Dianne White, Author, Felicita Sala, Illustrator
Children adventure out at dusk to see the world in a different way. These siblings discover things in the dark that are beautiful and mysterious and thus diminish their fear of the nighttime. This is a beautiful story with folk style art in which the rhythmical text blends in a way that young readers would enjoy.
Written by Reese Witherspoon, Illustrated by Xindi Yan
Betty is a whimsical go-getter who is always on the move. When she is getting ready for a playdate she realizes that her dog, Frank, really needs a bath. This is where things go a little crazy. In her attempts to clean Frank, Betty makes things messier than ever. But when her friend, Mae, arrives with even better ideas, success is in the future. This book shows that even the best laid plans can go not as planned but that with resilience and ingenuity, one can be successful.
By Jas Hammonds
Reviewed by Arianna S.11th grade
The overall concept of this book was a good one, although the execution of it could have been better. Avery Anderson was a high school girl who was up and moved to Washington D.C. with her mother to live with her severely ill grandmother. Tensions were high due to Avery’s mother and her grandmother having past issues that were never talked about or resolved. The anticipation of finding out the past of Avery’s mother and her grandmother’s past makes this fictional mystery worth reading for those who like slow burners. This book was relatively easy to read, with the content and the way it’s written. This book had many things going on and at times the plot would jump around to the point where some topics or ideas in the book seemed pointless.
Clouds in varying shapes, sizes, and colors are shown in this book for emergent readers
Big beautiful color photos of clouds high in the sky and low to the ground let young readers see this weather/climate phenomenon.
There is a 3 step graphic on “How Clouds Forms” (p 15) , a “Question” ( What shapes do you see in the clouds?”) [p21], and a graphic “Cloudy Day Activities” chart (p 19) . Four science vocabulary words, appropriate to the topic (example- droplets), are given in the glossary each with a definition and color photo.
There is more information available on-line through Bellwether Media’s safe “factsurfer.com” website.
Submitted for Annette McQueen by Mary Pong
I’m sorry to say I didn’t like this one as much as I hoped to. The illustrations are fun and bright and silly, and fans of the other Henry Duck books will pick this one up and the young readers may be more willing to take it as it is, but I was hoping for something a bit more. On the very first page, when Henry’s friend Clara phones to ask him to help him with a chore that evening, but forgets to wish Henry happy birthday, any reader with much story experience is likely to already be predicting that the day will end with a surprise party at Clara’s house (spoiler alert, it does). Henry’s day proceeds as a series of pizza deliveries, as all his friends and family seems to have sent the same gift, until his table literally collapses under the weight of 14 pizzas (funny perhaps, but less than believable). Bummed that he didn’t get to enjoy any of his gifts, he trudges to his friend’s house where he is indeed surprised with a pizza party. The whole middle part of the story just seemed like filler, disconnected to the beginning and the end, except that he did get pizza after all.
Eight little rhyming phrases accompanied by large simply drawn pictures young children will recognize.
“i love you wind i love you trees i love you honey made by bees” might depict nature, while “i love you food i get to eat i love you friends i get to meet” might depict an every day occurence?
The phrase’s rhyme but do not relate well to each other by topic, other than gratitude.
Submitted for Annette McQueen by Mary Pong
Written and Illustrated by Lea Decan
This lovely book follows the adventures of a housecat who wanders to different place every day of the week. While there is only one owner for this adventurer, many know the cat well. Every day is a different experience with a different neighbor. This is a great book to introduce days of the week. The art is bold and appealing. All cat lovers would enjoy this book. As it seems oriented to such a young audience, I would recommend it as an extra purchase.
By Bethanie Deeney Murguia
A short and sweet picture book that reflects on moving forward in life. It is a gentle book reflecting on peace and mindfulness as you walk your own path. The mostly black and white images are soft with pink shoes on every page showing how one can be curious, kind and thoughtful with every step on makes. This book would be a great extra purchase for any socio-emotional school curriculum.
By Kristina Forest
This romance bounces between the past, present, and perspective. Kai and Zyla fell in love, broke up, and then fell in love again….maybe. Kai is a romantic and serial monogamist while Zyla has long ago sworn off love. Their twisty relationship, heart-wrenching-back-stories, and likable personalities will be appealing to most readers. It’s nice to have a romance featuring students of Color where race and culture are treated as a natural element of the story instead of the focus. This novel is great at the build-up but sputters to an underwhelming conclusion.
Nina lives in San Francisco and visits her Nana in England and her Nenek in Malaysia. The similarities and differences between the two visits give us a peek into the places that her grandmas live. She wears different clothes, eats different foods and plays different games, but she loves her grandmas and they love her. The side-by-side colorful illustrations show the similarities and differences between the places Nana and Nenek live.
The text spans across both pages when it is talking about both Nana and Nenek. This can be confusing for readers as sometimes you read the text on one side and others you have to read across the gutter. Without reading the book jacket or the dedication the readers would not know where Nana or Nenek live since it is not mentioned in the story.
The story would be good for reflecting on families, identity and different cultures that make us who we are.