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librarybonanza
Age: Kindergarten-2nd grade
Tough Issue: Poverty
The cartoon style will visually pull in a large audience while exposing children to a subject all too relevant in our society but not much talked about. Maddi and Sofia are best friends and love playing at the playground. Sofia is so thirsty one day that she races a reluctant Maddi to Maddi's house. When Sofia opens up the fridge without asking, she finds that Maddi only has one carton of milk--and that's for her little brother. In the end, Sofia tells her mom and they buy groceries for Maddi's family. Although the message encourages compassion and kindness, it feels very presumptuous of Sofia's family to up and buy groceries for someone else. Also, the stories repetitive features may be grating for the older readers that are able to understand poverty and issues dealing with money.
Tough Issue: Poverty
The cartoon style will visually pull in a large audience while exposing children to a subject all too relevant in our society but not much talked about. Maddi and Sofia are best friends and love playing at the playground. Sofia is so thirsty one day that she races a reluctant Maddi to Maddi's house. When Sofia opens up the fridge without asking, she finds that Maddi only has one carton of milk--and that's for her little brother. In the end, Sofia tells her mom and they buy groceries for Maddi's family. Although the message encourages compassion and kindness, it feels very presumptuous of Sofia's family to up and buy groceries for someone else. Also, the stories repetitive features may be grating for the older readers that are able to understand poverty and issues dealing with money.
Age: Preschool-1st grade
A pretty typical winter story with fine illustrations, a fold out spread with a track map, and the most ingenious end note. Rocco explains that he was there during the Blizzard of '78 that buried his family and neighbors under forty inches of snow--which is four times the height of the book. I love that kids can get a visual for the snowfall by using the book as a measuring device. Brilliant!
A pretty typical winter story with fine illustrations, a fold out spread with a track map, and the most ingenious end note. Rocco explains that he was there during the Blizzard of '78 that buried his family and neighbors under forty inches of snow--which is four times the height of the book. I love that kids can get a visual for the snowfall by using the book as a measuring device. Brilliant!
Age: Kindergarten-2nd grade
Family: Twin brother and sister
Writing
If rushed, the story feels off kilter without much poetic stylings, but children will want to absorb the details of each picture, allowing the story to slow down. A great book for showcasing collaboration without belittling one character or the other.
Family: Twin brother and sister
Writing
If rushed, the story feels off kilter without much poetic stylings, but children will want to absorb the details of each picture, allowing the story to slow down. A great book for showcasing collaboration without belittling one character or the other.
Age: Preschool-2nd grade
Nature: Forest
I want to pet all these animals! The artwork and the color scheme are a delight to peruse and the poetic narrative contributes to the reflective and pensive mood as we explore the symbiotic relationships that exist throughout the forest throughout the year.
Nature: Forest
I want to pet all these animals! The artwork and the color scheme are a delight to peruse and the poetic narrative contributes to the reflective and pensive mood as we explore the symbiotic relationships that exist throughout the forest throughout the year.
Age: Preschool-1st grade
Animals: Moose, zebra, cat
Concept Skill: Shapes
Moose enters this shape book after they use a delicious looking sandwich for a square and of course he wants to stay! The narrator tries to get moose to leave but without much success. Zebra enters the book feeling confident in his past experience and ends up chasing Moose throughout the book. A delightful sequel that isn't a carbon copy of the original.
Animals: Moose, zebra, cat
Concept Skill: Shapes
Moose enters this shape book after they use a delicious looking sandwich for a square and of course he wants to stay! The narrator tries to get moose to leave but without much success. Zebra enters the book feeling confident in his past experience and ends up chasing Moose throughout the book. A delightful sequel that isn't a carbon copy of the original.
Age: Preschool
An entire savannah of animals refuse to go to sleep for every reason under the sun. But one little girl has a simple solution: take it one step at a time.
An entire savannah of animals refuse to go to sleep for every reason under the sun. But one little girl has a simple solution: take it one step at a time.
Age: High School
At first not particularly enticing, Westerfeld managed to draw me in with his authentic characters and masterfully descriptive action scenes. Just like the Uglies series, the first 50-100 pages were pretty meh but then he managed to hypnotize me with his fantastic characters and his fluid progression of the plot. I finally read a steampunk book that I really enjoyed! Regarding his unorthodox use of steampunk (alternate history of WWI, not Victorian era), Westerfeld provides an author's note, explaining that
Goodreads decription: "Prince Aleksander, would-be heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battletorn war machine and a loyal crew of men.
Deryn Sharp is a commoner, disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She's a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.
With World War I brewing, Alek and Deryn's paths cross in the most unexpected way"
At first not particularly enticing, Westerfeld managed to draw me in with his authentic characters and masterfully descriptive action scenes. Just like the Uglies series, the first 50-100 pages were pretty meh but then he managed to hypnotize me with his fantastic characters and his fluid progression of the plot. I finally read a steampunk book that I really enjoyed! Regarding his unorthodox use of steampunk (alternate history of WWI, not Victorian era), Westerfeld provides an author's note, explaining that
"Leviathan is as much about possible futures as alternate pasts. It looks ahead to when machines will look like living creatures, and living creatures can be fabricated like machines. And yet the setting also recalls an earlier time in which the world was divided into aristocrats and commoners, and women in most countries couldn't join the armed forces--or even vote. That's the nature of steampunk, blending future and past."
Goodreads decription: "Prince Aleksander, would-be heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battletorn war machine and a loyal crew of men.
Deryn Sharp is a commoner, disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She's a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.
With World War I brewing, Alek and Deryn's paths cross in the most unexpected way"
A dog and rat come across a flattened rabbit in the road. Dog is really puzzled about the best way to handle the situation but, in the end, they decide to gently attach rabbit to a kite and fly him in the air. It is a bit silly that after all that thinking, they decide to give rabbit flight which is probably something Rabbit never desired. The best way to read this book is to disassociate it with grieving and instead find humor in the ludacris solution that dog and rat conjure up. This morbidly humorous book has its target audience and most of them live in Europe.
Age: Kindergarten-1st grade
Concept Skill: Alphabet
Delightfully unique, Radunsky supplies antique black-and-white photographs while Raschka gives humorous and intriguing rhymes about who they may have been. I can see the appeal to parents, for sure, but I think older children will also have fun with the vast array of characters. This would make a great writing prompt, teachers!
Concept Skill: Alphabet
Delightfully unique, Radunsky supplies antique black-and-white photographs while Raschka gives humorous and intriguing rhymes about who they may have been. I can see the appeal to parents, for sure, but I think older children will also have fun with the vast array of characters. This would make a great writing prompt, teachers!
Age: Preschool-1st grade
Accompanied with sound effects to read aloud, Ollie tumbles and plays through his first year of life until he gets swept away in a roaring river. Don't worry, though, his search for his family ends in another playful romp in the water together with his brother and sister.
Accompanied with sound effects to read aloud, Ollie tumbles and plays through his first year of life until he gets swept away in a roaring river. Don't worry, though, his search for his family ends in another playful romp in the water together with his brother and sister.