Organized to follow the seasons of the year, beautifully illustrated poems are mostly about things kids can really relate to, such as autumn leaves, squirrels, summer shadows, snow angels… (“Guest List: Charles Darwin’s Garden Party” might not resonate with kids as well as the others).  The structures of the poems seem more sophisticated that those often targeting children (playing with words, rather than rhyming couplets), yet the topics of the poems are so kid-related, that I think kids will really connect with them, thus being drawn into exploring more sophisticate language.

It’s got a sturdy binding and is a small book for small hands, as it is obviously intended for young children.  A couple of rhyming couplets on each page almost read like a song, but I wished that the music had been printed in the back, because the best I could manage in the tune department was always off-rhythm.  Colorful illustrations of photo collage support the text.  Tips are offered in the back for how to engage preschool children with the text.

This graphic novel formatted retelling of Paul Bunyan includes:

multiple storks needed to deliver him,

wagon wheels used for buttons on his shirts,

lumber camp,

bacon (skaters) to grease pans,

Babe the blue ox,

Paul’s footprints becoming lakes in Minnesota,  and

the Grand Canyon.

Includes: glossary, discussion questions & writing prompts.

This book of poems dedicated to each color is a beautiful example of words and pictures working together.  Illustrations of mixed media collage invite studying, supporting and expanding upon the text.  Colors are used both literally and figuratively. Color words are printed in that color, and some descriptions of color are left for the reader to interpret, with pictures picking up where the words leave off.  The reader is drawn into the illustrations to hunt out the depictions found in the text as well as more things of that color on each page.  My one disappointment was some times when the illustrations did not include all the textual references:  I hunted for red rhubarb and feathery maples, but could not find them.

” A tree falls in the forest. Crash! Bur=t that is not the end of the tree’s story. It’s just the beginning of its new life as a rotting habitat.” (p. 7)

Now the large font text, of 3-4 sentences per page, gives brief descriptions of the work of ants, pill bugs, fungus, earthworms, millipedes, springtails, mites, centipedes in and on the log on the forest floor.

Highly magnified color photos of these creatures, including bacteria and microbes, grab the readers attention.

Simple text in large font describes different modes of transportation used by children around the world to get to school:  a topic very relevant to young children.  This book makes  a good teaching tool, rich in Non-fiction text features such as captions, table of contents, headings, bolded vocabulary words to indicate what is found in the glossary, and an index.  Color photos support the text and website/books suggestions for further reading are included.  A map in the back color-codes the continents to place photos geographically.  It’s got a good sturdy binding and provides guided reading level on the back.

This is the story of Ginny. Ginny is in kindergarten and loves to read. The only problem is that Ginny sees two of everything. When she bumps into chairs, the kids laugh at her and when she reads things twice her teacher tells her to only read it once or stop squinting. Math is really hard and so is simple things like cutting for Ginny, but on Vision Screening Day the mystery is solved. Ginny has double vision. After going to the eye doctor, she is relieved to find out her eyes aren’t playing tricks on her and she doesn’t need surgery. Eye exercises, glasses and a patch will fix her vision problem. This is when she becomes a kindergarten pirate that can do numbers, scissors, read and not bump into things. This is a nice story about being different and having a disability. This would be a great resource for those little ones that do have trouble with their vision. This is a cute story  that teaches kids it is ok to have difficulties and disabilities. I like how it puts a positive spin on wearing eye patches for the many kids that have to.

From the bestselling Llama Llama series, this book is about Llama Llama dealing with Christmas preparations. The holidays bring so much planning, stress and craziness that Llama Llama just can’t take anymore! Llama Llama just can’t wait for the big day, but there is so much to do to get ready. Every day of waiting and waiting is just so hard and finally Llama Llama has had enough HOLIDRAMA! A cute story told in rhyme with delightful pictures, this book is great about making us all realize the importance of the holidays. I think it makes us parents/teachers think about how kids sometimes feel about the most wonderful time of the year. Llama Llama and Mama Llama take a time out and remember the holidays are about the true gift of having each other. I just loved it!

This is the story of a little guy, Puzzlehead. The author/illustrator has created geometric characters that go on an adventure together. Everyone seems to have found the perfect thing to do. All but Puzzlehead. When Puzzlehead finally finds the perfect place for him, he soon realizes that it is quite lonely and wants to play with his friends. The only problem is that he is stuck! With help from his friends, they pull him free and at the same time they see how they all fit together into one piece.  This is a cute story about friendship and fitting in based on puzzle/shape type characters. Teachers could use this book in many ways, such as teaching shapes, geometry and friendship.

This book is from the set of books, Dinosaur Wars. In this book, it compares the two dinosaurs-deinonychus and styracosaurus. The book welcomes the reader to dinosaur wars! The book then goes into detail about each dinosaur comparing their size, speed and agility, defenses, weapons and attack style. Even though these two dinos never battled each other, it discusses what may have happened had they battled. I really like the layout of this book. On the left facing page there is the information about the deinonychus, along with a picture and then on the right is the information about the styracosauus (and a picture). On each set of facing pages there is also a fierce fact and a glossary word. At the end of the book, there is a fictionalized story of the two dinos meeting and battling. I think that kids will really like how the book nicely compares two different types of dinosaurs and the story with the “dinosaur war” at the end. Great set of nonfiction dinosaur books!