This is the second book in The Spindlewood Tales I’ve read and I have yet to come across any depth either in the story or the characters.  It’s pretty much a dark and dreary tale, and although it’s not stated, it must take place during the Dark or Middle Ages.  They call it a city, but it’s really a village, called Hangman’s Hollow… charming.  Children are nonexistent, banished, stolen, jailed.  Mr. Jarvis, the antaognist, lives for the sole purpose to find hidden children and drag them off.  Captain Dooley, a wooden toy sailor made from a tree from the woods, will answer any question posed to him and sniffs out children, who are then hauled to the woods.  The war is between the village’s Jarvis and the woods, with the children used as pawns.  The story is about three children hiding from the evil, and the constant threat of being discovered.  There is quite a bit of action within the 170 pages, which should please immature readers.  More capable readers will question the reasons for the misery, as well as want to know more about the children, and why there aren’t any people willing to stand up for them.  This story needs a true hero.

This is a funny rhyming story about dinosaurs and many styles of wrestling.  It is a funny combo, but lots of fun.  Boys especially would enjoy this book.  The pictures are colorful and expressive.  The vocabulary is simple, so young readers could enjoy the read.  The font is bold and easily read.  Fun story, especially for those who enjoy wrestling.

This was a very interesting read.  The book talks about the many different types of therapy horses, and the resulting helpful affects on the people they are serving.  It talks about not only the horses, and types used, but the vast number of people involved in this type of therapy.

The book is encouraging and interesting.  I am a bit afraid of horses, and could see by reading, how some types of horse therapy would help people like me overcome fears, and grow in confidence and courage.

It is a unique kind of book, that horse lovers, or someone looking for books on different carrier options would enjoy.  It has nice clear pictures, with large easily read font.

This is a great unique book!  It teaches shopping skills, and about marketing, and value.  There are thought provoking questions in boxes on many pages.  The end of the story teaches a bit about advertising, and has a project for the reader.

The story is fun, and something most kids could identify with.  The font is bold, and easy to read.

I liked how it covered a broad range of shopping options, and how the boy found the best one for him.  Fun way to talk about budgeting.

Opening and reading this book is a bit like opening a surprise package–something I had not expected, but what a nice surprise.  Homer Pudding, age 12, is a misfit in his family.  His father is a goat farmer who has prize-winning dogs, his mother is a prize-winning baker, and his sister is a self-absorbed teenager.  Homer hates going to the annual fair and his family loves it.  He would much rather spend his time poring over maps and daydream about treasure hunting.  His dog, Dog, is a basset hound and his best companion but is pretty useless as far as dogs go.  He does have a talent, however, for smelling  treasure.  Homer acquired Dog upon his Uncle Drake’s death, along with his uncle’s seat on the L.O.S.T. Society.  This Society stands for Legends, Objects, Secrets, and Treasures, and their goals are to hunt for treasure, not for personal gain but for the satisfaction of the hunt, and turn the artifacts and any treasure over to the appropriate museum for the public to view and enjoy.  Homer receives a letter asking him to attend the next Society meeting and off he goes.  The people he encounters are very unusual and bizarre, to say the least.  Zelda, a giantess, who flies a ‘cloudcopter,’ Hercules, a boy of similar age who is afraid of his own shadow but belongs to a family of extroverts, and Lorelei, an also same-aged orphan competing with Homer for his seat on the Society.  Together, the three youngsters set off on an adventure that includes skydiving, spelunking, escaping a grizzly bear, and form a steadfast friendship. When Homer returns home, his family hasn’t even realized he’d been gone, as they’d been so involved in the fair.  Book three of this series is out, and all three books would be an excellent addition to any elementary school library.

This is a strange story about a child and his/her father going to an imaginary fair.  The pictures make the story.  They are rather flat and geometric looking, but full of fun things to discover.

The story seems sort of slow, and boring, and disjointed.  It is like something a third grader wrote.  Maybe it lost something in the translation, but I found it to be uninteresting, with no real story line.  It just sort of wanders around the fair.

This is a cute, fun story.  It has a great lesson at the end, with a rather fun twist.  It emphasizes gratitude, and being polite to people who give you gifts.

The pictures are great, and the font is large and easy to read.  This would be a good read for young readers.

Dirty Bertie is a cross of Dennis the Menace and Pig Pen from the Charlie Brown gang in the Peanuts comic strip, created by author Alan MacDonald and illustrator David Roberts. This book contains three independent stories of four chapters each: Worms!, Manners! , and Garbage!

In the first story – WORMS!, Bertie is invited to Angela’s pink party for her 6th birthday. How can he go to the party, even though he loves parties, when he is expected to wear pink and most likely he will be the only boy?! Bertie fakes memory loss to get out of going to the pink party, but his mother won’t let him forget. Then,  Bertie zips himself up inside his sister’s pink mummy-style sleeping bag to go to the pink party dressed as an earthworm. He even rolled in the dirt for authenticity.

In the second story – MANNERS!     “In Bertie’s opinion, manners were a total waste of time. But that was before he heard about the prize.” (page 48) “Tomorrow … is National Manners Day” and Bertie plans to win the prize. “Even if it meant he had to be polite for a whole day, he didn’t care. After all, how hard could it be?” ( page 53)  Will Bertie be able to be polite for the entire day at school?  I won’t tell, you’ll have to read this charming book for yourself.

AND remember the dirt in this book is all illustration, especially the earthworms and dirt splots inside the from and back covers.

Recycling projects are presented to the reader by way of activities, demonstrations, models, and experiments they can do themselves or with the help of an adult. The five chapters cover: 1) Plastics and Recycling with 5 activities; 2) Solid Waste and Decomposition with 6 activities; 3) The Greening of Waste with 5 activities;  4) More Things to Recycle with 6 activities;  and 5) What Can You Do? with 9 activities ( an error has 5.8 & 5.9 both labeled 5.8 within the chapter itself). Each chapter’s activities, demonstrations, models, and experiments have: a clear list of the materials needed, a step by step set of directions with accompanying questions to help guide their observations, and Ideas for Science Fair Projects without telling the reader what the expected outcome will be. The book does not ever give the reader the answers to the questions. If the reader truly wants to know the outcome they will need to follow the easy concise directions.

Most chapters include some interesting historical information as to when or why different recycling practices came about.

This is the perfect book for teachers and students alike who want to celebrate the Earth we live on or just Earth Day.

Includes- Appendix: Science Supply Companies, Further Reading with books and web sites, and Index.

I have to admit, when I picked this book up, I was not expecting much from the chibiesque art style. But this is Super Friends, so I tried to look past that. I am so glad I did. While this might be the book with the youngest target audience, the dialogue never makes a habit of talking down to the reader. The writer lets the plot handle the moral of the story about the importance of teamwork, instead of making lengthy lectures about the “lesson we learned today.” The dialogue, instead, is spent learning about each character’s weaknesses and strengths along with some clever joke and hi jinks. While I am not a fan of the art style in general, the facial expressions and artistic portrayal of emotion, as well as the lighthearted but exciting action makes for a masterful interpretation of the medium. Overall, a very good book and it might just be one of the best to introduce your kid to the DC Universe.

Includes: Visual Questions & Prompts  for discussion.

submitted by T. K. Owens