Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Mysteries of UFOs

Walter, Kathryn. Mysteries of UFOs. Crabtree: 2009. ISBN: 9780778741459.


My book is about UFOs that people started to see flying saucers in the 1940's. The Fosters Ranch was in New Mexico. Mac Brazel lived there. On June 13, 1941 he heard an explosion. The next morning there was strange wreckage on his ranch. On July 8, 1947 there was another strange incident in the desert of New Mexico. In 1995 a film examining a dead alien from Roswell. I recommend this book to people who like to learn about UFOs or the Air Force. I like this book because it is about UFOs.


A.G. 7th Grade. Eastwood Middle School.

Hummer

Bradley, Michael. Hummer. Marshall Cavendish: 2009. ISBN: 9780761429814.


This book has really cool pictures of Hummers in it. It also shows how the Hummers got started in the business. It tells facts about how much horse power they have, what engine, and how much they cost when they were first built. The Hummer has more space in the cab then a semi truck. The army would prefer these vehicles because they could drop them in the muck and the Hummer would start up and drive out. My opinion of this book is that it is really cool, because I like to lean about trucks and cars. I recommend this to any person that likes Hummers or trucks. I think that people who enjoy working on cars or reading about them would enjoy this book. People who aren't interested in cars shouldn't read this book.


A.D. 7th Grade. Eastwood Middle School.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Dinosaurs in Your Backyard

Brewster, Hugh. Dinosaurs in Your Backyard. Illustrated by Alan Barnard. Abram Books: 2009. ISBN: 9780810970991.


My book is about all the different kinds of dinosaurs and all different facts about them. Like what they are, what year they were alive, how tall and long they were. Some facts are that T-Rexs ate meat and were around forty feet tall and 15-30 feet long. I would recommend this book for readers who like dinosaurs. This book would be awesome for them. I think this book is great and is very fascinating. This would be a great resource for teachers who are teaching dinosaurs because it shows so many facts.

J.G. 7th Grade. Eastwood Middle School.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Adventure Annie Goes to Work

Buzzeo, Toni. Adventure Annie Goes to Work. Illustrated by Amy Wummer. Dial Books: 2009. ISBN: 9780803732339.

This book is about a little girl who uses her imagination to be an adventurer named Annie. When it is time for her to go on an adventure her mom has to go to her work to find her essay. In this book there is a colorful little girl that likes to use her imagination. Her mom is like any other parents and tries to keep up with Annie's imagination. With this book there were parts I liked and parts I didn't, because there are a lot of books about little kids dressing up and being imaginary adventurers. This book didn't really stand out from other books. I liked this book because I like to hear about little kids and their imaginations. I think I would have liked it better if it was funny. I liked how the drawing looked like they were taken from real offices and rooms. I would recommend this book to preschoolers through first grade for story time, because it is easy and in a little kid's mind it would be exciting.

R.P. 7th Grade. Eastwood Middle School.

Thursday, November 05, 2009

Read the Signals



Sayer, Dr. Melissa. Read the Signals. Crabtree Publishing: 2009. ISBN: 9780778743880.

This is a nonfiction book about body language and being confident about yourself. It tells you how to recognize different types of body language and how to use it correctly while being confident about it. It also gives you tips like flirting and giving presentations. I did not like this book one bit because I found myself embarrassed because of some of the words the author used. Popular people would benefit from the tips the author gives in this book.

M.W., 7th Grade, Eastwood Middle School

Teedie: The Story of Young Teddy Roosevelt

Brown, Don, Teedie: The Story of Young Teddy Roosevelt. Houghton Mifflin: 2009. ISBN: 9780618179992.

Teedie: The Story of Young Teddy Roosevelt by Don Brown is about Teddy Roosevelt's life. In the book you learn things you may not have know before. The artwork is made from watercolors on paper and also pen and ink. The pictures are very detailed and they go along with the story page by page. I liked the book because I learned things I didn't know before. I learned that Teddy Roosevelt had become a cowboy. I also learned that he had asthma. The other reason I liked the book was that the illustrator made the pictures very detailed and also made a picture for every page. I would recommend the book to boys and girls from grades second through fourth.
M.K. 7th Grade. Eastwood Middle School.

Words to My Life's Song



Bryan, Ashley. Words to My Life's Song. Illustrated by Ashley Bryan and Bill McGuinness. Antheneum Books for Young Readers: 2009. ISBN: 9781416905417.

Words to My Life's Song is a book about the life of a marvelous artist named Ashley Bryan. He tells the story from his very first home to his present life, painting on the Cranberry Islands. It also explains his Cranberry Island home on every other page. The descriptive photographs show the island and his home. The other illustrations are Ashley's fantastic paintings. His paintings are extremely colorful and full of beauty. This book is packed with details of Ashley Bryan's wonderful life. I personally wasn't a huge fan of this book. I felt that it was confusing and not always in chronological order. It had beautiful artwork, though. It made the book a lot more exciting and fun. I don't really like nonfiction books, but others would love this book. Students looking for a nonfiction book for a report should look at this book. I would recommend this book to kids 8 and older.

J.S., 7th Grade, Eastwood Middle School

Math Alive: Nature Math

Dowdy, Penny. Math Alive: Nature Math. Marshall Cavendish: 2009. ISBN: 9780761432142.

This nonfiction book was all about math. The author used animals and plants from nature to help explain mathematical terms. The author also used photographs, diagrams, picture captions, and clipart. This book was very informational. It explained what Fibonacci's sequence is and showed pictures and diagrams to help people understand it. It also explains tessellations and uses a beehive to help explain what it is. Then, it tells the reader about weather and how to make predictions. I would recommend this book to elementary school children who enjoy learning about math.

S.D., 7th Grade, Eastwood Middle School

Hoaxed! Fakes and Mistakes in the World of Science



Editors of YES Magazine. Hoaxed! Fakes and Mistakes in the World of Science. Illustrated by Howie Woo. Kids Can Press: 2009. ISBN: 9781554532063.

This nonfiction book is about scientists trying to pull 'fast ones' on the public and the media. This immensily interesting book goes from the world of Big Foot to the world of Alien crop circles, and the Loch Ness Monster. The artwork in this book is cartoons, but it also shows several actual photographs. All different types of science come together in Hoaxed! I personally did not enjoy this book. The facts themselves intrigued me, but science just isn't my cup of tea. Some topics, for instance, Big Foot, kept me on the edge of my seat, while other topics, like Piltdown Man, I did not take a particular liking to. I would recommend this book for people who enjoy reading about science. It is a book all about facts, so I would recommend it for children above the age of 10, just for the type of content in it.

K.J., 7th Grade, Eastwood Middle School

Using Energy



Hewitt, Sally. Using Energy. Crabtree Publishing: 2009. ISBN: 9780778740694.

Using Energy is a nonfiction book that teaches the reader about different types of energy, how it is used, and why it should be conserved. It gives suggestions on how kids can save energy and take care of the planet. The illustrations in this book are mostly photographs that help readeres to better understand the text. For example, an energy efficient school is mentioned with a picture of the school. In the back of the book, there is a glossary, list of websites that help the reader learn more about topics in the book, and an index. This was a very interesting book. It taught me a lot about energy. I found pages 16 and 17 particularly intriguing. I didn't know that phone chargers used energy when they were plugged in and not charging. The "Action!" and "Challenge!" sections on almost every page had good ideas on what kids can do.

J.C., 7th Grade, Eastwood Middle School

The Nine Lives of Rotten Ralph

Gantos, Jack. The Nine Lives of Rotten Ralph. Illustrated by Nicole Rubel. Houghton Mifflin: 2009. ISBN: 9780618800469.

Rotten Ralph was quite the humorous book. It starts on a morning like any other when Ralph, Sarah's pet cat, wakes up and feels very tired and sick! He yells to Sarah, who comes running to his bedside. She decides to take him to the vet. The vet explains that Ralph has only ONE of his nine LIVES LEFT! Will Ralph be responsible and stay in bed? Or will he be as rotten as ever and sneak out to have fun? This book was very good because the pictures and words worked really well together describing what happens. I would recommend it to children from kindergarten to 2nd grade. I felt that the artwork was quite humorous and I enjoyed it the most.

H.F., 7th Grade, Eastwood Middle School

Lamborghini/Lamborghini



Hall, Randal C. Lamborghini/Lamborghini. Capstone Press: 2009. ISBN: 9781429623810.

This is a very short, nonfiction picture book. It is mostly about Ferruccio Lamborghini. It explains how and why Lamborghini switched from tractors to cars. It also introduces new cars that Lamborghini is introducing and the old ones that they already have. I found this book very interesting because I had no clue Lamborghini started as a tractor company. I also found it a little bland. Though the pictures were stunning, it seemed like they had nothing to do with the rest of the book. I would recommed this to any car lover under 12 because it is simply too easy for older readers.

D.H., 7th Grade, Eastwood Middle School

How are they Made? T-shirts

Blaxland, Wendy. How are they Made? T-Shirts. Marshall Cavendish: 2009. ISBN: 9780761438120.

This is an incredibly informational book that describes the entire process of making a t-shirt. It tells other materials that t-shirts can be made from. This book has pictures on every page to furthur the expression of the text. It tells how t-shirts are packaged and distributed to help the manufacturer save money. I thought this book was kind of boring because it was just firing fact after fact after fact at you. A book like this is not the type of book that I enjoy reading.
I would recommend this book to an older audience that wants to know where and how t-shirts are made.

D.K., 7th Grade, Eastwood Middle School

Boy Dumplings

Compestine, Ying Chang. Boy Dumplings. Illustrated by James Yamaski. Holiday House: 2009. ISBN: 9780823419555.

Boy Dumplings by Ying Chang Compestine is a very weird and interesting book. The artwork is amazing, There is so much detail in the pictures. Water colors must have been very hard for these pictures with so many details. The ghost was a very scary character. When he almost chopped up the boy after he was soaked in vegetables he took a nap. There were many exciting and scary parts in this book. I didn't like this book at all. There was a lot of detail, but I thought it wasn't very fun or funny. There was one page that jumped out to me, which was the last page. I would recommend this book to children in grades first through third, because it was an easy read for me.

L.R. 7th Grade.Eastwood Middle School.

The Salem Witch Trials

Fradin, Judith Bloom and Dennis Brindell. The Salem Witch Trials. Marshall Cavendish: 2009. ISBN: 9780761430131.

The images in this nonfiction book did not follow the reading, although, they made me understand more what the reading was about. I found this book very interesting and now want to read more about the Salem Witch Trials. It was informational and followed chronological order. The glossary and timeline helped me understand more about the book. It includes 6 chapters and I found them all to be very intriguing. I would recommend this book to the ages 10 and up; especially around 12 and 13 when they are interested in these scary experiences with board games and TV shows.

J.J., 7th Grade, Eastwood Middle School

Alligators

Otfinoski, Steven. Alligators. Marshall Cavendish: 2009. ISBN: 9780761429302.

Alligators is a very interesting book. Every page is packed full of information for almost anything you might want to know about alligators. The pictures in this book are simply wonderful; they made me want to keep reading the book even more. The pictures were very well selected and they go perfectly with the text. I really enjoyed this book mainly because of the pictures. Otfinoski did a wonderful job taking information that people may not find interesting and making it fun with great pictures. I recommend this book to anyone that needs to find information on alligators. Otfinoski leaves out the bias, too. I definitely think that anyone who needs, or wants to know anything about alligators should read this book.

K.M., 7th Grade, Eastwood Middle School

Crocodile Safari

Arnosky, Jim. Crocodile Safari. Scholoastic Press: 2009. ISBN: 9780439903561.

This nonfiction book is about the author and his wife going to Southern Florida to count crocodiles. He describes many different scenes and things that he saw on his safari. Some of the spottings the author describes are very odd, or even famous. The pictures are realistic and they make you feel like it is all actually happening. I thought the book was very intriguing because every page had something different and bizarre on it. I also thought the pictures were great because they always told what was happening on that page. I do not think the book was targeted to a particular age group. I do think that anyone who wants to learn about alligators or who likes a fun, realistic adventure would like this book.

E.W., 7th Grade, Eastwood Middle School

Deer

Mara, Wil. Deer. Marshall Cavendish: 2009. ISBN: 9780761429265.

This phenomonal, nonficiton book, Deer, is all about deer! It is an informational book that explains the types, heights and weights, species of different deer. It even talks about endangered species of deer, and much, much more fun filled and intriguing facts about deer. The photographs of all of the deer are colorful. I liked this book very much because I did not know how many different species of deer there are, but now I do. I also learned that deer could over populate people, so it helped me understand why hunters may be needed. I would recommend this amazing book to anyone who loves nature and it's beauty. Mostly, I think this would be helpful for hunters. This is one of my most favorite books because it helped me learn more about how deer live and why we need them.

7th Grade, Eastwood Middle School

The Man Who Lived in a Hollow Tree

Shelby, Anne. The Man Who Lived in a Hollow Tree. Illustrated by Cor Hazelaar. Simon and Schuster: 2009. ISBN: 9780689861697.

The title of this book is The Man Who Lived in a Hollow Tree. The man's name was Harlan Burch. He lived in this tree until he was very old. Burch was a carpenter. One day he became young again. I liked this book because I think it would be cool to live in a tree. I also like the book because he gets old and then becomes young again and that was very suprising. I would recommend this book for children between four and ten years-old. I would also recommend this for children who want to become carpenters.
T.E. 7th Grade. Eastwood Middle School.

How Do Spiders Make Webs?

Stewart, Melissa. How Do Spiders Make Webs? Marshall Cavendish: 2009. ISBN: 9780761429203.

How Do Spiders Make Webs is very interesting because it gives a lot of information about spiders. This book has many topics about spiders, like what a spider is, why spiders make webs, how they make webs, and the different kinds of spiderwebs. This book has a lot of pictures with captions that correspond with what was written. This book has a table of contents, an activity, a glossary, a find out more section, and an index; it will help you understand some of the words that you might not know. I think the activity in the back of the book is a great idea because it will get people involved in nature and spiders and their webs

I would recommend this book to the people who are interested in spiders.



R.L., 7th Grade, Eastwood Middle School

Acids and Bases

Brent, Lynnette. Acids and Bases. Crabtree: 2009. ISBN: 9780778742395.


Acids and Bases by Lynnette Brent is a non-fiction book. The fabulous features in this book include the table of contents, informational text, pictures that go with every page, captions that tell what is happening in them, tables/charts, a glossary, index, and different websites that interact with the reading. This book is very informational and has a wide range of good vocabulary. It also has some acid and base experiments that you can do at home. It has great pictures that go with the text and they help you understand what the author is trying to teach you. It tells how different acids and bases react with each other and what is the safest way to perform experiments. It has safety hazards and tell you what to do if a strong acid or base gets on your skin. I liked the book very much, although it did get a bit boring on some pages that talked about things I already knew. For instance on pages 22 and 23 they talked about the environment and acids and what they can do to affect the environment. I learned a lot of new definitions and what acids and bases are. I learned about how different acids and bases are used. I like the pictures because they helped me understand the informational text better. Also the pictures have explanations to them that I liked. I would recommend this book to children ages ten to thirteen. I think children who like to learn about science would like it and who would want more information on acids and bases.

K.L. 7th Grade. Eastwood Middle School.

A Curious Collection of Cats



Franco, Betsy. A Curious Collection of Cats. Illustrated by Michael Wertz. Tricycle Press: 2009. ISBN: 9781582462486.

This is a wonderful collection of fictional poems that I just had to read again and again! The illustrations are very intriguing and the bright colors certainly capture how fun and playful the poems are! This book perfectly describes the adorable (and not so adorable) habits of cats. It is just the cutest book. Both the words and the illustrations were intriguing, and the cats are so adorable. My two favorite poems were "Veronica Goes Wide" and "Princess" because they remind me of my fat, prissy cat.
I recommend this book for young readers, ages 6 to 12 but this book is also good for cat lovers of all ages!

K.H., 7th Grade, Eastwood Middle School

Butterflies and Moths



Bishop, Nic. Butterflies and Moths. Scholastic: 2009. ISBN: 9780439877572.

Butterflies and Moths is a fascinating book! It gives great detail about how butterflies are born, how they eat, and about caterpillars' lives as well. The book is intriguing as it pulls you into the everyday lives of caterpillars, butterflies and moths. The photos in this book are magnified so that you can see exactly what a caterpillar and butterfly look like when they are doing something. Page 18 captivated me because it gave so much detail on what happens to different caterpillars when they are attacked. Another reason I liked this book was because on every page there is bold-faced words that give very interesting facts.
A child between the ages of 7 and 9 would most enjoy this book. I think that children who like science would like to be very informed about butterflies and moths.

E.K., 7th Grade, Eastwood Middle School

Too Fat? Too Thin? Do You Have a Choice?

Arnold, Caroline. Too Fat? Too Thin? Do You Have a Choice?. 2009. Morrow. ISBN: 0688027806.


Too Fat? Too Thin? Do You Have a Choice? is about people being miserable about their weight. The book mentions ways to lose weight. It gives examples about people who wasted thousands of dollars on surgeries and things that aren't needed for losing weight. The photographs show people who are fat and skinny. I think this book is not for kids, but for older people. It is not for kids who are going to spend their lives worrying about their weight. I recommend this book to older people who need help losing weight.


M.M., 7th grader, Eastwood Middle School