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.