BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ADVISABLE
APPEALS TO: SEVERAL
Grayson T. Squirrel has lost his nut. He is running all over the forest accusing every animal - frog, cardinal, deer, and BEAR - of stealing his nut. The friendly Forest Tour Guide is trying to help Grayson solve the mystery.
Squirrel’s escapades are a swift, fun read with hilarious antics of all sorts. I’d rate the illusatraions a 7/10.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
BUYING ADVISORY: EL - ADVISABLE
APPEALS TO: SOME
In 1966 The Jewish Theological Society's library building caught fire. While firefighters were able to finally extinguish the flames, 70,000 of the 200,000 books in the collection were destroyed by fire. The rest were waterlogged. If a solution wasn’t found, these histories and torahs from all over the world would be lost.
This forgotten story shows the power of community and is a great story of resilience. While students probably won’t read it on their own, it would fit into the curriculum in many different ways.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - OPTIONAL
APPEALS TO: SEVERAL
Squirrel keeps accusing the other animals, but he refuses to listen when they each try to point out something very important to him.
Squirrel is about as inattentive as they come - an adult will feel like Squirrel represents every child they’ve ever encountered! It is quite wordy, so it would be a long read aloud.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3), EL (4-6) - ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Explore how our favorite foods travelled the world for thousands of years, before becoming our local delicacies.
The illustrations are bright, colorful, and engaging. The text is basic, but interesting. Everyone has a favorite food, and even if it’s not one of the ones featured in the book, readers will still have a fun time exploring how food developed and changed over time.
Kiera, ELA teacher, #bookswithbeddes
BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K, EL (K-3) - OPTIONAL
APPEALS TO: SOME
The chickens' eggs are lost. Can you help them each find their eggs?
Paul’s seek-and-find book starts out pretty fun, but once the chicks hatch, my eyes were feeling dazzled by all of the colors and patterns on the page. You could also use this is a counting book - it goes from 8 hens on down.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3), EL (4-6), MS, HS - ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: LOW
A cento poem is a patchwork of lines and phrases from other poems stitched together to create something new. A Forest Song reimagines dozens of poems together in a beautiful tribute to the wonder and glory of the wilderness.
Even though the official audience is listed as ages 4-8, I could see this being used as an example text all the way up through high school, demonstrating how to tie different pieces of poems together into something new. The artwork is colorful and beautiful, pairing so nicely with the powerful words. So, even though I could see how it can be used at every grade level, I don’t think kids will pick it up themselves (or necessarily recognize the original poetic references). This will have to be a book taught by teachers to make it fully accessible. The artwork is great though, and will catch the eye, even if they don’t understand the full weight of the text.
Kiera, ELA teacher, #bookswithbeddes
BUYING ADVISORY: EL - ADVISABLE
APPEALS TO: SOME
Standing in front of the kids at school, the words never come to James. It isn’t until high school and with poetry that James is finally able to work through his stutter and start expressing himself to the world.
Lavelle takes time at the end to talk through what parts are exactly as presented and the few things she had to take some license with. Kids might not know him as the voice of Darth Vader, but his story will resonate with kids who have their own problems. I plan on sharing it with our speech therapist.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3), EL (4-6), MS - ESSENTIAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
A trio of word-loving wombats take the Evergreen Forest by storm and transform the forest creatures’ vocabularies with one delicious word after another. Join Little Duckling as they all go wild for words!
I loved this book! As an ELA teacher and an avid picture book reader, this book is essential for any picture book library. I could see this being used at any level of ELA class when you talk about the power – and pleasure! – of words. I thought the art was adorable, the story was cute, and the words used were amazing. The front cover also turns into a classroom poster, which is adorable, and goes to show that anyone can become a word wombat.
Kiera, ELA teacher, #bookswithbeddes
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - OPTIONAL
APPEALS TO: LOW
Dot is not doing well at her new school. When someone says that tortoises are boring, Dot says she has a torto-saurus. Now she has to dress her trusty sidekick Monty and maintain the lie. But Monty is not happy about his costuming - and Dot isn’t happy with all of the attention on Monty.
I wanted this to work , but it just doesn’t. I couldn’t suspend my belief about everyone ignoring the cardboard and tape dressing up Monty.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (4-6), MS - ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: LOW
Learn all about the science of light with this interesting collection of facts about all the colors of our world (and beyond)! The collection dives into an assortment of facts for each of the colors in the rainbow showcasing the science about how and why people, plants, and animals look the way they do.
I’m obsessed with all things color, which is what drew me to the book to begin with. It was interesting to see the science behind each of the colors, but it is quite a dense text with a lot of specialized vocabulary that some readers might struggle with. The average reader will be about to flip through the book and find some interesting tidbits, but I don’t think you will get kids to read it cover-to-cover on their own. It might be of use in some secondary science classes as a supplemental book.
Kiera, ELA teacher, #bookswithbeddes
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (4-6) - ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: LOW
Explore all the amazing things that the Pacific Northwest has to offer with this fairly comprehensive picture book exploring the people, places, and particulars of this diverse region.
The PNW is one of my favorite places on the planet, so it was fun to dive deeper into learning all the facts about the area. This picture book is quite extensive, covering major cities in the region, as well as facts about the unique plants, animals, history, food, sports, and other topics. The picture book did a great job showcasing the diversity, particularly in noting the accomplishments of people other than white settlers. It would be a good addition to your nonfiction collection, but I don’t necessarily see it flying off the shelves in your library.
Kiera, ELA teacher, #bookswithbeddes
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ADVISABLE
APPEALS TO: SEVERAL
Jeff was a happy frog . He loved hopping on lily pads, swimming, and eating bugs with his three friends, Dominic, Fred, and Alice. One morning Dominic didn't show up. Fred said that Dominic's family had moved to a new pond. Jeff was so sad. He could no longer hop. Day after day he just sat on Dominic's lily pad sinking lower and lower into the water. His friends were so worried. What could they do to help Jeff jump again? Jeff the Frog. The Lost Hop is a heartwarming story about conquering depression with the support of caring friends. I enjoyed the charming pastel illustrations.
PGPowers
