Brachiosaurus is one of six books in this series. It describes the dinosaur in relative terms–as tall as a four-story building and as heavy as 12 elephants. His head was “small,” he ate “plants,” and the dinosaurs died “long ago.” There are interesting illustrations, a table of contents and a glossary.
This is a lively tale about Nadine, a boastful cow who claims she isn’t afraid of anything. Her skeptical friends ask if she might be afraid of lightning, or the woods? “Not me,” bragged Nadine and she heads for the woods to prove her point. The book, written in rhyme, describes Nadine’s adventures (and misadventures) in the woods; as darkness draws near, Nadine dashes for home to a hero’s welcome.
This whimsical bedtime story follows the antics of an octopus as he helps a boy get read for bed with a bath (in egg salad), teeth brushing (with paint), and monsters in the closet. This quick and silly book will be enjoyed by young children, as well as the adult reading the story!
Ankylosurus is one of six book’s in Smithsonian’s Little Explorer Series. The book provides a thorough description of the dinosaur, its behavior, and its historical significance. Lively illustrations will captivate young aspiring paleontologists. The book includes an index, glossary and recommendations for additional reading and internet resources.
Mike Evans, AKA Dino-Mike, is the young son of world renown paleontologist Stanley Evans who are currently on a dig in Montana. When Mike finds the actual work involved in the dig tedious and boring his father suggests, ” Why don’t you go explore the other dig sites…but be back before dark…” (p. 19) Soon Mike is off in the nearby forest chasing down a mysterious girl. The girl, Shannon, is out hunting a real T.Rex, which Mike is having trouble understanding since, “they went extinct more than 65 million years ago!” (p. 31)Shannon reveals a boy, Jeff, has brought the T.Rex to this time. ” ‘ He thinks dinos should never have gone extinct. He’s trying to save them by introducing them into different time periods. Unfortunately, he doesn’t realize how much damage he’s doing or how many people he’s putting in danger. That’s why I’ve come back here to stop him…’ “ (p. 76) Shannon and Mike come up with a plan tricking both Jeff and the T.Rex into one of Shannon’s high tech gadgets capturing them both. After Shannon slips off with Jeff and the T.Rex, Mike comes across a nest of dinosaur eggs just as his father is looking for Mike for dinner. It seems the T.Rex was storming around the area looking for her long lost eggs.
The story line is fast-paced and clever. Franco leads the reader along willingly, just like Shannon does Mike. There is just enough dinosaur information to make the young would-be dinosaur aficionado think he is in the know, mixed in with new dinosaur trivia to grab and ‘wow’ the reader. The dinosaur jacket Mike’s father gave him is pretty amazing, as well, with its high tech gadgets. Add all this together with Franco’s numerous black and white story sketches and this new series should sprout wings and take off!
Includes a sewn binding, glossary, and Dino Facts about T. Rex.
A few years ago, building secret fairy houses was quite the rage. Little girls loved using natural materials to build these hideaways outside. However, I haven’t seen the interest in this for quite some time. In Ocean Secrets, fairy houses built on or near the beach are part of the story, but not to the point of having a series named for them. This book has a big variety of subplots: friendship between two tweens, a much-loved older home’s questionable future, lobster pots being stolen, mysterious lights in a closed-down hotel on an island, underwater fairy houses, taking care of wildlife, and working together to beat the thieves. The storyline itself is interesting but the audience it is written for is confusing. The vocabulary is at about a fourth grade reading level and the fairy house bit is interesting to second graders, many of the subplots are appropriate for second-graders but the thieves have guns and are not so appropriate. It’s just kind of a conundrum as to who this story is meant for.
Tree Frogs is one of the 50 books in the Animal Safari series of non fiction books for emergent readers. The cover photograph reels the reader in with its big red-eyed, larger than life tree frog. Once inside the book, the two-page spreads contain two large font sentences on white, opposite the larger than life photo on the right. The book is divided into four sections: What are Tree Frogs?; Climbers; Hunting and Hiding; and Males, Females, and Babies.
The nine bold type vocabulary words included in the book’s text and defined in the glossary include: amphibians, gills, pads, and predators. Three different habitats are pictured in small insets when the rain forests are mentioned. The tree frogs’ prey of moths, crickets, and flies are also given small insets. A very brief mention the life cycle from egg to tadpole to adult living in trees is mentioned without using the term life cycle in the last section of the book.
Includes an index and www.factsurfer.com web address for further information and pictures.
The series title: Super Cute! nails it! Baby Orangutans is one of the 25 books in this series of non fiction books for emergent readers. The cover photograph reels the reader in with its big eyed (life-sized) baby orangutan face. The baby might be smiling, too. Once inside the book, the two-page spreads contain two large font sentences on a patch of white, overlay the photo.
There are three, four page sections in the book: Orangutan Infant!, Life with Mom, and Learning from Mom. The seven vocabulary words in bold type can be found with their definitions in the glossary at the back of the book. These include: ” bond – a close connection”, comfort, grooms, and rain forest. Page 6 states, ” The infant acts a lot like a human baby. It sucks its thumb for comfort.”
Though this book is more picture than words, it does inform the reader the mother orangutan shows the baby how to build a nest for sleeping and how to find food, among other activities.
Includes an Index.
Lights, Camera, Perry? is an abridged version of the Disney Channel show Phineas & Ferb, episode ” Perry the Actorpus” from season 3, but with easier vocabulary used. If your patrons are fans of the TV show they will be able to follow the plot more easily than if they do not watch the TV series. This is partly due to the way TV segues jump so quickly and partly due to the abridgement of this story.
The story revolves around Phineas and Ferb’s entering Perry the platypus into a contest to be Totally Tools spokesanimal and Perry won. Now there are Totally Tools ads posted all over town with Perry the platypus wearing a fedora. By shear coincidence, this is Perry’s disguise when he is fighting evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz as Agent P. Temporarily, Agent P ( Perry) is replaced by Agent S (Sergei the snail) in the latest fight against Doofenschmirtz and his latest invention the Mustache-inator.
Meanwhile, Phineas and Ferb’s sister Candace attends a retreat- “Stop the Busting” in her attempt to be nicer to her brothers. Candace is making headway until she is informed the machine she is using was created by her two brothers. Smash! Candace eliminates the machine.
In the meantime, Perry’s picture in the Totally Tools ads around town have been replaced using Sergei’s photo in Perry’s place. Now Agent P is back on the job.
Traumatic Brain Injury – From Concussion to Coma is a concise 88 page informational text that doesn’t feel like the informational text coming from most publishers today. Glossy cover with images and font choices that make the overall impression of the page much more relevant to teen readers, Connie Goldsmith, an RN with her master’s degree in health care administration, does an outstanding job explaining the literal “impact” concussions have on the brain and the side effects that follow. For example, in the chapter titled “Motor Vehicle Accidents, Goldsmith writes that “It’s easy to understand why brain injuries suffered in auto accidents are so serious. Think of it like this. When a person inside an auto moving at 50 miles (80 km) an hour is hit by another vehicle, the brain goes immediately from 50 miles and hour to zero. The brain slams back and forth inside the skull resulting in severe damage” (59). Other chapter titles include “Brains in the News”, “The Traumatized Brain”, “Sports-Related Concussions”, “Assessing and Treating Concussions”, “Wounded in War”, and “Living with TBI”. While the numbers of reported concussions is on the rise, the author states that this might mostly be due to the larger awareness and reporting of concussions by the public. Most sports teams, both professional and amateur, conduct a pre-season neurological screening to set base line measurements. This aids in better diagnoses as well. Most shocking to this reader is the research and development going on to both monitor and prevent concussions. Tiny sensors are now in some U.S. army helmet and the author claims that that NFL is looking to do that as well. Additionally, the army is developing a pill that soldiers could take before battle to help protect brains cells if injury occurs. Overall, librarians will be impressed with this title from Lerner Publications and probably be inclined to purchase more from this publisher.