|
Book Reviews -
Easy Nonfiction
|
Written by Kelly Barnhill
 Mysterious tracks dotted with rhyming clues create an interesting book about animal habitats. Tiny faint tracks or a deep earthly impression, this photo riddle book will lure any young sleuth to unravel its clues.
Review by Amy Gerritsen, Library Media Assistant, Stansbury Elementary School
Rating: ★★★★★
Interest Level: Grades K-3
Mystery Animal Tracks
Capstone Press
32 pages
ISBN: 978-1-42963921-7
Release Date: Jan 2010
|
|
Book Reviews -
Easy Nonfiction
|
Written by Sue Bentley, Illustrated by Angela Swan
 Flame is a little black magic kitten who is orphaned, so she finds a lonely little girl named Sadie who is trying to get involved in a local circus youth group. That is when they find out the kitten has some magical powers and she helps Sadie from falling when she does her acrobats. This is a really cute book and I recommend it for my friends.
Reviewed by a 6th grade student, Hillsdale Elementary School
Rating: ★★★★✩
Interest Level: Grades 2-6
A Circus Wish (Magic Kitten #6)
Grosset & Dunlap / Penguin Group
128 pages
ISBN: 978-0-448-45062-9
Release Date: Oct 2009
|
|
Book Reviews -
Easy Nonfiction
|
Written by Amy Hest, Elivia Savadier Illustrator
 A little girl walking down Broadway in New York City, all of a sudden sees a little bear in front of her. It doesn’t take long to find out that Little Bear has been separated from his Mama and that he is going to cry. With humor and charm the young girl helps Little Bear to reunite with his Mama. Every child who has lost their Mama can relate to this story. It is also a good opportunity to discuss what children should do in case they ever get separated from their mother. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the watercolor illustrations are beautiful.
Review by Gaylene Lesko, Instructional Technology
Rating: ★★★★✩
Interest Level: Pre-school - 2nd grade
When You Meet a Bear on Broadway
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
pages 40
ISBN: 0374400156
Release Date: September 2009
|
|
Book Reviews -
Easy Nonfiction
|
Written by Michael O. Tunnell
 This book was amazing. It made me look at Aladdin like I never had before! This book transported me to a "whole new world".
Review by Student at Skyline High School
Rating: ★★★★★
Interest Level: 7-12 grades
Wishes on the Moon
Penguin Group
pages 496
ISBN: 9780142412701
Release Date: April 2009
|
|
Book Reviews -
Easy Nonfiction
|
Written by Keiko Kasza
 This is a story about two lovable little characters, Duck and Racoon. Duck comes to Racoon house ready for a picnic but Racoon is unsure about going because, what if something bad happens? So it goes through all the things at can happen and they end up sitting on the couch under a blanket. Then Duck turns it around and sees the positive side with seeing maybe all the good things that can happen and they end up going on their picnic.
Review by Angela Pratt, Library Media Assistant, Hillside Elementary School
Rating: ★★★★★
Interest Level: K-4
Ready for Anything!
Penguin Group
pages 32
ISBN: 978-0-399-25235-8
Release Date: September 2009
|
|
Book Reviews -
Easy Nonfiction
|
Written by Diane deGroat, Photographs by Shelly Rotner
 As a big dog lover, I thought this book was very enjoyable. It has real photos of what dogs do and real photos of the most un-dog like positions of what they don't do. I love the last page has all the doggie's pictures with their names and breeds.
There is not a lot of reading involved with his book, but the pics are so darn cute it makes up for it.
Review by Angela Pratt, Library Media Assistant, Hillsdale Elementary School
Rating: ★★★★★
Interest Level: K-3
Dogs Don't Brush Their Teeth
Scholastic, Inc.
pages 32
ISBN: 978-0-545-08064-4
Release Date: August 2009
|
|
Book Reviews -
Easy Nonfiction
|
Written by Bruce Hale
 This book is about a student gecko taking on the role of school detective to solve some theft crimes occurring on school campus. It is witty, fun, and easy to read. Students will enjoy the great illustrations and surprising turns of events that occur throughout the mystery.
Review by Brooke Deardorff, Teacher, Bennion Elementary School
Rating: ★★★½✩
Interest Level: Grades 2-4
Hills Me Deadly (Chet Gecko Series)
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
118 pages
ISBN: 978-0-15-206424-2
Release Date: Jan 1, 2009
|
|
Book Reviews -
Easy Nonfiction
|
Written by Elizabeth MacLeod, Illustrated by John Mantha
 A very good book about the famous escape artist Harry Houdini. This is a simple biography with wonderful illustrations. It contains a lot of information about his life, written so the beginner reader can understand it. This is from the Kids Can Read series.
Review by Debbie Singer, Library Media Assistant, Bacchus Elementary School
Rating: ★★★★★
Interest Level: Grades 1-4
Harry Houdini
Kids Can Press
32 pages
ISBN: 978-1-55453-298-8
Release Date: Aug 1, 2009
|
|
Book Reviews -
Easy Nonfiction
|
Written and Illustrated by Shirley Hughes
 Katy and her little brother Olly learn to count to 10. The illustrations are very cute as they show how the brother and sister learn to count using everyday experiences.
Review by Debbie Singer, Library Media Assistant, Bacchus Elementary School
Rating: ★★★★★
Interest Level: Grades K-1
Olly and Me 123
Candlewick Press
24 pages
ISBN: 978-0-7636-4016-3
Release Date: Jul 14, 2009
|
|
Book Reviews -
Easy Nonfiction
|
Written by Irene Luxbacher
 Clever book combines beginning sculpture projects with architecture principles. One of the books in the Starting Art series. Projects use inexpensive materials and are simple enough to use in the classroom which makes it a nice book to have in the school library for teacher use. Some architecture words introduced include "foundation," "function," and "structure." Very worthwhile!
Review by Cathie Cox, Library Media Assistant, Plymouth Elementary School
Rating: ★★★★½
Interest Level: Grades K-3
123 I Can Build!
Kids Can Press
24 pages
ISBN: 978-1-55453-315-2
Release Date: Sep 1, 2009
|
|
Book Reviews -
Easy Nonfiction
|
Written by Kim O'Brien
 This is a Pebble book from Capstone Press, one of 10 in a series about various horse breeds. I love the Pebble books with "just enough" information for beginning readers to give them a taste of the subject. It includes wonderful full-page photos opposite the text illustrating what is being presented. I also like the small 6 1/2" x 7 1/2" size, just right for small hands. Includes a table of contents, glossary, "Read More" section, suggested Internet sites, and an index. My only suggestion for improvement would be to put the vocabulary words in a bubble or sidebar on the page where they are introduced rather than group them in the back. I highly recommend!
Review by Cathie Cox, Library Media Assistant, Plymouth Elementary School
Rating: ★★★★½
Interest Level: Grades K-2
Lipizzan Horses
Capstone Press
24 pages
ISBN: 978-1-4296-3305-5
Release Date: Aug 15, 2009
|
|
Book Reviews -
Easy Nonfiction
|
Written by Heather Lynn Miller, Illustrated by Sue Rama
 I really enjoyed reading Subway Ride to my 2nd through 5th graders. They enjoyed it also. It gave us the opportunity to talk about subways and to show them all the places subways are and when they were constructed.
Review by Susan Seegmiller, Library Media Assistant, Roosevelt Elementary School
Rating: ★★★★½
Interest Level: Grades 1-5
Subway Ride
Charlesbridge Publishing
30 pages
ISBN: 978-1-58089-111-0
Release Date: Aug 1, 2009
|
|
