By Janee Trasler
This whimsical emerging reader graphic novel is a great starter book to interest children. Figgy and Boone are two very hungry mice who are missing cheese when a large wheel of cheese flies off of a truck right in front of them. The graphic novel has a brief explanation on how to read graphics/comics. It also is a great introduction to chapters as it has 3 short ones. The bright colors and strong lines will appeal to many. I would recommend this book for emerging readers.
by Eric Seltzer, Illustrated by Tom Disbury
This is a well illustrated emerging reader book about bunnies who run a bookstore and the customers they have that request different books. They run from area to area in search of the best book for their clients. Like a library, they have story hour where everyone loves the read aloud.This book contains short sentences on pages for emerging readers. The illustrations are detailed and allow for finding more on the page as it is read again and again. I would recommend this book for preschool to 1st grade.
By Paul Acampora
Three middle school students from differing backgrounds become friends when they are seated together in pottery class. All have recently experienced a traumatic event in their lives: a sister’s death due to Cancer, a drastic move from the big city to a very small town and leaving the homeschool life to be in public school where everything is different and unknown. All are feeling like the broken pottery they have seen/experienced in their class but find solace from each other. Will they come to realize that it is okay when some things stay broken? This wonderful middle level book is appropriate for 5th through 8th grades but could also be recommended for more mature readers at a younger age who may be experiencing trauma and could relate to the characters.
Alicia Z. Klepeis explores the 35,918 square miles Central Europe’s Hungary. Klepeis uses snapshots of Hungary’s location, landscape, wildlife, people, school and work, play, and food. The 32 pages just give a quick overview of what this country has to offer with two or three paragraphs of text per topic accompanied by half a page-spread of color photos.
I continue to find the TIMELINE in this “Country Profiles” series confusing to the eye with its segmented lines stating facts above and below the actual timeline leading to the events’ locations on the timeline. It might be better to print the statements on a slant with a single line segment drawing the eye to the timeline location.
The HUNGARY FACTS on pages 28-29 provide good visual graphics to show the flag, where people live, their work, important cities, main exports, and unit of money.
Factsurfer.com provides more information with safe internet.
Submitted for Annette McQueen by Mary Pong
Alicia Z. Klepeis explores the 8,867 square miles Central America’s Belize. Klepeis uses snapshots of Belize’s location, landscape, wildlife, people, school and work, play, and food. The 32 pages just give a quick overview of what this country has to offer with two or three paragraphs of text per topic accompanied by half a page-spread of color photos.
There is a problem with text boxes set on top of photos that do not match the picture in the photo, though the photos follow along with the information in the main paragraph on the page. On page 14 the photo is of a thatched house while the box talks about Mennonite communities. On page 17 the photo is of a painted mural, while the box talks about colorful clothing. On page 19 the photo is of a guided tour by horseback, while the box talks about Belizeans working in other countries. And on page 25 the photo is of a dance group on Garifuna Settlement Day, but the box talks about Maya Deer Dance. The photos are labeled correctly. It is the inset text boxes that are problematic and could cause confusion on the part of the reader.
I continue to find the TIMELINE in this “Country Profiles” series confusing to the eye with its segmented lines stating facts above and below the actual timeline leading to the events’ locations on the timeline. It might be better to print the statements on a slant with a single line segment drawing the eye to the timeline location.
The BELIZE FACTS on pages 28-29 provide good visual graphics to show the flag, where people live, their work, important cities, main exports, and unit of money.
Factsurfer.com provides more information with safe internet.
Submitted for Annette McQueen by Mary Pong
Alicia Z. Klepeis explores the 29,120 square miles Central America’s Panama. Klepeis uses snapshots of Panama’s location, landscape, wildlife, people, school and work, play, and food. The 32 pages just give a quick overview of what this country has to offer with two or three paragraphs of text per topic accompanied by half a page-spread of color photos.
I continue to find the TIMELINE in this “Country Profiles” series confusing to the eye with its segmented lines stating facts above and below the actual timeline leading to the events’ locations on the timeline. It might be better to print the statements on a slant with a single line segment drawing the eye to the timeline location.
The PANAMA FACTS on pages 28-29 provide good visual graphics to show the flag, where people live, their work, important cities, main exports, and unit of money.
Factsurfer.com provides more information with safe internet.
Submitted for Annette McQueen by Mary Pong
Nicole E. Rodriguez Mata explores the 352,144 square miles South America’s Venezuela. Rodriguez Mata uses snapshots of Venezuela’s location, landscape, wildlife, people, school and work, play, and food. The 32 pages just give a quick overview of what this country has to offer with two or three paragraphs of text per topic accompanied by half a page-spread of color photos.
I continue to find the TIMELINE in this “Country Profiles” series confusing to the eye with its segmented lines stating facts above and below the actual timeline leading to the events’ locations on the timeline. It might be better to print the statements on a slant with a single line segment drawing the eye to the timeline location.
The VENEZUELA FACTS on pages 28-29 provide good visual graphics to show the flag, where people live, their work, important cities, main exports, and unit of money.
Factsurfer.com provides more information with safe internet.
Submitted for Annette McQueen by Mary Pong
Nicole E. Rodriguez Mata explores the 278 square mile urban city-state of Singapore. Rodriguez Mata uses snapshots of Singapore’s location, landscape, wildlife, people, school and work, play, and food. The 32 pages just give a quick overview of what this city-state has to offer with two or three paragraphs of text per topic accompanied by half a page-spread of color photos.
I continue to find the TIMELINE in this “County Profiles” series confusing to the eye with its segmented lines stating facts above and below the actual timeline leading to the events’ locations on the timeline. It might be better to print the statements on a slant with a single line segment drawing the eye to the timeline location.
The SINGAPORE FACTS on pages 28-29 provide good visual graphics to show the flag, where people live, their work, main exports, religion, and unit of money.
Factsurfer.com provides more information with safe internet.
Submitted for Annette McQueen by Mary Pong
In My Fade is Fresh, a young girl heads into the barbershop with a clear vision of what she wants. It seems like everyone has a suggestion for what she should have done – A PERM? A PRESS? A TRIM? A CHOP?. With fun rhyming text and dynamic, engaging illustrations, suggestion after suggestion is put forward and dismissed. The patience of both the barber and the little girl are increasingly strained as no one seems to be listening. Finally, after 3 hours, the young girl gets her fresh fade and proudly leaves the barbershop with a confident smile.
A fun celebration of black hair and creative ways to shine one’s personality through self expression.
Children with parents in the military do face unique challenges. In When Your Daddy’s a Soldier, the feelings and experiences of a young boy with an active duty father are portrayed in an age appropriate way. The strong connection between a soldier and his young son is clearly shown in both the text and illustrations. The additional emotional burdens that fall on all members of a military family are also addressed. This book belongs in collections that serve children of military families.
While about 80% of active duty service members are male, the way this story is told excludes both the female service members as well as the daughters of service members. Female characters (in particular mothers) in the book are portrayed as not coping well.