A story of two musical greats, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, told through rhythmic text and vibrant pictures. As a young girl growing up in Harlem, Ella loved to dance. She dreamed of dancing onstage at the Apollo Theater. Louis Armstrong grew up in the south singing along with jazz music. A teacher asked if he could make a brass instrument sing too. Ella and Louis knew of each other but they had not met until one night they took the stage together.
The illustrations are vibrant and fill the two page spread. There is an author’s note and illustrator note at the end as well as other recommended reading for kids. Jazz music and jazz musicians may not be familiar to most young readers, but this would give them an great introduction.
Who needs a scrub in the tub? Rabbit and Weasel are trying to convince pig that he needs a scrub in the tub. Pig thinks a splash of water, a mud bath or a scrub with a shrub will do. Will a bubble bath convince Pig to get into the tub? Or will Rabbit and Weasel end up in the tub? With rhymes and expressive characters, this is a fun read.
You Are Not Alone by Ingrid Law is a quiet picture book that focuses on the idea of connection and belonging. It shares the message that people are part of a larger world and are never truly alone.
The writing is simple and easy to follow, which makes it accessible for young children. The story is repetitive, and the message is direct. Some readers may find that it doesn’t have a strong plot or memorable characters to keep them fully engaged.
The illustrations are soft and pleasant, but they may not stand out as much as in other picture books. While they match the tone of the story, they don’t add a lot of excitement.
Overall, You Are Not Alone may work as a gentle read-aloud for younger students, but it may not be a favorite for all readers. I recommend this book more for preschool and kindergarten, where its simple message and calm style are a better fit.
Camping in the Wild by Nicholas Oldland is a fun and thoughtful story about three animal friends—a bear, a moose, and a beaver—who go on a camping trip together. At first, everything seems peaceful, but soon the friends start to get annoyed with each other. They each want things their own way, and it leads to problems.
The story teaches an important lesson about friendship, patience, and working together. Even when friends disagree, they can still solve problems if they listen and care about each other. The ending shows how the animals learn from their mistakes and make things right again.
The illustrations are simple but colorful, and they help show the animals’ feelings clearly. This makes it easy for readers to understand what is happening in the story.
Overall, Camping in the Wild is an enjoyable book with a strong message. It would be a great choice to add as an additional purchase for a school library, especially for younger elementary students who are learning about friendship and teamwork.
Who meows? A cat meows. Who gobbles? A turkey gobbles. Each spread features a full page illustration of the animal making that makes the noise while the next page includes a simple sentence stating the animal that makes the noise and a question for the next sound and animal. The pictures feature animals with open mouth as if they are making the noise. The animals featured would be familiar to young readers (cat, turkey, owl, bear). The back matter features a fact about each animal’s sound. This could be an interactive read aloud when read as call and response.
Shehzil Malik is a Pakistani artist and activist for women’s rights. This title introduces readers to the facts that not all areas of the world allow for women/girls to do everything that their counterparts do. Our main character, Zoey, has never ridden a bike and finds solidarity in the group of girls she sees who ride bikes throughout their area of the city. It talks about how when she comes home from biking her father questions her as to why she is on a bike. One of her friend’s mother explains how much she enjoyed cycling as a child and the parents both discuss how they can bike safely throughout the busy city as a larger group and create a club of “Biker Girls” to enjoy cycling together.
I would recommend this book as an extra purchase. The crisp and bright illustrations are in comic bubbles at times but this is a solid picture book and not graphic novel. This book would benefit either a library that needs more books about how rights are limited in different areas of the world, a community with many from other areas of the world that can relate to the topic or a place this either promotes bike riding or plans to.
Laura W. Carter – Author, Anna Doherty – Illustrator
With fun and clear illustrations, this book will be interesting for our primary readers. Each page starts with the words, “I want to be” and gives very short, general information on each career discussing where or what each job focuses on. Many professions in the book are not the average ones that you would see such as: neurologist or screenwriter which makes it more interesting for younger readers to learn more about fields they may not be aware of yet.
Teachers at kindergarten/first grade levels would enjoy this book as many could use it as an introduction to career research projects. There are some great career research questions on the final page as well that could be helpful. I would recommend this book for libraries who may need more A to Z books or books about professions as an extra purchase.
Celebrating the Chinook Tribes by Anne Accardi is part of a Mitchell Lane series highlighting Indigenous American Cultures. This series is geared towards elementary with a reading level of grade 3 and 4 (sited on the Mitchell Lane website), with full color pictures. This book is 32 pages long.
This book includes not only a table of contents, but also headings, bolded words, glossary, index, further reading, and websites to explore on the internet.
I was really impressed with this book and how it presented the people of Chinook tribe (whose lands are close to where I currently teach) and the history in our area. I appreciated that the text also mentioned that people with Chinook ancestry can live all across the nation, not just where their people lived since time immemorial. In this book you’ll find each chapter focuses on a part of the Chinook tribes traditions including present and past tribal lands, celebrations, and language.
Although this book does a good job of bridging the time before colonisers entered their land, to famous people enrolled in the Chinook tribes, I did notice that there was no language stating the tribe had been residing in the Pacific Northwest since time immemorial (a phrase that is used in our indigenous education throughout the PNW). I would have also preferred the term colonizers to settlers that the book highlights on page 8. I think the definition in the glossary would also match the word colonizer better than settler.
The author, Anne Accardi, has a biography in the back and it does not say she is affiliated with any tribe herself. Although I think the book is well done, as a librarian, I would prefer to by books about indigenous tribes by people who are members or affiliated with the tribe. I understand this is not always possible, yet.
This series also includes a cut out in the beginning (before the Table of Contents) that gives a parent or caregiver tips for reading non-fiction with their reader, and for encouraging them to read more nonfiction. This is always helpful as many guardians would like help knowing what to ask, what text features are called in non-fiction and how to encourage their young readers.
I found this book well done, even though I think there are improvements that could be made. If you need to update your books highlighting indigenous cultures, I would definitely take a look at this series. There are six books in the series so far. Each book is available in hardcover, paperback and as an ebook.
If you need to update your books on indigenous tribes, I recommend looking to see if this book would fit into your library collection.
Everyday Vietnamese offers a simple, friendly introduction to basic Vietnamese phrases for young learners, with bright illustrations that help give context to the vocabulary. The book is easy to follow and works well as an introductory cultural resource.
However, the content is very limited, and the phrases are presented without enough depth or explanation. Most importantly, nowhere in the book does the author include guidance on how to make the sounds of the Vietnamese words. Without pronunciation support or phonetic cues, young readers and educators may struggle to use the phrases accurately, which reduces the book’s effectiveness as a language-learning tool.
Overall, Everyday Vietnamese provides a visually appealing introduction but lacks the pronunciation support and contextual detail needed to fully support beginners.
The Korean War, by Kieran Downs The Gulf War, by Alex Monroe The War on Terror, by Alex Monroe The War of 1812, by Alex Monroe
This set of War histories is perfect for the struggling middle school reader who really loves books about Wars. All of these books are at about a 3rd grade reading level, but have an interest level of 3-7 grade, so perfect for a struggling middle grade reader. Each book is organized in a predictable way, full of images and reasonable blocks of text. Maps are included to place the events in visual locations.For example, in the War of 1812, the map clearly shows the countries involved in the conflict and the location where the battles happened. The reader sees both sides of the conflict in text, charts, timelines and images. For example, in the War on Terror, there is a visual timeline showing the events leading up to the war through the time when the troops pulled out of Afghanistan. In The Gulf War, text and visuals highlight the leaders of the two countries involved in the conflict. A glossary of terms is included in each book and an index to find some of the key terms associated with the conflict. Each book also includes a link to an online database for more information (www.factsurfer.com ) and additional text resources a reader might look for to continue their interest in the subject -all published by the same company as the original book. For example, the Korean War book recommends a book on the United States Army, one on the Cold War, and one on World War II.
