Category Archives: Additional Purchase

Dinosaur Friends!

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by Peter Curtis

Dinosaurs of all sizes romp together in this easy reader. With names like Squeak, Whack and Thud (to name just a few), these dinosaurs are friendly and full of fun. They explore the rainforest of their home, the island Paleos. Most pages introduce another dinosaur by name, with their italicized scientific names and physical attributes (attached to their names). For example: Snap is a Spinosaurus who has very sharp teeth. Whack is a Stegosaurus with a tail that can knock over the other dinosaurs. In this book, dinosaurs play chase, but they never eat each other. Who would eat their friends?

Boldly drawn dinosaurs in vivid colors explore their island home, Their cartoon-like faces are always smiling even when they have very large teeth! Each page has minimal text that early readers will enjoy. A glossary at the beginning of the book details each dinosaur’s imaginary name, scientific name with pronunciation guide and physical attributes. Young readers will enjoy going back to that glossary more than once. Add this to your collection if you need some lower level dinosaur storybooks with the bonus nonfiction content.

We Are the Builders!

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In We Are the Builders!, Ramla, a young woman wearing a hijab, walks through a diverse neighborhood identifying ways people young and old can make a difference in their communities. Each of ten identified community roles is described in poetic verse and includes an invitation to join in helping through that role. The book recognizes that improving a community requires the engagement of multiple roles.

The endpapers explain that We Are the Builders! is a picture book version of the authors social change ecosystem map. Through identifying the role that best fits our interests and strengths, we can change the world for the better.

Are We There Yet?: The First Road Trip Across the USA

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This book tells the true story of the very first car trip across the United States. In 1903, Dr. Horatio Nelson Jackson made a bet that he could drive a car from California to New York in less than three months.

Dr. Jackson did not know how to drive, and there were no highways back then. He hired a bike racer to help fix the car, and they took their dog Bud along for the trip.

The trip was hard! They had to cross streams, drive through mud, and wait for car parts. Their car had no doors or roof, so everything bounced around on the bumpy roads.

This story is great for kids to learn about early cars, trying hard, and fixing problems. The pictures are bright and fun, making the trip easy to imagine.

Papilio

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Papilio is a fun and easy-to-understand picture book about a caterpillar named Papilio who wants to become a butterfly. The story is told in three parts by three different authors and has bright, colorful pictures.

Papilio learns how to fly, find food, and make friends. She also faces problems but keeps trying and learns to believe in herself.

The book also has facts about butterflies in the backmatter, which could be helpful for lessons about life cycles and growing up. This book may helps kids learn about change and being brave. Papilio is written in a fun way for readers, but may not be a first choice for learning about butterflies.

Echo

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Echo by Adam Rex is a funny and smart book about friendship and learning to accept disagreement. Junior loves hearing how great he is, especially from his echo. But when a new neighbor disagrees with him, Junior learns that friends don’t always have to agree—and that’s okay.

With humor and bright illustrations, this book is great for teaching kids about respect, listening, and admitting mistakes. It’s perfect for classroom discussions about social skills and friendship.

And Don’t Look Back by Rebecca Barrow

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Reviewed by OHS student, Rory C.

This intense thriller novel is one that will surely keep readers on their toes and wondering what is the real truth.

Harlow Ford has spent her whole life running with her mom, Cora, never truly knowing what they are afraid of. As they wound up in a car accident and are faced with tragic decisions, Cora tells Harlow to never stop running before she dies, forcing Harlow to make a choice; keep living in secrecy, or finally face the truth?

The eye-catching mystery is great at keeping you wondering if what they are saying is true. You never expect what the next page may hold for you. In addition, the wonderful atmosphere and setting of the novel embraces the readers completely. It feels as if you are inside of Harlow’s mind and feeling it with her.

I like the plot of the book. At first, I thought it would not be that interesting or surprising but as I went on, it did shock me a little.I was not expecting the ending or all of these hidden twists and that was pretty exciting. The characters were also well-developed. They were not good or bad but just human. It was great to see characters who truly feel human and are well-rounded people. I dislike how the book is paced. It felt as if the first 3/4 of the book were the same thing over and over. Obviously, it is a mystery so they cannot hand you the answer to everything right away. But, I felt like this was a little excessive. Harlow kind of only had the same knowledge the whole time and it got very repetitive. The story itself is intriguing but the pacing makes it a little less enjoyable. It was almost like a dump of information once we got to the end and it made sense but it was still annoying.

If you like thrillers and horror, I would recommend this book. It encapsulates you completely and brings you into the atmosphere of the novel.

The Last Saxon King by Andrew Varga

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Reviewed by OHS Substitute, Chase C.

Andrew Varga’s The Last Saxon King features a fast-paced quest through medieval England in the 11th century, during which the last Anglo-Saxon king, Harold Godwinson, defends his rule from invading Viking armies. Varga takes the reader through this journey in the eyes of Dan Renfew, a homeschooled 16-year-old who spends his days haunting the local mall and being taught by his father, a professor of history at a local university. Unbeknownst to him, Dan and his father come from a line of time travelers whose job is to correct “glitches” in history that threaten the present and future. Reminiscent of Mary Pope Osbourne’s The Magic Treehouse series, following a fateful confrontation between a mysterious man and his father, Dan is sent back in time to medieval England to correct changes in history caused by rogue time travelers who seek to use time travel for their own selfish ends. Varga excels at bringing this era of history to life in The Last Saxon King in a way that engages young and adult readers alike. While he takes some liberties in his novel for readability in exchange for historical accuracy, he uses clever workarounds (the time travel device acts as a sort of “universal translator” from English into Old English a la Star Trek) to maintain internal continuity. Ultimately, this novel can be enjoyed by hobbyist historians and sci-fi nerds alike.

Perla the Mighty Dog

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Written by Isabel Allende, Illustrated by Sandy Rodriguez

Perla has two superpowers. First, she can make anybody love them. Second, she can roar like a lion. When she is adopted by the Ricos, she finds herself in the position to help Nico Rico who is being bullied. Nico learns how to roar like a lion against a bully at school.

Written from the viewpoint of Perla, this is a light story about how a dog’s love can support the boy who cares about him the most.

Stopping by Jungle on a Snowy Evening

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Written by Richard T. Morris, Illustrated by Julie Rowan-Zoch

A young boy adventures into a jungle, or is it the woods? He stumbles upon a house where he meets the poet, Robert Frost. From there the boy and the poet argue about his famous work, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”. The boy argues that the poem needs more action and needs to include his hippo in the jungle. The poet insists that the poem should be calming and meditative. An humorous adventure ensues with a jingling hippo, meteors, snakes and karate.

This book contains bright and vibrant illustrations. It has the original poem at the end as well. If one has a specific theme to focus upon or the actual Frost poem is a focus within the school, this would be a fun extra purchase for your library.

Penguin’s Egg by Anna Kemp

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A papa rockhopper penguin falls asleep while waiting for his egg to hatch and is accidentally separated from his egg. He ends up very far away and has to use a variety of modes of transportation to make it back to his egg. He takes a train, a chopper, a pogo stick, an elephant and a hover board to name a few. The characters throughout the story are different animals, the text is rhyming, with some rhymes being approximate rhymes. The illustrations are vibrant and fill the page.

Nocturnal Nico by Gabe Jensen

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A young boy is in bed and should be asleep, but he is awake. He must be nocturnal. He sneaks around the house on his way to get a tasty snack. He discovers he is not the only one awake and they enjoy a snack together and eventually fall asleep. Throughout the story we are introduced to a few nocturnal animals. The pictures are cartoonish and includes labels for the different animals. The end of the book includes some information about nocturnal animals.

A Boy and His Mirror

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Chris gets teased for his long curly hair, but he likes it. When he looks in an ornate mirror to reassure himself, an African woman mystically appears. She reminds him that in a faraway land his hair is the hair of a king. Chris learns that acting like a king isn’t about swagger and bling it’s about how you treat others. Chris steps up into a leadership role on the playground encouraging others to “stop judging, quit calling names. Be a little more chill. Stop playing games.” The story ends with Chris playing with his new group of friends.

Lovely illustrations portray a diverse cast of children with expressive faces. The story encourages the concepts of positive self-image as well as acceptance and kindness to others. The only drawback is the unexpected appearance of the mirror that does not fit the flow of the story.

The River is My Ocean

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By Rio Cortez. Illustrated by AshLeigh Corrin

In this book our main character travels down to the Hudson River every Saturday with her abuela who has missed to ocean since moving from Puerto Rico. Going there and back, she and her abuela stop and visit people and shops in their neighborhood They also relax and enjoy the river when they arrive at the park. This book celebrates the culture and history of the Afro-Caribbean communities of New York. This would be a good book to purchase if your community has Caribbean or Spanish speaking students. It talks about the powerful goddess Yemaya who represents motherhood and the sea.

Charlie Hernandez & the Phantom of Time

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by Ryan Calejo

In this fourth installment of the adventures of Charlie Hernandez, he and his friends must save the land of the living from dark forces by traveling back in time to the 1950’s in Cuba.  Charlie is a morphling and able to transform in moments of crises into animals that help him save the day. While trying to save the past, present and future, the 3 friends encounter many of the monsters and figures from previous books as well as a few new ones – the Phantom of Time, Tragaldabas, La Carreta, La Llorona, La Mano Paluda, Queen Joanna, Madremonte, and Charlie’s dead grandmother are just a few of the many mythological and story characters Charlie encounters. The action is non-stop, as in previous books. The monsters from South American mythology are frequent and, for me, mostly unknown. That has been my only frustration as a reader. I don’t have the background myths and legends to fall back on, though Charlie certainly does. I’m occasionally at a loss for who is who, but by book 4, it is nice to see a few of the creatures from earlier books reappear. The books could use a glossary of legendary creatures for a quick reference. There are usually some context clues, but for me, I could use a few more. There are always a lot of characters – good & bad – to keep track of!  Anyone who has enjoyed the series previously will undoubtedly enjoy book four. Since it leans on the past three books for reference, I’m not sure I would recommend jumping right into book 4.

Puffin and Penguin

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By Helaine Becker and Kevin Sylvester

This graphic novel for young readers is cute and will be relatable to students. A school story about Puffin, whose mom becomes an ambassador to the United Avian Nations. He has to move to New Stork City and start in a new school for international students. Like all new students, he is worried about fitting in and is missing his cold and watery home. Penguin is assigned to be his “buddy” but is overwhelmed with the many activities he’s committed to and thus is concerned about adding on being a buddy to the new kid. Puffin struggles to fit in and is laughed at and misunderstood as many of the birds at school are not water birds. In the end, Penguin realizes that Puffin is struggling and does what he can to make things easier for him. They end of in the drama club together and during a performance, Puffin saves the day. The illustrations are great for a graphic novel. I particularly like the very funny and relatable introduction of the various birds in Puffin’s class. Canada Goose, the fashionista. Downy Woodpecker, the drummer. Loon, the gossip and all the others you will giggle about. There are many school stories that will interest students and thus I recommend this one as an extra purchase. It would be a great purchase if you need more graphics, especially if you have the extra money for it.

Nothing Like the Movies by: Lynn Painter

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Reviewed by OHS student, Audrey L.

This book is a cute, light contemporary romance that also covers serious topics, such as dealing with the loss of a loved one. The light, fluffy plot makes this romance an easy and enjoyable read.

After something awful happens during freshman year at college, Wes Bennet must give up his dreams, and his girlfriend, to return home to Nebraska. Flash forward 2 years later, Wes is starting fresh at college determined to win the girl of his dreams, Liz Buxbaum, back.

I enjoyed the supporting characters, and how the author added more to the plot than *just* Wes trying to win Liz back. I also liked how Lynn Painter made the story dual-POV, unlike the first book. The book felt too slow in the beginning, and it had a pretty predictable plot. I felt like the breakup was so rash, odd, and out of place. And, while I understand that Liz is a grown adult now, I kind of miss the way she was in the first book, but it does make sense for her character to change and mature. Someone might like reading this book if they enjoy reading romances. It’s also a good sequel for the first book, “Better Than the Movies,” but can be read as a standalone.

Nothing Like the Movies - overall review statement.

Infested: An MTV Fear Novel

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Reviewed by Eli 12th grade – This novel is an interesting story with a good plot and conflict. Manny, is forced to leave his hometown by his stepfather.  He is now faced with new challenges brought on by his new home in New York, angry neighbors, and a cockroach infestation that only he seems to understand the danger of. Although the novel is a horror piece, it is also great at describing personal relationships in a coming-of-age story. With Manny maturing as a person over a short period of time.  The dialogue was very well written and descriptive at showing emotions of the people involved. I felt like some of the action scenes were a bit rushed and didn’t have much set-up.

The Pirate and the Porcelain Girl

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Reviewed by Tanisha 11th grade – I love the book and I love the ending they are a very cute couple and they are so much in love with each other. This book has lots of action and it has and happy ending where the characters fall in love. I really like the artwork because it grabs my attention and also makes me find the emotion of the characters. It helps move the story along in the book. I really enjoyed the way they drew the characters. It was a very interesting book and I liked the flow of it meaning the active and the love and romance. If you don’t like romance this is not the book for you, and also it’s always best to try something new.

Chaos & Flame

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Reviewed by Shiloh G 12th grade: When I first started the book I felt very confused but as I read more everything started to make more sense. Talon Goldhorn always bravely led his elite troops however his brother’s rule was threatening to undo 100 years of work. So other factions turned to Talon to dethrone his brother. The way that the plot develops makes me want to keep turning pages so I can figure out everything that is happening. My favorite part about the book is how the very beginning gives so much information and yet we don’t know anything. One thing I did not like about the book is that the book progresses quite slowly

Oodles of Doodles

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It’s a fairly silly story in the spirit of Hop on Pop or Green Eggs and Ham, where it’s playing with words that rhyme: it’s got oodles of noodle dooles, doodled by a poodle, and it’s got two cartoony dudes negotiating for those doodles before saying, “tootle-Lou.” It works pretty well for what it is, though there are some uses of some words/word structures that may need to be explained to some small readers.

While You’re Asleep

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It’s meant to be read aloud at bedtime. The narrator is trying to wax poetic about all the animals who are also going to sleep, but keeps getting interrupted by various nocturnal animals getting up to antics spoiling the go-to-sleep message. By the end of the book all the night-time animals are having a party. It ends with a question, asking how the listener can know it’s not all true, since they’re asleep? The illustrations give a lot of personality to the animals, and invited kids to open their imaginations to what goes on when they’re asleep. Who’s to know?

My Cat Does Ballet

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It’s cute enough. It’s not a bad book. I’m just afraid it’s got a really limited audience. As far as I can see, the only readers who are really going to appreciate this book are cat lovers who are really into ballet. The narrator shares all the things his friends’ cats can do, and then goes on to explain how his cat does ballet, using French ballet term to describe his cat’s activities. When he invites his friends to bring all their cats over one day for ballet lessons, they all start spinning and twirling and leaping right away, while his cat takes a nap on the couch. If you have ballet enthusiasts with cats among your patrons, they’d probably enjoy this one.

Love Is My Favorite Color

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Some won’t like it, but I do, though I’m having trouble articulating why. It’s a poetical/philosophical sort of book, using both color and words in an unusual way. The skin may be blue and the leaves pink, yet the flowy, swirly illustrations somehow draw you in and pair nicely with the way the poem discusses big, intangible words in unusual ways: peace is my favorite song, and happiness is my favorite flavor??? Yet I think it invites students into poetry by opening them up to using words in new ways, giving them permission to play with words and still find meaning.

Hippos Remain Calm

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I love Boynton’s artwork, with it’s clean lines and bright colors and familiar characters, and I know small children are drawn to them also. The rhyming text is in large print, with only a sentence or two per page, but I think this book really needs to be paired with Hippos Go Berserk, it’s obvious companion, in order for the story to make much of an impact. So if you have that one, and your readers are familiar with it, then this one would make a nice contrasting story. As a stand alone, it’s a bit flat, just describing two hippos having a rather calm day, and then inviting a couple friends over in the evening, and when more friends show up, the calm disappears as a party ensues. It’s fine, but is better when paired with the other to provide context.

Little Vampire

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by Angela Sommer-Bodenburg

Tony loves scary stories and horror films. So, he’s quick to recognize his new friend, Rudolph, is a vampire. He showed up at Tony’s window one night after Tony’s parents went out (which they seem to do nightly, leaving Tony alone). Rudolph visits Tony most nights, borrows his books and loans him his uncle’s cape so Tony can fly to the cemetery with him to visit his crypt. Soon, Rudolph’s sister, Anna, joins in the fun. Eventually, Tony’s parents become suspicious and as, for Tony to invite his new friends over for tea. He tries to fool his parents with a substitute and it didn’t go well. Anna, who has a crush on Tony, and Rudolph come to tea and try hard to appear human with mixed results. Tony’s parents shake their heads at his new friends and decide they don’t need to visit again any time soon.

This story is translated from the original German and is part of a six book series. While the premise is interesting, the story lags a bit and its macabre theme isn’t terribly humorous. Kids who enjoy horror fiction might find this book interesting, although it’s not really horror. And, readers that enjoy humorous stories might not like it either.