Reviews
All New Crafts for Valentine's Day
“Rosy-toned illustrations accompany straightfoward, step-by-step instructions for twenty Valentine-themed projects, including button covers, decorated baskets, cards, magnets, and wind chimes. Most of the necessary materials are familiar, though younger crafters will need the… View →
It's Test Day, Tiger Turcotte
“Already nervous about his first big test, multiracial second-grader Tiger gets upset when he doesn’t know what answer for the question about his race. Though didactic, the story is also humorous – as are the illustrations – and will speak to the feelings of… View →
It's Fall!
“Glaser’s poetic text celebrates the sights, sounds, and activities of fall: jumping in leaves, watching animals prepare for winter, and planting bulbs for next spring. . . Swan’s cut-paper illustrations are bursting with color and movement, reminding us that even… View →
Pattern Fish
“Harris’s rhythmic, loosely rhyming text describes six creatures moving through the sea, until a shark shows up and scares them away. More important than the slight story line, though, are the verbal and pictorial patterns throughout: in each two-page cartoon illustration,… View →
Butternut Hollow Pond
“Heinz describes the course of the day from dawn to night in a pond. The food chain, and the many close escapes involved in animals’ attempts to eat one another, provide narrative momentum and some suspense. The warm, detailed illustrations encourage the reader to… View →
Cooking the Cuban Way
“These cookbooks feature recipes for such traditions fare as lamb kebabs, as well as lower-fat and vegetarian dishes. Introductory sections on each country’s culture and cuisine provide excellent material for school reports. Glossaries of exotic ingredients and… View →
Cooking the Indonesian Way
“These cookbooks feature recipes for such traditions fare as lamb kebabs, as well as lower-fat and vegetarian dishes. Introductory sections on each country’s culture and cuisine provide excellent material for school reports. Glossaries of exotic ingredients and… View →
Harriet and the Garden, 2nd Edition
“New ed. (1982). When Harriet accidentally tramples her neighbor’s prize flower garden and then runs away, she can’t eat or sleep until she decides to confess and make amends. Carlson presents a common childhood plight simply and insightfully in a brief text and bold… View →
"Fast the alligator and Snappy the frog are partners on the HOp-to-It Express. They outwit a band of rustlers, several times over, to deliver an important letter to the folks at Cactus Gulch. This tall tale set in the Old West is far-fetched and a bit confusing. The illustrations… View →
Louanne Pig in The Perfect Family, 2nd Edition
“Only child (well, pig)Louanne is envious of her friend George, who has nine siblings. But Louanne begins to appreciate her own small family after she spends a too-hectic weekend at George’s house. Brightly colored illustrations of an increasingly overwhelmed Louanne… View →
The Schoolchildren's Blizzard
“On My Own History series. A fluent text retells the story of Nebraska heroine Minnie Freeman, who led the students of her one-room schoolhouse to safety during the deadly snowstorm of January 12, 1888. An excellent companion to Carla Stevens and Margot Tomes’s Anna,… View →
Sammy Spider's First Day of School
“Spider Sammy stows away in Josh’s backpack, accompanying the boy to school. The students learn a lesson about the Jewish value of being kind to animals – put to the test once Sammy’s spotted. The text is didactic but accessible; though it obviously depicts… View →
Avoiding Drugs
“This simple, easy-to-read introduction to a complex topic explains the difference between prescribed drugs and non-medicinal drugs such as alcohol and tobacco. Without using the word addiction, Murphy discusses some reasons for drug use and warns against abuse and driving drunk. View →
Cooking the Turkish Way
“These cookbooks feature recipes for such traditions fare as lamb kebabs, as well as lower-fat and vegetarian dishes. Introductory sections on each country’s culture and cuisine provide excellent material for school reports. Glossaries of exotic ingredients and… View →
Cooking the Brazilian Way
“These cookbooks feature recipes for such traditions fare as lamb kebabs, as well as lower-fat and vegetarian dishes. Introductory sections on each country’s culture and cuisine provide excellent material for school reports. Glossaries of exotic ingredients and… View →
Double Trouble in Walla Walla
“Lulu disrupts a day in Walla-Walla by speaking in ‘flip-flop chitter-chatter.’ Soon her teacher, the principal, and the school nurse are caught in this ‘wibble-wobble word warp,’ whose cure is as arbitrary and random as its onset. Slick-schtick pen and… View →
Illustrated by Shawn Costello.seder with some help from farmers, a traveling man, and memories of previous celebra-tions. The invented dialogue is stilted, but the subject is intriguing and the heavily illustrated chapter book format makes it accessible to a young audience. An… View →
Sarah Laughs
Jules retells and expands upon the story of Sarah, wife of Abraham. This quiet version, informed by biblical scholarship and legend, emphasizes Sarah’s feelings and faith. The illustrations’ curved lines and soothing colors match the book’s calm tone; this is an epic… View →
Photographs by Tod Cohen. A preschool class celebrates Yom Ha’arzmaut, Israel’s birthday, by taking a make-believe trip. Clear photographs and simple text show the children pretending to visit a kibbutz, a Jerusalem market, the desert and Dead Sea, and Tel Aviv where they… View →
Sammy Spider's First Shavuot
Spider Sammy learns about the Jewish holiday of Shavuot. During the Shapiro family’s preparations, curious Sammy is almost burnt by cooking oil, splashed with strawberry juice, and covered with pollen while he learns about such customs as making blintzes. The brightly colored but… View →
A gentile grandfather tells his Jewish granddaughter the story of Jethro (Moses’s Midianite father-in-law) and his Jewish grandson, Moses’s son Gershom. The parallels between modern-day family and the biblical one are effective, but the storytelling is confusing. An… View →
Detective Gordon: A Complicated Case
In their second case, Detective Gordon (an elderly toad) and Police Assistant Buffy (a young mouse) investigates who has been saying ‘nasty things’ to fellow forest creatures. As before, the friends’ application of the law is just. Humor and affection in the text and… View →
Always an Olivia: A Remarkable Family History
To explain why each generation of their family has an Olivia, an African American woman tells her great-granddaughter about their Jewish family’s journey across the globe to escape reli-gious persecution. Soft paintings add subtle intensity to this story highlighting the importance View →