Good Manners with Your Teachers

Felix, Rebecca. Good Manners with Your Teachers. Magic Wagon, 2014.

The story is about being respectful towards teachers and why it's important. The book explains what good manners look like and what bad manners look like.

The writing style is very forward and to the point. There is little room for confusion.

The illustrations are a quirky and cute. There is little variation and it is simple.

The book is okay. Yes, I recommend it for kids of all ages because it is important for everyone to know the proper behavior at school.

Reviewer: SK; BGSU Student

Byrd & Igloo: A Polar Adventure

Seiple, Samantha. Byrd & Igloo: A Polar Adventure. Scholastic, 2013. 

This story is about a man and his dog racing to beat someone else to be the first to fly over the North Pole. The book is full of their adventures during their journey.

The writing style is very descriptive including a variety of vocabulary. The writing is engaging but not too confusing. 

Most of the photos are historic photographs and maps. The pictures include scenes from the North Pole, birds, boats, dogs, etc.

I liked this book because it's an interesting true story, which can be integrated with many other subjects. Yes, i recommend it for students looking to learn or to read for a class. Age ranges to which this book would appeal: 4th grade to 6th grade.

S.K., BGSU Student

Battle Magic

Pierce, Tamora. Battle Magic. New York, NY : Scholastic Press, 2013.

This story is the continuation o he adventures of the characters in the Circle of Magic universe. This book follows characters Briar, Rosethorn, and Evvy as they journey through Evvy's homeland and encounter a cruel Emperor set on conquering the region.

The style of the book is one which is easy to sink into. When the point of view switches characters, the personality and thought processes of the character are conveyed through the writing. The story is able to shift through different times smoothly. Also, I loved the descriptions of magic in this series.

I wasn't thrilled by cover art of the copy I read.

I thought this book was an excellent continuation of a series I grew reading. It is a series I would recommend for any young fantasy readers. However, it should be noted that the later books contained more adult elements. This book includes war, torture, and a mentioning of romantic actions.

Age ranges to which this book would appeal: 14 to 17. 

Reviewer: MKB

A Very Witchy Spelling Bee

A Very Witchy Spelling Bee
By George Shannon, illustrated by Mark Fearing
New York : Harcourt Children's Books, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013, Ages 4-9

A witch, Cordelia, loves spelling and making spells so she enters a double spelling bee. 

The writing style is easy to read and playful.

The illustrations really make the book for me and really help make the read fun.

I loved this book and I recommend it to everyone! It's a great spelling book.

--Reviewed by Melissa Gear

You Make Me Smile

You Make Me Smile
Written and illustrated by Layn Marlow
New York:  Holiday House, 2013, ages 6-8

A very "warm" story about a young child getting ready to be reacquainted with a well-loved wintery friend. The writing style of this book is simple and easy to follow. The author uses good imagery to allow readers to immerse themselves into the familiarity of a fun snowy day.

The illustrations are cute, in addition to the little boy, they also portray a father figure who has a side story of his own that isn't included in the text. In fact he doesn't enter the story until the very end.

I think this would be a great classroom read aloud for a themed unit or for the winter season.

--Review by Jessica Lang

The Very Beary Tooth Fairy

The Very Beary Tooth Fairy
By Arthur A. Levine, Illustrated by Sarah S. Brannen
Scholastic, 2013, ages 6-9

This story was about a young bear, Zach, with a loose tooth. He is on a mission to find out if the tooth fairy will be a human, of whom his parents have warned him, or a bear. The bear's dialogue is cute. The mother growls at her cubs in an exasperated tone as they act like normal children do. I like that the author has personified the bears like people.

The illustrations do a very good job of telling the story. They are very detailed and show he characters' actions well. The technique is mostly pencil and watercolor.

I would recommend this book for a younger reader or an at-home read-aloud with parents. Maybe even a teacher who is talking about dental hygiene with younger students might find this book useful.

--Review by Jessica Lang

Rottweilers

Rottweilers
by Tamara L. Britton
Minneapolis, MN:  ABDO, 2013

This book teaches the reader everything there is to know about the dog breed Rottweiler. The author's writing style is very direct and factual. The more technical words are bolded to make sure the reader is expanding their vocabulary.

The photographs are of Rottweilers doing daily activities, and correspond to what the written information is about.

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning more about the Rottweiler breed.

--Review by L. M.

The Tooth Fairy

The Tooth Fairy

by Anastasia Suen, Illustrated by Ed Myer
Vero Beach, FL:  Rourke Educational Media, 2013, ages 4 - 7

This story is about the process of losing a tooth and how the tooth fairy gets a hold of it. The author uses a lot of repetition to get the reader familiar with the words. The illustrations are simple, yet fun. There's not too much going on, but there's enough detail to help the story grow.

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it for younger children who are learning to read and missing teeth. There are sight words in the front, and comprehensive activities in the back.

--Review by L. M.

Goods Manners with Your Teachers

Good Manners with Your Teachers
by Rebecca Felix, illustrated by Gary LaCoste
Minneapolis, MN : Magic Wagon, 2014, ages 5-8

This story is about classroom manners and how to act in and outside the classroom.

The author writes in quick, easy to read sentences. They are easy to understand and listen to.

The illustrations are bright and nice to look at. The illustrations add to the story a lot.

This book would be great for the first day of school and I would recommend it to students that have a hard time with manners.

--review by Melissa Gear

Willow Finds a Way

Willow Finds a Way
By Lana Button, illustrated by Tania Howells
Tonawanda, NY : Kids Can Press, 2013, Ages 6-10

Willow is a young girl in a classroom full of students. One student, Kristabelle, is very bossy. Willow sometimes wants to tell her "no," however, she feels pressured to say yes. Willow sure enough finds a way to say, "no," and Kristabelle learns others will be her friend without demanding it of them.

In the text the author uses descriptive words for the reader to understand who in the illustration is who. An example of this is when the author writes, "Kristabelle skipped into the classroom holding a pink sparkly paper." When a child looks at the illustration they will look for a girl holding the paper.

The illustrations appear to look like freehand drawings. Many colors are used. Different colors for each character.

This would be a great book for discussing peer pressure with younger students. Parents and teachers can read this book with their child to explain these feelings are normal but stay true to yourself is the message in the end.

--review by Allison Wentling

A Very Witchy Spelling Bee

A Very Witchy Spelling Bee
By George Shannon, illustrated by Mark Fearing
New York : Harcourt Children's Books, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013, Ages 5-8

A Very Witchy Spelling Bee is about a little witch, Cordelia, who loves to spell. However, when participating in the spelling bee, she will be competing against a long-time champion. In the end, she beats the other witch and becomes friends with her.

The author uses bold purple letters to show when a character is spelling a word. I also like how when reading the section of the spelling bee words, the words rhyme.

The illustrations promote creativity & imagination. For example, the first page shows what a witch might appear to look like. The illustrations also go well with the text. An example is when the rules to the spelling bee are in anillustration for the reader to read.

This book is recommended for kids because after reading this book I would use it in my own classroom. This book is definitely meant for younger children (ages 6-8).

--reviewed by Allison Wentling

Facebook: The Company and its Founders

Facebook:  The Company and its Founders
by Ashely Rae Harris
Minneapolis, MN : ABDO Pub. Co., 2013, ages 12-18

This book is about how Mark Zuckerberg began the social media site of Facebook and helped it become one of the most known websites in the world.

Harris' writing style includes using strong transitions from paragraph to paragraph. She also uses very descriptive words that make this a good read.

The pictures in the book show what the Facebook website looks like and shows how young Mark Zuckerburg really is.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about social media sites and how they operate, especially Facebook.

--review by B. W.

The Cruisers: Oh, Snap!

The Cruisers:  Oh, Snap!
By Walter Dean Myers
New York : Scholastic Press, 2013, ages 12-18

This story is about how some students at a middle school start a school newspaper called "The Cruiser." A photo in their newspaper stirs up some trouble and may force one of the students to rat the other out.

I enjoyed the author's writing style because it was very thought provoking and made me wonder what I would do if I was in the same situation as the students who created the newspaper were.

The illustration on the cover of the book gives the reader a good idea that this book is going to involve the people of  the newspaper somehow with all of the newspapers in the background.

This book is recommended to anyone who wants to read a story that isn't like a regular one. This story always had me wanting to know what will happen next from chapter to chapter. Overall:  great book!

--review by B. W.

Here Comes Trouble!

Here Comes Trouble!
By Corinne Demas, illustrated by Noah Z. Jones
New York : Scholastic Press, 2013, ages 6-8

This book is about a dog named Toby that doesn't like any type of cat. Toby's neighbors went out of town and their pet cat had to stay with Toby's family. Toby always got in trouble when Pandora (the cat) did something. At the end, Toby actually helped Pandora when she was stuck in a tree.

The writing style was predictable and composed in short sentences that had fairly easy vocabulary. The style was repetitive and easy to understand.

The illustrations went very well with the storyline. They conveyed the character's emotions extremely well. It was interesting how their were different sizes and shapes throughout the book.

Personally, I don't care for the book. I thought it was easy to relate to, but it was boring and the ending was aniclimactic. I would not recommend this book to other children.

--review by a BGSU student

Pete Won't Eat

Pete Won't Eat
By Emily Arnold McCully
New York : Holiday House, 2013, Ages K - 2

Pete won't eat the treat his mom made. He isn't allowed to go out and play until he eats his treat:  green slop.

The author keeps the writing short and simple but still enough to explain the situation and the consequence of Pete not eating the green slop. Children could read this book because the text is big, simple and short.

The pictures match the text. For pages that have a a few differences in dialogue or thoughts, there are illustrations for each different dialogue/thought to match that thought.

I recommend this book:  it is simple. It would be for starting readers. I think any book a beginning reader can read is great because it will give them confidence to keep reading and that they can read. This is exactly what this book does.

--review by BGSU student

The Granddaughter Necklace

The Granddaughter Necklace

By Sharon Dennis Wyeth. illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline

New York : Scholastic Press, 2013, Ages 6-8

The story is about a necklace being passed down from generation to generation. This story is used in a way where the person can explain how long the necklace has been around. Aside from that the person who gets the necklace has to take care of it in order to give it to the next person.

The author brings past, present, and future history to this book. The author goes back seven generations with the necklace as a treasure and reminder of family. The importance of something so small grew so big from generation to generation.

The watercolor illustrations were warm and realistic. Some of the illustrations refleccted the necklace being given to the next generation at a significant time in their life.

I would recommend this book for other kids. This book could easily be utilized for both boys and girls due to the message of responsibility. Mainly, to ask a family member if they may inherit some kind of family heirloom or start a tradition of their own one day. This book can be the start of something beautiful in any family.

--review by A. W.

Exclamation Mark

Exclamation Mark

By Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld.

New York : Scholastic Press, 2013, Ages 6-8

It is about an exclamation mark (punctuation) not fitting in with other marks. The exclamation mark realizes the difference in standing out and would like to be among what is considered normal.

The author is showing the difference in punctuation and how to use it in sentences. The author is vivid when the word STOP! is used by an exclamation mark from a question mark on the previous page asking too many questions.

The illustrations were boring and could have used color for the punctuation marks to show how each vary. The lined paper was nice to show the style for punctuation marks to be used.

I would recommend this book to other kids for an introduction or preview to a lesson. This book would work for kids that are beginning to write sentences and need help for how to end it. Although, there should be a title on the cover of the book as a reinforcer.

--review by A. W.

Picture Book of Daniel Boone

Adler, David A. & Adler, Michael S.  Picture Book of Daniel Boone.  New York : Holiday House, 2013.

This book is about the life of Daniel Boone and how he progressed through his life from a young boy to a historical hero.  Daniel Boone would pioneer many to establish a wilderness trail and Daniel would eventually become political for his causes.  The book is short and gives little detail but does highlight the most important details in Daniel Boone's and his family's life.  Among them, historical events and conflicts of research.

The illustrations are amazing with great detail and life-like images.  The wild turkey looks almost like it is really standing there in front of the reader.  The images seem to have a realistic quality and not cartoon effects.  I would recommend this book.  I believe there is good historical information touched on.  The iamges really get the viewer the realistic point of view.  Kids aged 7 to 10 would be able to grasp this text.

SRB, BGSU student

The Beatles Were Fab (and they were funny)

Krull, Kathleen, Paul Brewer, and Stacy Innerst. The Beatles Were Fab (and They Were Funny). , 2013. 

Publisher: Boston : Harcourt Children's Books

This story is a timeline of different events during "Beatlemania". I love the Beatles and their music, but this book really taught me some of the things John, Paul, George and Ringo went through during this time.  This book talks about the good times and the bad times they went through.

The author's writing style is exceptional.  It's very informative but fun and enjoyable to read.  I loved the facts about their band name, song styles, and how the Beatles interacted with each other.  It was so interesting to read about the relationship between the four men and how they handled the fame.

I absolutely loved the illustrations.  Some of the pictures are pretty trippy which fits perfectly for this time era. The pictures are a great demonstration of the main points the book focuses on.  I really enjoyed looking at the pictures and the detail that is provided.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone young or old.  I can see myself reading this book to my future children so that they know about this great era of music.  I can also see myself reading this book to a classroom of high school seniors.  It's a great book with very cool information.

Reviewer: AZ

Willow Finds A Way

Button, Lana, and Tania Howells. Willow Finds a Way. Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press, 2013.

Willow's classmate, Krisabella, is throwing a fantastic birthday party that everyone wants to come to.  She makes the class eat lunch with her, wear pink, and play the games she chooses at recess or they can't go to her party.

The writing style is simple for younger students.  The book is easy to read.  It showed emotions and peer pressure for young children, but the overall situation would be better for teens.

The illustrations are very simple, all on white pages. The characters are drawn small but they match the text very well.

I think the birthday party scenario fits teens, not elementary students.  It reminds me of the competition for the best sweet 16 birthday party.  Also the actions Kristabella controls are one right after another - it doesn't build well. Willow leads the class to crossing their own names off the list which show s leadership and that a peer can't control you.  But, Kristabella's apology is subtle.  Overall the lesson could have been more powerful.

This book would appeal to ages 4-8

Reviewer: CH