the cover the boy’s ear is also the drummer’s drum. Adults and children will enjoy finding these cleverly disguised gems. This series would make a fun read aloud that could incorporate many interesting activities.

 

The War that Saved My Life

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Ada was born with a club foot and has been a virtual prisoner in her mam’s 3rd floor London flat for nine years.  Her younger brother Jamie gets to go to school and roam the neighborhood.  When children are sent from town to live in the country during the beginning of WWII, Mam is going to send Jamie but not Ada.  Ada leaves with Jamie but when arriving at the rural community, they are the last chosen to live with other families.  Miss Susan reluctantly takes them in, thus beginning a tentative new life of trust, love, and acceptance.  Ada is uneducated but extremely attentive.  She is both drawn to and repelled from their new life with Miss Susan.  She does not understand often and misreads cues.  Gradually she comes to trust Miss Susan’s friendship and love.  Then her abusive Mam reappears and threatens Ada’s hard-won security.  She yanks Ada and Jamie back to London.  One aches for Ada as she struggles with her own insecurities and quest for learning, her determined will to survive, and to be accepted for herself.  Many, including Ada’s Mam, have the preconceived opinion that a physical disability is accompanied with a mental defect.  As Ada eventually states, “My club foot is a long way from my head!”  This is a well told story from Ada’s voice and the authentic settings, to her courage and quest for self-respect.

Ollie and the Science of Treasure Hunting: a 14-Day Mystery

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The FBI is encouraging 13 year old Ollie to keep a low profile after his last adventure with his best friend Moxie (Moxie and the Art of Rule Breaking).  A little bit chubby and a lot asthmatic, Ollie joins a group at Wilderness Scout Camp, located on an island in Boston Harbor where legends of pirate treasures abound.  As he focuses on making friends, working on scout badges, and engaging in a ruthless game of tag, Ollie is approached by Ranger Johnson to help locate a lost treasure of pirate Ben Avery.  The chapters are short and flip between camp competitions, pirate clues, and Ollie’s interest in geocaching.  Ollie’s issues with asthma and the personalities of his tent-mates and fellow campers are realistic.   There are several references to Ollie’s adventure with Moxie in the first book.  While it is not necessary to read the books in order, it may help in understanding the whole picture of Ollie.  However, I found it a bit irritating to keep reading references to a book I have not read.  Readers will root for Ollie as he deals with bullies and his asthma, struggles with knowing who to trust with pirate booty, and develops into a leader.

Cold Calls

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The opening chapter causes the reader’s stomach to flip with dread and anxiety as the teenaged boy Eric receives a series of mysterious and creepy phone calls, followed by an email with a photo of Eric’s bedroom. As Eric has the realization that “Whoever had taken the picture had been in his room”, the reader is hooked.

Told in the third person, the story centers around three teens, Eric, Shelly, and Fatima.   The three teens, from different high schools, meet while on suspension and are attending the same bullying intervention program. The three team up to discover the anonymous caller who threatens them with revealing photos or writings from their personal pasts.  The reader is kept in suspense as to WHAT the secrets are that the three kids are trying so desperately to keep secret.

This novel is full of suspense, mystery, blackmail, and bullying.  The three teens are unlikely bullies, and the reader feels empathy for them, as they do things they hate to do but don’t feel they have a choice about.

Two of the characters are somewhat stereotypical (Eric is a jock, Shelly is Goth), while the third character, Fatima is a Muslim-American girl, and seeing the situation from her cultural viewpoint adds diversity and interest.

For those readers who enjoy this book, it is likely that there will be a sequel: the final scene sets up that possibility.

Should Charlotte Share?

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Product DetailsShould Charlotte Share is a nice character development book. It helps children define what effect their choices may have on others and for themselves. Twenty-four pages in length, each “chapter” addresses a different decision and consequence.  The first chapter explains that we make choices every day and that the choices we make have effects or consequences. The next four chapters target a specific behavior. Each behavior is given four pages; first is the scenario, the next two pages show the good and the bad outcome of the decision, the last page asks the reader “What would you do?” and delves deeper into the outcome of good and the bad consequence.

For example chapter two asks, “Should Henry help?” The first page sets the scenario: Henry’s sister’s shoe is untied. Page two shows that he could help, as we see him tying his sister’s shoe . The third page shows that he chose not to help her as they are getting ready to run a race with her shoe untied. The fourth page is the consequence and we see that when Henry chooses to help, he and his sister can play and have fun. But when he chooses not to help we see his sister has tripped on her shoelace and she can no longer join in the fun.

The chapters include: Should Charlotte share?, Should Henry help?, Should Wendy tease her teammate?, Should Theo tell the truth?  The end pages include a picture glossary, index and notes for teaching. Full color photographs are used. Diversity is present; bi-racial, white, Latino, Indian, Asian and perhaps Native American; however, African-American does not seem to be represented.

This book could easily become a lesson in itself. Due to it’s small size (7″ x 8″) small group sharing would be ideal or the use of a projector would be needed for whole class instruction.

Monkeys

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Monkeys is one of six books in the Zoo Animals series published by Sandcastle.  The photographs are dazzling.  The simple text includes vocabulary that should be mostly accessible for early readers.  The book includes a contents page, Fast Facts summary, quick quiz and glossary.