Jasper Rabbit tells the tale of Charlie Marmot. Charlie has a sore throat and when his dad takes him to the doctor, the doctor says he needs to have his tonsils removed. Charlie decides he wants to keep the tonsils in a jar and take them to class for show and tell. Only before his surgery a strange sound keeps him up at night. And on the day of surgery, his tonsils are gone.

Jasper Rabbit’s retelling reads like a show from the Twilight Zone which may be missed by younger readers. The creepy tale will be a hit for those who like spooky tales. This is a short chapter book with any pictures being gray and black. The only thing that has color is the tonsils.

Beverley Bat lives in an old abandoned house. He loves to entertain, but no one comes to visit until one day a car pulls up with people in it. Excited to entertain, Beverley reads about how to host people guests. Beverley sprays a welcoming scent of eau de rotten eggs and cooking Bolognese de millipede for dinner. The humans didn’t appreciate all of his efforts.

A fun, not so spooky story. The use of thought and speech bubbles and onomatopoeia draws readers into the text. The illustrations are colorful and the characters are expressive.

This rhythmic cumulative tale (similar to “The House That Jack Built”) follows two children planting seeds in a garden. First they plant the seeds in the earth that nurtures their seeds, but oh no! The plants in the shade are not growing so they children move them to the sun. As the story continues, the children discover how different things slow the plants growing or help their garden grow. The back matter talks about the things the children encounter: water, sun, bugs, worms, and mushrooms and how they help a garden grow. The illustrations are bright, colorful, and fill the whole page.

Adventures in Unplugged Coding is a series of books that take the reader through 4 unplugged challenges that help the reader understand how to use higher-level thinking skills to solve problems. The connection is made between the activities and how computer code writers think. This series of books is categorized as Express! Which are classified as maker space books.

Coding with Rain Forest Animals has 4 unplugged activities:

1. A Rare Sighting
2. Rain Forest Escape
3. Snake Eyes
4. Picture Perfect

Each activity requires a minimal amount of supplies: Paper, index cards, pencils, markers, dice, game pieces, and small toys. The activities would be best accomplished with a partner or small group. The readers would have opportunities to solve problems together and work towards a solution, also when turning the page they will be able to learn about the solution and how that activity is related to coders.

Readers who use this book would need to read at a 3rd or 4th grade level but as long as there is one strong reader in the group they could guide others through who may be younger or have a more difficult time reading.

Apple is a tech company that continues to make new and innovative products including iMac computers, Mac Book laptops, iPhones, iPads, AirPods, and Apple Watches. Apple began in 1976 to create a personal computer. The first computer was created in Steve Jobs’s garage and was only a circuit board. The case, keyboard, and monitor were added later. This book does a nice job of laying out the timeline of how the Apple company has grown over the years to become the technology powerhouse that it is today. The pictures and graphics do an excellent job of supporting the text and visually condensing some of the written information into infographics. Readers with a 4th-grade reading level would be able to access the text and information. Readers interested in the history and growth of Apple would find this book full of interesting information.

YouTube launched on February 14, 2005, and the first video was posted by Jawed Karim featuring him at the San Diego Zoo and it was 19 seconds long.  Karim, along with Chad Hurley and Steve Chen decided to create YouTube because they felt that finding and sharing videos online was too cumbersome.  YouTube grew very quickly and while that was exciting there were also problems such as the need for fast internet and more equipment to keep up with demand. There were also problems around who had the right to host all the videos.  The 3 founders then decided to sell YouTube to Google. This book will appeal to those who are interested in finding out about the history and development of YouTube and how, after it was purchased by Google it continued to grow and expand. The pictures and infographics are clear and concise and add depth to the text. This Behind the Brand Book is written to target a 4th-grade reading level, but with the graphics, I know younger readers will also enjoy exploring the books.

Coca-Cola was created on May 8, 1886. Since that time it has grown and evolved into a huge company that is still growing and changing today. In different parts of the world, you can find different Coca-Cola products that are popular such as raspberry-flavored Coke which is popular in New Zealand, and Orange-flavored Coke which is popular in Turkey, Brazil, and Japan. In addition to carbonated beverages the company also sells juices, sparkling flavored waters, and soy milk beverages to name a few. Readers interested in learning about the Coca-Cola brand and how the company started and has grown through the years would find this book very interesting. This book is written for a 4th-grade reading level. The book has 32 pages and has pictures and graphics that condense information and support the writing. Younger readers would be able to access some of the content as well.

Roblox is an online game platform that brings together people from all around the world. A computer scientist named David Baszucki started a company in 1989 with the mission of teaching students about physics. In 2004 he created a new company called Dynablocks but soon changed the name to something more memorable, Roblox. Roblox is a combination of two words, robots and blocks. This book is a great introduction to explain what Roblox is and the timeline of how it has developed over the years. The graphics and pictures in this book give great information and help support the writing. The book is written around a 4th-grade reading level, but being 32 pages long and with supporting graphics it could be accessible to younger readers. Readers who play Roblox will not learn new tips or tricks to help them play better, but they will learn about the creators and history of how the game has come to be over the years. This book is a good explanation of what Roblox is for someone interested in the history of the game, or for someone who has not yet played the game or is just a beginning player.