Children's book reviews, all age comic books, Kidlit, mglit, movies, entertainment and parenting
Category: Books
These are books that kids will want to read-or should read, but will enjoy doing so. Board book, picture books, kid lit, elementary school books, middle school books, high school books, all age comic books and more will be talked about here.
We have a dinosaur tree in our front yard. It’s my favorite tree, having said that, I don’t know any people who have a preference for their tree. When Plants Took Over The Planet is an illustrated book that will really grow on STEM kids, plant geeks, science students, dinosaur people, or just those who want to be entertained while learning about plant evolution.
Yeah, but the book was better. People might be used to hearing that when engaging in discussion about popular movies. It’s a similar conversation and vibe to those who softly gloat about first hearing a band. Spy School The Graphic Novel will elicit the same Pavlovian response to some upper elementary through middle school readers. The Spy School mglit book series has been a go-to franchise since 2012. It breathlessly threads the needle between action, believability, and life in a manner that results in these books constantly being checked out from libraries. We are massive fans of graphic novels and realize that they fill a need in getting young audiences to read. The nagging thought in our mind was questioning if a graphic novel was able to capture the fun and joy that the Spy School books brought out in readers.
At work, for the past three weeks, I’ve been helping fourth and fifth-grade students craft and edit informational powerpoints. They’ve run the gamut of the usual suspects that any 10 or nine-year-old would find interesting. However, there were a couple of the students that really took the assignment one step further. These were the students that researched little-known topics that they were passionate about, as well as, those kids who were doing subjects that they simply wanted to know more about. Specifically, there was a student who writing about the history of Nintendo and one who was doing Egyptology. The World Book is a reference book that balances illustrations with elementary-aged content in a way that can provide a slightly deeper dive into countries, in addition to introducing students to new areas of Earth.
Joseph Bazalgette we salute you. Actually, everyone in London salutes you in their own special way. Bazalgette had an idea in the late 1840s; and while his idea wasn’t a new one in the greater global perspective, it was one that would forever change the capital of England. His job was to map London’s sewers, but this wasn’t the job that the short employee pulled. As an engineer, this was a challenge that he lived for and was one that had life and death results. The Great Stink is the illustrated book of this story that those young readers won’t be able to resist.
Even when you’re finished attending school, you’re never done learning. A Man Called Horse is non-fiction proof to that for us, as well as, most people who will read the book. Despite having lived in Florida for half a decade I never knew anything about the Seminole. It’s very likely that resident Floridians know the basics about the Seminole Indians. However, I had no idea of the complex history that the region had in the early 1800s. What’s impressive about A Man Called Horse is how simple and concise author Glennette Tilley Turner makes the material.
If there’s one thing that Jurassic Park taught us it’s that chicken-sized dinosaurs, even if they had feathers, were vicious creatures that did not play around and could kill you in a number of different ways. Prehistoric Pets takes that idea, puts it into a pop-up book, and creates a colorful, read-to-me book that will entice readers aged five and up.
It’s great to be teaching in elementary schools. I get to see what they’re learning and hopefully add to that in a manner that makes some kids get it, or further their knowledge. I also get to see what they’re reading and in every ELA classroom, there’s at least one Bad Kitty book. Author and illustrator Nick Bruel’s latest installment is Bad Kitty Gets a Phone and he was kind enough to answer 14 questions from some of my ELA students.
Rodrigo – Why is Bad Kitty the only bad cat in the book?
Moles Present The Natural Tolls of Digging Holes ironically reminds us of Dirt. That book was a vertical, poetic, look at something that we see every day. The art was varied and the whispy text showed how the tiny things that live in dirt can be a world unto itself. The Natural Tolls of Digging Holes takes that same spirit, has a more animated form of illustration, adds simpler text that rhymes and opens up its world to anyplace that you might see that’s been dug. This is an illustrated book that feeds curious young minds, softly teaches them and gets them to think while they’re smiling.