An honest nonfiction book about the person named Cristiano Ronaldo as well as his soccer achievements. There’s a chapter called “Troubling times” which talks about family issues, health problems, and the isolation he felt. He is portrayed as emotional as well as a super athlete. This is a good honest glimpse into Ronaldo. This would appeal to upper elementary and middle school readers. High interest book. Great Additional read.
Category Archives: Reviewer’s Library Type
Be Smart About Your Career
A literacy book about getting ready for college and managing your own finances in a “kid friendly” way. Great comparisons for careers with degrees and correlated pay scales. Discussions of money and how it effects your quality of life and choices in life. It would make for some good required reading for students as they contemplate the idea of going on to college. Recommended.
Geronimo Stilton, The Hunt for the Golden Book
The hunt is on! Geronimo, our beloved mouse is writing a book on his laptop computer. It must be finished in time for the party that Grandfather William is throwing for him. But, an unexpected thing happens. Geronimo’s laptop is stolen! It has the only copy of his book. The mystery is set and and he is out to find the thieves. With the help of his friends, the culprits are caught and the party goes on.
Great use of font, color, graphics and comprehension questions discussed as clues. Recommended for elementary readers.
What Noise Does a Rabbit Make?
“In the still of the night, just before dawn, slowly and silently…
…the meadow filled with rabbits.” writes Carrie Weston to which illustrator Richard Byrne draws a patchwork farm landscape panorama of the blues, purples, and lavenders of early morning. The page turn reveals the farm is now in hues of sunrise reds, yellows, and oranges. The next page turn changes from colors to the onomatopoeia of barnyard sounds: Cock-a-doodle-do, Moo! Neigh! Baa-baaaaaaaaaa! Oink! Oink! [page turn] Meow! Woof!! Chu-chu-brrr-chug, chug, chug! “The farm rang out with noises.” As Raggety-Taggle, the rabbit, ponders the title question of “What Noise Does a Rabbit Make?” a cat begins to stalk him. The the chase is on! The miaowing cat, followed by the barking dog, the mooing cows, the baaing sheep, the neighing horses, the oinking pigs, and the cock-a-doodle-doing rooster. “The angry farm blew the tractor horn, TOOT! and everybody… stopped. All, that is except for Raggety-Taggle, who quietly tacked up his tail… and ran… and ran… and ran… all the way home.” Later in the blues, purples, oranges of evening Raggety-Taggle “wondered just why anybody would want to make a noise at all.”
Gingerbread Man Loose on the Fire Truck, The
Here’s a new book especially for the Kindergarten and First Grade teachers who love the Gingerbread Man! The ones who have the Gingerbread Man hunts all around the school in September will now have a second story for the month of October- Fire Prevention Month. 2013 Washington Children’s Choice Picture Book Award nominee author Laura Murray has created a sequel to The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School. The class is going on a field trip to the fire station. Gingerbread Man is wary of the fire station’s dalmation which seems extremely interested in him. To keep away from the dalmation, he goes into the cab of the fire engine. “I’ll VROOM and I’ll ZOOM, as fast as I can. I’ll STEER this big truck, I’m the Gingerbread Man!” Then Gingerbread Man goes up the fire pole over the bunks and into the kitchen for five-alarm chili, when the alarm sounds. Gingerbread Man goes back down the fire pole and onto the back of the fire truck. At the fire, he attempts to hold the fire hose “but that hose whipped and bucked like a rodeo bull.” The women fire chief thanks him for his help and takes him back to the station.
Teachers will, also, enjoy the 21″ X 16″ two-sided poster found in a pocket inside the back cover. The poster’s front shows Gingerbread Man with the saying- “Smart cookies know: If there is smoke- stay low. Crawl below!”
On the back of the poster are four reproducible student (worksheets) activities: a Gingerbread Man coloring sheet, a Gingerbread Man maze, fire safety tips, and 6 pictures from the story to be put into sequence .
Taxes and the Tea Party and Those Revolting Rebels: A History in Comics of the American Revolution
The American Revolution is an essential part of American history and mythology. It is an oft-told tale of rising anger, military determination, and remarkable change. Some may wonder, “Do we really need another book on the American Revolution? The answer, “Yes.” Few books can match the details, wit, and charm of Stan Mack’s “Taxes, The Tea Party and Those Revolting Rebels – A History in Comics of the American Revolution.” The outlines of the story, the major events, and the leading characters in this remarkable drama have been recreated in pen and ink drawings in this delightful book.
Mack’s book covers American history from the end of the French and Indian War in 1763 through the ratification of the Constitution in 1787. In detailing this story Mack employs three avenues of information. There is a narrative of concise statements which describe events as they unfold; often filled with a certain whimsical flair. Describing the Minutemen watching the British at Concord, Mack wrote, “Meanwhile, the Redcoats arrive at the town of Concord. There’s no stockpile of weapons but they trash the place anyway. Musket packing farmer [Minutemen] watch the destruction.” The cartoons supplement the factual narrative by depicting some element of the story and usually in a humorous way that accentuates the historical action. At Lexington, three worried Minutemen watching the British march into sight have this exchange, “Why are we called Minutemen?” Response, “ Because in a minute I’m outta here.” Third is Carl, a 21st century know-it-all, who appears in the cartoons to make some salient point about what is happening. In one instance he conducts a quick historiographical lesson on who shot first at Lexington, explaining, “Historians argue about who fired first.”
When combined, these elements of story-telling provide a remarkably detailed picture of the dissolution of the English colonial Empire in North America, from growing colonial anger towards England, a revolutionary movement which fought and won on the battlefield, and the subsequent debate over how best to run these new United States. It’s all here: petty ego battles by political and military leader, the impact of the war on many segments of society, the role of the Enlightenment, the nature of war, a full chronology of events from 1763-1787, etc.
Mack closes with an illustration of those groups who did not experience the fruits of “All men are created equal,” slaves and free blacks, Indians, poor whites, and women.” Hopefully, he will tell their struggle equality story next.
Favorite Words of Famous People
When I picked this up, I assumed it would be the favorite quotations of famous people. But it is not quotations; it is literally favorite words. Yo-Yo Ma’s favorite words are “genuine” and “incredible;” Ann Landers’ is “chocolate” and she is not the only one. Gene Kelly loves “plethora” and Penn Gillete loves “ruckus.” Several people chose “yes.” If the book were simply a list of favorite words, it would be rather dull. However, almost all of the famous people supplied a story about why they love these words. Some love them because of the sound of the words; others because of their meaning. My favorite favorite word – cartoonist Jules Feiffer’s – “Duck!” – provided complete with drawing.
Caves
This is an amazing and extremely interesting book. There are lots of great cave photos. The end of the book has a few pages with a chart listing and sorting many of the details and information in the book. After teaching you about all the different things people study in caves, and people through history who have pioneered this research, they teach you how to prepare, and how to safely go caving. The glossary has many words that will probably be new to young readers. I would have liked to have seen a pronunciation guide on the words in the glossary as well.
This is a wonderful addition to our science collection.
The United States Air Force
This book is a nice overview of the Air Force. It is full of large pictures and interesting facts about this branch of the armed services. Each page has a small glossary box to define words in colored bold print for the readers. I like that they are actually on the pages where the words are used. The font is large and easy to read. The vocabulary is great for young readers.
This is a nice addition to our collection of books about the military.
Helen Keller’s Best Friend Belle
This is an uplifting inspiring book. The pictures are pretty and colorful, and would hold children’s attention. The book not only tells the brief version of Helen Keller’s life story, but has pictures of the ASL alphabet, and Braille alphabet. The end of the story has a sketch of her entire life, as well as information about all the dog companions she had in her life. It is a good book, especially to help children understand the challenges of the handicapped, and would appeal to children who love dogs.
Nice addition to our collection.