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Book Reviews I love checking out the best new books of the season. Every carton of books I receive from the publishers gives me a great feeling of hope for the world - these, for the most part, are really great books, and the more really great books out there, the more readers there will be, and the more readers there are, the better off our planet will be.
Great literature teaches kids about themselves and the world around them. It's all about interpersonal relationships - we, all of us, learn in relationship to each other, and books help us understand ourselves and our communities all the better.
So bring on the great books!
Roxyanne Young
Editorial Director
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Cool Curriculum-Based Books |
I just received a passel of great new curriculum-based books from Capstone Press. I've been happily using these texts in helping the students in the school where I am a librarian prepare for upcoming standardized state testing. For those of you who are in the same boat as I, these books will give great examples for your students. For those of you who share my other professional hat - children's writer - these titles may give you come inspiration on how to write in support of state curriculum standards.
THE TRUTH ABOUT DRAGONS
by Thomas Kingsley Troupe, illustrated by Jeff Ebbeler
Picture Window Books, Reading Level 1 - 3
ISBN: 978-1-4048-5745-2
The illustrations in this book are just superb. The images are sharp, colorful, and full of details that will keep any young dragon rider-in-training entertained and engaged, while the text will inform young readers about the history of dragons, the differences between European and Chinese dragons, dragons in literature past and present, where dragons live and why, and there's a really interesting list of Fun Facts that taught me why dragons have such tough skin and offered up an intriguing reason for why dragons love treasure so much. This book is age appropriate for grades 1 - 3, and some precocious Kindergartners will enjoy it, too. Fairy tales are a large part of California's 4th grade writing assessment - genres and conventions and all that. Kids who read widely will have better grounding in these areas.
MYSTERY ANIMAL TRACKS - A Photo Riddle Book
by Kelly Barnhill
Capstone Press/A+ Books/Nature Riddles, Reading Level Kindergarten - 2
ISBN: 978-1-4296-3921-7
Easy riddles in poem form alongside a high-quality photo of the mystery animal's footprint make this book a real page-turner - you have to turn the page to learn the answer to the riddle. This would be a super addition to any school library that serves young readers who only have occasional opportunities to get out in nature. The photography is really lovely, and the poems are not at all trite or forced. They're fun to read and give great clues, and would make for a great circle time read aloud book.
TRUTH AND RUMORS: U.S. PRESIDENTS
by Sean Stewart Price, illustrated by Eldon Doty
Capstone Press/Edge Books, Reading Level 3 - 4
ISBN: 978-1-4296-3952-1
Okay, I knew the cherry tree story was false, but now I know why! And I've also learned the truth about Washington's false teeth; Ulysses S. Grant's penchant for driving fast (in his horse and buggy!); we get the phrase "OK" from Martin Van Buren, whose nickname was Old Kinderhook and whose campaign buttons had the initials "OK" on them; John Quincy Adams liked to skinnydip in the Potomac; Teddy Roosevelt really did inspire the teddy bear; and - wait a minute, Abraham Lincoln didn't really write the Gettysburg Address on an envelope?! Who'd a thunk it? There's also a great call to action for young researchers to analyze their sources and dig deeper, to call experts and ask questions. I love this book and can't wait to share it with the third graders who are working on their first real research projects.
THE TALL TALE OF PAUL BUNYAN
Retold by Martin Powell, illustrated Aaron Blecha
Capstone/Stone Arch Books, Reading Level 1 - 3
ISBN: 978-1-4342-1897-1
This is one over-the-top retelling of the life and times of Paul Bunyan, complete with a knock-down, drag-out battle with Old Man Winter. Told in graphic novel style, boys, especially, will enjoy learning how Minnesotans got their lakes, how the Smoky Mountains got their smoke, and how the Grand Canyon was made, although I can see some parents being a bit concerned for their back yard landscaping. It's a story "so big it's head could scrape the clouds." And it's a great addition to school libraries that serve students who are learning about this very American storytelling convention, the tall tale.
CLAUDIA CRISTINA CORTEZ (UNCOMPLICATES YOUR LIFE): ADVICE ABOUT FRIENDS
by Diana G. Gallagher
Captone/Stone Arch Books, Reading Level 2 - 3, Interest Level 4 - 8
ISBN: 978-1-4342-1906-0
Gallagher's Claudia is an articulate, wise girl who shares the life lessons she's learned in school and at home about dealing with friends. Close friends, not-so-close friends, BFFs, and people you don't want to be friends with, but should still be nice to. Claudia gives advice on how to avoid fights with friends, how to fight fair when they do happen, and how to let go of a friendship - something that kids in this age group face on a pretty regular basis as they grow and shift between interests and peer groups in school. There are even tips for staying safe online because so many kids have access to online chat rooms, and for dealing with "unfriends" - Claudia doesn't like the word "enemy" - and bullies. Any why am I including this recommendation in the curriculum-based book reviews? Because the school where I work has a social-emotional curriculum called Second Step that teaches our students to be more mindful of their actions in relation to others, and as soon as my daughter finishes reading this book (she's in sixth grade and dealing with some of these issues), I'm recommending this to our Second Step teacher.
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THE MISSING: FOUND, SENT
Margaret Peterson Haddix
Simon & Schuster, 2008, 2009
Margaret Peterson Haddix, whose gripping HIDDEN series captivated readers, has hit on another fantastic idea in her new series, THE MISSING. Book One, FOUND, opens with a mysterious airplane appearing out of nowhere at a small regional airport. It's full of babies, but no adults. No pilots, no attendants, no one but 36 babies. Skip ahead 13 years where 7th grader Jonah is an average kid living in the suburbs with his very nice family in a very nice house and a pretty cool little sister, going through much of what you'd expect for an average kid on the quiet side, until he starts receiving mysteries anonymous letters in the mail. It turns out he's adopted, as is his friend Chip, who lives down the street with a not-as-nice family. The letters send the boys and little sister, Katherine, into a time-travel adventure that really knocked me for a loop.
Through their investigations, they learn about other adopted kids, all in the 7th grade, who are receiving the same letters, adopted kids in their town and nearby communities, and then their investigations lead them to the FBI, the police, mysterious meetings with time-traveling strangers, and to a conference for adopted kids, with Katherine along for the ride, where...well, it gets complicated from there.
I can't tell you much about the second book without giving away the secret of the first book, so I'm going to point you to the book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swRTZpnsXgY.
Book Two: SENT find the kids dropped into 15th century England where they are part of one of the biggest murder mysteries in history. Okay, there's another hint.
It's cool. It's complicated. There's not a whole lot of violence, but because there are murders and kidnappings and political intrigue aplenty, this one is more appropriate for more advanced readers, ages 8+.
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 My Dance Recital
by Maryann Cocca-Leffler
Random House Children's Books
ISBN: 9780375847080
Attention all little ballerinas, here's a lift-the-flap, pop-up book just for you! Cocca-Leffler's book is full of fun, girly-girl details hiding behind flaps, under pull-tabs, and popping up throughout the book, including a ballerina that actually spins center stage, which to me is just an engineering marvel. The story follows a little girl through her dance recital, from hair and makeup to waiting in the wings for her big sister's act to finish, then she gets her spotlight, and oh, do the mechanics impress, and without being so fussy that you'd be afraid to let your three-year-old handle this by herself. (Supervised, yes - it's not tear-proof.) The art is beautiful - consistent colors and expressions on the kids, all warmth and whimsy. It's all so kid-friendly I can hardly wait to pass this book on to a little ballerina friend. The working parts are on the delicate side, so this wouldn't be appropriate for classroom use, but it is sweet, sweet, sweet for the young dancer in your life.
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Really Bright Books for Really Bright Kids |
Flashy, Clashy, and Oh-So Splashy: Poems About Color
by Laura Purdie Salas
A+ Books/Capstone Press
ISBN: 1429612045
Props for the title alone - "Orange You Jealous of My Color?" - heading up the poem about "flashy and clashy and beautifully splashy" orange, illustrated by some bright orange traffic cones. Teachers looking for short poems with great put-together adjectives will love this book, plus there are descriptions of the various types of poems used in the backmatter, complete with a glossary and Read More resources.
Here's a bit from "Dirt," "Young Bobby went outside to play/In a black-muddy, spring-sloppy way..."; and another really nice one, "Cow Colors," "Creamy coat with spots of ink/Chocolate eyes in slow deep blink/Only browns and blacks, you think/'Til the tongue rolls out in soft sweet pink." This one's illustrated by a way-too-close brown cow licking the camera. It's a hoot. Kids will enjoy the often-silly language and the fantastic photographic illustrations that accompany each poem. This one is a nice addition to any classroom library, K - 3
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The Diamond of Darkhold: The Fourth Book of Ember
by Jeanne DuPrau
Random House
ISBN: 9780375855719
DuPrau wraps up her Ember series with a solid conclusion that answers just about all the questions the faithful Ember reader might have. This book revisits the underground city where Lina and Doon hope to find much-needed supplies for the struggling citizens of Sparks. The winter is approaching, but times been hard above ground and the stress of supporting a large new population of people who are new to handling fire and managing large crops that might sustain them is showing on everyone. Lina and Doon return to Ember in the hopes of returning with enough canned food, medicines, clothing, and whatever else they can manage to bring up, if they can find a safe way back down.
They do, of course, but the Ember they left behind is no longer vacant, and the new tenants are not so nice. Lina escapes, but Doon is taken hostage and the adventure that ensues will bring in old friends and new, and demonstrate how solving problems is so much easier when you work together.
The post-apocalyptic edge of The City of Ember and The People of Sparks has been toned down a bit, but the personal appeal of the characters is still here and there are enough heart-stopping suspenseful moments that even reluctant readers will keep turning the pages. Ember fans will love the epilogue, too, where we find out just what happens after the story closes. (Although I'm still wondering whatever happened to that bad guy who left for the wild unknown lands and villages far away in book two. Jeanne?)
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