Reviews
“A little boy gets up, puts on his boots, gets his bucket and shovel, and calls two friends for a day of mud activities. The happy trio of boys (one Asian, two white) ‘mix and pat. We slip and slop’ and generally enjoy themselves in the gooey mud. Like others in the… View →
“Sibling rivalry is the scenario in this book in the Real Kids Readers series that integrates phonics practice with a realistic rhyming story. . . [N]ew readers will enjoy the older sister’s anger about her younger sibling and then her rueful affection.” … View →
“series has a unique look: bright, cut-out photos of the characters are set against expanses of white; the text is longer than those found in many easy readers. Phonics guidelines appear at the book’s conclusion, and there are also tips for parents on reading with their… View →
“The Real Kids Readers, whose hallmark is blending phonics and whole language and illustrating with color photos, tackles a familiar subject here – kids and clothes. A young African American boy is not interested in going shopping with his mother; and once in the store, he… View →
“An all-too-familiar scenario provides the plot for this book in the Real Kids Readers series, which blends phonics and whole language. A boy has a week to do a big school assignment, but he procrastinates. Luckily, because of snow, school is canceled on the date his assignment… View →
“Tara’s good intentions to help only make more work for her father when she spills the bag of potting soil, knocks the basket of clean clothes into the freshly potted planters, and tips paint on the floor. The model of patience and forgiveness, Dad merely cautions her to… View →
Earth Cycles
“. . . clear language suitable for beginning readers. . . Straightforward, realistic watercolor illustrations. . . Direct, simple, and ideal for classroom support. . . appealing introduction to Earth’s movement. . .” —Booklist View →
“For each of the 11 countries – Kenya, Japan, China, Peru, Canada, Kazakhstan, Australia, Germany, Russia, India, and the U.S. – there’s a short paragraph written in the child’s excited voice, accompanied by a page of facts about kids and school, including View →
“Short rhymes describe each bird’s part with musical references and metaphors, but it is the lush watercolor illustrations that really sing here. They orchestrate an evocative aviary concert, preserving the individual characteristics of each bird in the attractive… View →
“. . . excellent, large-scale pictures in colored pencil . . . clearly written . . . first-rate. The clean look of the book and the detailed drawings make this a most attractive first look at bees.” —Booklist View →
“In the tradition of Mogul miniatures, his ornate, elaborately framed paintings capture the culture of elegant luxury that reached its apogee in the story’s celebrated structure.” —Booklist View →
“Ordinary books of shapes concentrate on the geometric basics, such as squares, circles, and triangles. Rau looks to nature for inspiration and finds stars not just in the sky but in an orange half, a starfish, and a snowflake. She sees spirals in a seahorse, a ram’s horns, View →
“In her familiar, well-illustrated, step-by-step style. . . instructions are very clear and precisely illustrated with color pictures, the first of which shows the finished project.” —Booklist View →
“This attractive book . . . pages have a cheerful look. As always, Ross offers clear directions . . . A good source of Thanksgiving-themed ideas for parents, teachers, caregivers, and scout leaders.” —Booklist View →
“This graphic-novel adaptation is a fine marriage of art and text, neither outshining the other. Emotions emanate from facial expressions, especially evident in Pear Blossom’s gradual emotional change, which helps draw readers into the story, and brightly colored panels… View →
“Comical line drawings zapped with color show animals in a wide variety of roles, from tourist to cowboy to knight. Meanwhile, the rhyming verses gallop along, playfully brandishing adverbs galore. Color coding differentiates adverbs that tell you when (pink), where (purple), how View →
“Children are sure to enjoy the goofy story, which lends itself to group decoding as vowels are gradually introduced. Kevin Luthardt’s bright illustrations, featuring people with cartoonish balloon heads, ably echo the story’s silliness. This clever approach to… View →
“On nearly every page, color photos show people preparing for hurricanes, storms in progress at sea and on land, and communities damaged by hurricanes.” —Booklist View →
Hush Harbor: Praying in Secret
“Illustrated with extremely stylized pictures that don’t prettify their subjects, this captures some of the fear and horror associated with slavery. However, it’s the detailed author’s note that will really give kids insight into the subject. A good choice for… View →
“. . .this rendition features plenty of crowd-pleasing gross bits that will get kids going.” —Booklist View →
“This book subtitled ‘What Is a Noun?’ appropriately abounds with persons, places and things, while rhymes drop broad hints about using nouns.” —Kirkus Reviews View →
Death on Sacred Ground
“Feder interweaves details of Jewish and Seneca traditions and ceremonies and is knowledgeable about and respectful of both groups. . .” —Kirkus Reviews View →
“. . .this simple mystery will satisfy young readers who enjoy the intrigue, and it has the bonus of having a hearing-impaired hero.” —Kirkus Reviews View →
“. . .this simple, easy-to-read introduction to El Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) does convey the spirit of this enduring holiday.” —MultiCultural Review View →