BUYING ADVISORY: NO
APPEALS TO: SOME
Witches count down from ten to one as they soar through various Halloween scenes.
The style of the witches doesn’t fit with the other illustrations and they do not work with the other characters in the illustrations to tell a good story.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
BUYING ADVISORY: EL - OPTIONAL
APPEALS TO: SOME
Meet a photon and hear a tiny bit about its variety and uses.
Do kindergarteners study photons? I’m confused by the audience here.. The rhyming text and cutesy illustrations feel like it is for lower elementary, but the text teaches them very little - then the back matter is dense and complicated. I feel that it is suffering from a case of identity confusion. I feel that Ruth Spiro (https://www.charlesbridge.com/pages/ruth-spiro) does a much better job hitting the right age group with complex science topics.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ADVISABLE
APPEALS TO: SEVERAL
The ghost is ready to strike out on his own and find a place of its own to haunt. Everywhere he tries however, has a ghost and none of them like his funny hat. A crow leads him to a place of his own, but when another ghost turns up, will our ghost treat the new ghost the same way he was treated?
Alert readers who look carefully at the illustrations will find the sweet, if tragic, secret the story harbors. I appreciate the gloomy color palette.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - OPTIONAL
APPEALS TO: SOME
Pippin, the witch’s cat, is sure there must be something better in life than being here with a witch. He takes off to travel the world to find a better place.
I do like a classic “bloom where you are planted” type book with a fun twist on theme and character. The rhyming text is fine - not my favorite.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
BUYING ADVISORY: EL - ADVISABLE
APPEALS TO: SEVERAL
Animals in the wild play games just like human children. Sometimes the games are just for fun, but other games help them evade predators or catch their food.
While billed as a picture book, the amount of information within marks it so much more. Laberis’s illustrations capture the fun and joy in playtime, too. No one would read this for leisure, but those who do will learn a lot! A teacher could read a little day to their class as they have an animal unit, too. Because of the picture book format, I wouldn’t recommend it for most middle schools, though.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K - ESSENTIAL
APPEALS TO: MANY
Ok - Hunt manages to fit in pop-up vehicles on every page AND count things all the way to ten in this little book. So many fun sights on every page and vehicles are always in demand. The construction of the book is also very clever - slightly different from other pop-up books I’ve seen.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K, EL (K-3) - ADVISABLE
APPEALS TO: SEVERAL
Ready to make a cake without making a mess? Meet the newest Cook in a Book, #6 in the series. I would say that making and decorating a cake is much more complicated than making spaghetti - so the mixing process gets a little compacted. But, the ingredients list is correct, so after you’ve baked a pretend cake, you could actually bake a real one.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K - ESSENTIAL
APPEALS TO: MANY
Welcome to the 13th book in the Peekaboo interactive board book series. This time we are headed off to the zoo!
The sliders on each page are so much fun to play with. I would look at all 13 to pick your faves, but the zoo one was much fun to play with.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K - ESSENTIAL
APPEALS TO: MANY
Meet six flying machines and learn about colors in Hunt’s simple concept book. I think the pop-ups really make this series stand out from other concept books. Plus, vehicles are so popular with children. Another fun treat for little hands.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - OPTIONAL
APPEALS TO: SOME
Two little monsters have baked a Halloween cake and want to share it with the other monsters on their block.
I enjoyed the variety of Halloween traditions represented and the variety of monsters. The back matter explains a little about the various traditions mentioned, though it may not be easy for a young reader to figure out which tradition goes with which page - this might be a case where having the factual info on the actual page would have been more helpful. The author seems to want to call dressing in costumes “guising”, which I found unnecessary.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ESSENTIAL
APPEALS TO: MANY
The Australian animals are all afraid of DROPBEAR! None of them have seen it, but they have all heard the rumors. Will one brave little bird be able to uncover the truth?
So cute! And while it has a moral, the story teaches without preaching. And the animals and the koala are the cutest.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3), EL - ESSENTIAL
APPEALS TO: MANY
The Goldilocks family of three is on a camping trip. After they cook their s'mores they decide to let them cool and go on a hike. While they are gone, a little bear comes through and basically wrecks everything.
Hilarious! I love this book so much! And you will too. I especially love how the bear family wants to make amends, but the Goldilocks are only scared, because they don’t speak bear. I think your listeners will also be aghast that the family would leave their s'mores behind. Who eats cold s'mores? As the author tells us - that’s how bears roll.
Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS
