Passover

by Lily Austen

It is often difficult to find engaging books for our emergent readers, but Passover (series Holiday Fun!) will be a favorite with its full page photos and simple text. Readers will discover many of the elements unique to this holiday as they explore the photos and read the brief sentences. There are many important nonfiction elements, including: Table of contents, index, labels and ‘words to know’ list. Repetitive, controlled vocabulary and short sentences will aid in reading success. Photos show diverse subjects and settings. There are sixteen books in the series. Purchase this set to update your holiday collection and attract your newest readers. Recommended.

St. Patrick’s Day

by Lily Austen

It is often difficult to find engaging books for our emergent readers, but St. Patrick’s Day (series Holiday Fun!) will be a favorite with its full page photos and simple text. Readers will discover many of the elements unique to this holiday as they explore the photos and read the brief sentences. There are many important nonfiction elements, including: Table of contents, index, labels and ‘words to know’ list. Repetitive, controlled vocabulary and short sentences will aid in reading success. Photos show diverse subjects and settings. There are sixteen books in the series. Purchase this set to update your holiday collection and attract your newest readers. Recommended.

Thanksgiving

by Lily Austen

It is often difficult to find engaging books for our emergent readers, but Thanksgiving (series Holiday Fun!) will be a favorite with its full page photos and simple text. Readers will discover many of the elements unique to this holiday as they explore the photos and read the brief sentences. There are many important nonfiction elements, including: Table of contents, index, labels and ‘words to know’ list. Repetitive, controlled vocabulary and short sentences will aid in reading success. Photos show diverse subjects and settings. There are sixteen books in the series. Purchase this set to update your holiday collection and attract your newest readers. Recommended.

Juneteenth

by Lily Austen

It is often difficult to find engaging books for our emergent readers, but Juneteenth (series Holiday Fun!) will be a favorite with its full page photos and simple text. Readers will discover many of the elements unique to this holiday as they explore the photos and read the brief sentences. There are many important nonfiction elements, including: Table of contents, index, labels and ‘words to know’ list. Repetitive, controlled vocabulary and short sentences will aid in reading success. Photos show diverse subjects and settings. There are sixteen books in the series. Purchase this set to update your holiday collection and attract your newest readers. Recommended.

Holi

by Lily Austen

It is often difficult to find engaging books for our emergent readers, but Holi (series Holiday Fun!) will be a favorite with its full page photos and simple text. Readers will discover many of the elements unique to this holiday as they explore the photos and read the brief sentences. There are many important nonfiction elements, including: Table of contents, index, labels and ‘words to know’ list. Repetitive, controlled vocabulary and short sentences will aid in reading success. There are sixteen books in the series. Purchase this set to update your holiday collection and attract your newest readers. Recommended.

Fourth of July

by Lily Austen

It is often difficult to find engaging books for our emergent readers, but Fourth of July (series Holiday Fun!) will be a favorite with its full page photos and simple text. Readers will discover many of the elements unique to this holiday as they explore the photos and read the brief sentences. There are many important nonfiction elements, including: Table of contents, index, labels and ‘words to know’ list. Repetitive, controlled vocabulary and short sentences will aid in reading success. There are sixteen books in the series. Purchase this set to update your holiday collection and attract your newest readers. Recommended.

Day of the Dead

by Lily Austen

It is often difficult to find engaging books for our emergent readers, but Day of the Dead (series Holiday Fun!) will be a favorite with its full page photos and simple text. Readers will discover many of the elements unique to this holiday as they explore the photos and read the brief sentences. There are many important nonfiction elements, including: Table of contents, index, labels and ‘words to know’ list. Repetitive, controlled vocabulary and short sentences will aid in reading success. Purchase this book to update your holiday collection and attract your newest readers. Recommended.

Catnip Mouse

by A.J. Smith

Vera, (the cat) is playing contentedly alone with her catnip mouse and Gipp (the dog) is sneakily watching her. She notices and calls him out. He asks her to play and she makes it clear that she was playing alone. He doesn’t take no for an answer and waves around his wand (stick) which he swings around and accidentally breaks Vera’s catnip mouse. While trying to make things better, he comes up with some hilarious alliterations while trying to say ‘catnip mouse’. All of this is not hilarious to Vera, who walks away and Gipp sits dejectedly by a tree. Fortunately, Vera can’t stay angry at her friend for long and they apologize to each other. They get another magic wand (stick) and create even more silly word combos together – friendship fixed.

The boldly drawn characters are comic-like with word bubbles telling the story as a dialogue and their facial expressions helping to show their feelings. Their silly word play is illustrated along the way – envision a cattle blouse or massive louse! Endpapers hint at the storyline, with Vera playing alone with her catnip mouse (Gipp hiding in the background) at the front and both playing together happily at the end.

This is a very sweet and silly story about aspects of friendship. Sometimes, a friend just wants some alone time and it’s ok. Communication and empathy are part of being a good friend. Great for SEL discussions. Recommended.

Chicka Chicka Tricka Treat

by Julien Chung

A, B, C and all the rest are together again in a Halloween story based on the original “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault. The alphabet is climbing a creaky tree and ready for Halloween with costumes, spider webs and pumpkins. They fall to the ground when a ghost shouts “Boo”, who then encourages them to come back up. They climb again and the story ends with “Chicka chicka tricks treat. Everybody – time to eat!”.

Colorful illustrations and catchy phrases will entice young readers to delve further into this amusing story. They will enjoy the extra fun of looking for the Halloween elements throughout the book. Each letter is ‘costumed’ in some way and there are spiderwebs, pumpkins and ghosts along the way. Recommended.

An Abundance of Light: A Story of Matisse in Morocco

by Lauren Stringer

Matisse is weighed down by the drab dreariness of a grey, wet French day. He can’t see the light and, therefore, can’t paint. A friend suggests a trip to Morocco, where the light is beautiful and bright. Unfortunately, he arrives to more drab, dreary weather and feels trapped by it all. He awakens one morning to the bright light and colors he needed. He sketched and painted and the colors were glorious. Interestingly, he realized that so many of the colors around him in Morocco reminded him of home. He packed up his completed paintings and sketches an returned to France, where he continued to create and remember the vivid colors of Morocco even when it was drab and dreary outside.

This story of Matisse is well told in accessible language and beautiful accompanying illustrations that lead the reader to feel the a hint of the weight of darkness and grey and the burst of light and color that Matisse must have felt. In these illustrations, he is as grey and drab as his surroundings and becomes as colorful as his new environment in Morocco. Upon his return to France, he remains colorful amid the the grayness, still painting his beautifully colorful pieces. The illustrations tell the story alongside the written words.

More information is given about the artist at the end. The endpapers at the back of the book define unfamiliar words for the reader and are accompanied by colorful drawings.

This book is a wonderful addition to your biography section, especially if you are in need of books about the Arts. It won’t disappoint!