Reviews
Dino-Hockey
“In this fast-paced and wild hockey championship, the carnivores in red jerseys (Meat-Eaters) take on the herbivores in green (Veggiesaurs). Clever rhyming couplets keep the game lively and slip in facts about dinosaurs (‘Socks and jerseys keep them warm/cold-blooded beasts View →
Mallory on Board
“Readers will enjoy the details of the cruise and the fancy wedding arrangements on board. The book is well designed, and the frequent black-and-white illustrations enhance this easy chapter book. There is bonus end matter, featuring Mallory’s spring break report and a… View →
“. . .there have been a number of books for young readers about African-American writer Zora Neale Hurston. This volume, written in engagingly fresh prose and attractively laid out in large, clear type, is one of the best. . . Probably the most objective look at this highly… View →
Hush Harbor: Praying in Secret
“Banks’s highly stylized paintings are wonderfully expressive and amplify the deep emotion of the situation. Her palette of yellows and browns shows people who are swathed in moonlight yet avoids the dimness that night scenes sometimes have. An extensive author’s note View →
Swish: The Quest for Basketball's Perfect Shot
“Stewart and Kennedy offer an engaging history of the sport, followed by profiles of some of the most impressive shots of all time and the players who made them. Whether they are discussing amazing feats at the college or professional level, the tone is conversational and… View →
Skin Like Milk, Hair of Silk: What Are Similes and Metaphors?
“Large pen-and-ink illustrations feature cartoon cats rendered in bold, vibrant colors. The style is fun and inviting. The text, which appears in an oversize, whimsical font, is spare, ranging from 9 to 15 words per page. Large pictures and uneven placement of the text keeps the… View →
“Based on a legend, this intriguing slice of converso life offers a thoughtful hero and a suspenseful plot. The warm, opaque paintings are expressive and create a strong sense of place. Although the religious significance of the shofar is never explained, the story conveys its… View →
The Nice Mice in the Rice: A Long Vowel Sounds Book
“Cleary does a masterful job of explaining such potentially dry topics as ‘long vowel sounds with consonant digraphs’ and ‘inflectional endings’ by using comic, incongruous situations to get his point across. . . In his introduction, Cleary states that:… View →
Stop, Drop, and Flop in the Slop: A Short Vowel Sounds Book with Consonant Blends
“Cleary does a masterful job of explaining such potentially dry topics as ‘long vowel sounds with consonant digraphs’ and ‘inflectional endings’ by using comic, incongruous situations to get his point across. . . In his introduction, Cleary states that:… View →
The Peaches on the Beaches: A Book about Inflectional Endings
“Cleary does a masterful job of explaining such potentially dry topics as ‘long vowel sounds with consonant digraphs’ and ‘inflectional endings’ by using comic, incongruous situations to get his point across. . . In his introduction, Cleary states that:… View →
The Clown in the Gown Drives the Car with the Star: A Book about Diphthongs and R-Controlled Vowels
“Cleary does a masterful job of explaining such potentially dry topics as ‘long vowel sounds with consonant digraphs’ and ‘inflectional endings’ by using comic, incongruous situations to get his point across. . . In his introduction, Cleary states that:… View →
The Frail Snail on the Trail: A Long Vowel Sounds Book with Consonant Blends
“Cleary does a masterful job of explaining such potentially dry topics as ‘long vowel sounds with consonant digraphs’ and ‘inflectional endings’ by using comic, incongruous situations to get his point across. . . In his introduction, Cleary states that:… View →
The Thing on the Wing Can Sing: A Short Vowel Sounds Book with Consonant Digraphs
“Cleary does a masterful job of explaining such potentially dry topics as ‘long vowel sounds with consonant digraphs’ and ‘inflectional endings’ by using comic, incongruous situations to get his point across. . . In his introduction, Cleary states that:… View →
Whose Shoes Would You Choose?: A Long Vowel Sounds Book with Consonant Digraphs
“Cleary does a masterful job of explaining such potentially dry topics as ‘long vowel sounds with consonant digraphs’ and ‘inflectional endings’ by using comic, incongruous situations to get his point across. . . In his introduction, Cleary states that:… View →
“Nine stories, based on interviews with the grateful survivors, describe how brave animals rescued people in catastrophic circumstances. Each edgy retelling reveals details that only the participants could know, including sounds, smells, sights, and the knowledge that at any moment View →
The Iranian Revolution
“Iranian Revolution is the stronger of these two books. It begins with background on the role of Islam in Iranian history and describes the 20th-century conflict between the Iranian Shahs who wanted to embrace Western culture and the ultraconservative clerics, such as… View →
An Australian Outback Food Chain: A Who-Eats-What Adventure
“The interconnections created by the choices effectively illustrate the complexity of food webs while providing information about the plants and animals that form the components. Lively, engaging writing helps sustain interest. The back matter will assist report writers, and the… View →
A Tundra Food Chain: A Who-Eats-What Adventure in the Arctic
“The interconnections created by the choices effectively illustrate the complexity of food webs while providing information about the plants and animals that form the components. Lively, engaging writing helps sustain interest. The back matter will assist report writers, and the… View →
Wayne Gretzky
“‘The Great Gretzky’ played for Team Canada at the 1998 Olympics (the first in which NHL stars were allowed to compete) and coached the team to a gold medal in 2002. Gretzky made his greatest mark on hockey during his 20-plus years in the… View →
Flabby Cat and Slobby Dog
“Longtime friends Flabby Cat and Slobby Dog have fallen into comfortable, lazy routines, doing nothing but eating and sleeping. When they can no longer fit on their couch, they ignore what is happening to them. And when they outgrow their house, they tell themselves that it has… View →
Elmer's Special Day
“McKee does a great job of creating the jungle environment and the festivities in vibrant, exciting colors. The textures and the patchwork-quilt look of the jungle will invite readers to take a closer look. The impact of the creatures coming together as a community to celebrate… View →
Little Wolf's Book of Badness
“. . .the fall-down funny story of a cheerful nonconformist finding a way to be himself. Written in a style somewhere between A. A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh and Dav Pilkey’s The Adventures of Captain Underpants the story owes it humor as much to Ross’s line… View →
Swing around the Sun
“A well-loved collection of seasonal poems, first published in 1965, is revived for a new generation, creating a rich, vibrant reading and viewing experience. An exceptional marriage of poetry and art that will encourage children to write and illustrate their own seasonal poems,… View →
“Readers of Spy Technology will be delighted to learn that such ingenious gadgets as pistols in lipstick cases are not just the stuff of James Bond, but have been used by organizations like the CIA and the KGB. . . This… View →