Susan BlackabyReviews

Short, lots of great pictures, some serious sports depth. The biography made me want to know more about Biles, so I think it accomplishes its goals -- I appreciate that the book does an excellent job at putting her in context and at emphasizing that Simone excels when she's having fun.

A readable, accurate, and prettily illustrated about the literal birds and bees. It also serves as a wonderful nonfiction read aloud to older children--perhaps first and second graders.

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Science
All about animals that live in a tree, parts of a tree, how animals use tress as homes, how leaves make food, butterfly life cycle

When Brownie Groundhog leaves for her long winter’s nap, she tells her friends not to bother her until spring. What is a fox and a bunny to do in the meantime? “Wintry things,” says Brownie. Although they try to do wintry things, it’s cold outside, and Fox and Bunny soon get bored. When Fox gets the bright idea to borrow his friend’s warm scarf, a hesitant Bunny follows along. Soon Fox “borrows” lots of things. With all the racket, it’s only a matter of time before Brownie wakes up to find a BIG surprise waiting for her. Will Brownie be angry with her friends? It looks like Brownie won’t get the sleep she needs, but the ending just might surprise YOU!

The Bottom Line: Friendship is the key to this tale, because although Brownie’s friends borrow her things without permission and wake her up, Brownie keeps her cool. Segovia’s whimsical, wintry illustrations in acrylic and ink are a real treat and add humor to the story. Plus, this picture book manages to be a holiday book without specifically mentioning a particular religion or culture. An enjoyable read for celebrating Groundhog’s Day, Christmas, or the season of winter. Highly recommended for little ones in Preschool – Grade 2 or for classroom storytimes.

This review also appears at the Mini Book Bytes Book Review Blog.½

Lovely, cozy illustrations. The story was interesting - the fox enters Brownie's home without permission and uses her things without asking in order to surprise her (he decorated her tree with lights). But Brownie isn't angry, and instead graciously enjoys her surprise. The three friends (including bunny) have a winter feast to celebrate. I chose not to puzzle too much over the moral here because every other aspect of this book is so charming. After all, the description on the dust jacket mentions "good intentions" and "high-spirited mischief." The fox is a fox, after all.

Realistic fiction, narrative text,

803 words, realistic fiction,

Page 1 & 2: "Joe baits his hook" Page 3 & 4: "Dad baits his hook" Page 5 & 6: "Dad and Joe watch their bobbers"...... Ok, this is a Very simple book about a father & son who go fishing and each catch a fish for dinner. It is considered a Level 1, beginning reader and good for learning basic vocabulary. I'll be using this book for the toddlers.....

This book is about leaves; how the make food, how they behave throughout the seasons, how leaves differ plant to plant, it even includes an experiment in the end. The book begins by inviting its readers to take a walk and look around at the leaves they see. The water color illustrations are inviting and colorful. The book goes on to explain photosynthesis, a very abstract concept for pre-kindergarten students. This provides an opportunity to expose them to words they can use elsewhere: soak, store, develop.
The book discusses how plants are important to us: oxygen. As the book goes on, the information is organized by season (spring, summer, autumn, winter).
The pictures in this book were lovely for explaining plants to children. The picture of a flower shows the roots underground and the water spilling into the soil to be absorbed by the roots. I also liked the book as a source of information, but I found the monotone nature to be a problem. There is not one exclamation point or question to engage the audience. It is one short informative sentence after the next.
There were some pages in the back of the book that served to foster any further curiosity and as a glossary. There was also a venn diagram that compared evergreens and non-evergreens. This was very interesting and helped me come up with supplemental activities. After this read aloud, I planned to take my students on a leaf walk and make a venn diagram of our own, looking at leaves from our playground/campus.

THE MISSING TOOTH is a short little book that is written at the 210 Lexile level. Which is to say that it is at the upper edge of Kindergarten, almost First Grade level.

***spoiler ALERT***
The story is about Kim who is sort of having a bad day. She wakes up late, finds a hole in her sock and trips over her cat, before losing her tooth while eating an apple at breakfast. Kim's a little worried about how she looks with the toothless gap after this-- until she meets Jan on the bus. Jan is also missing a tooth and Jan looks fine, so Kim is reassured.

The book ends with Kim waking up on time the next morning with tooth-money!!!

END OF SPOILER

Losing teeth is a really popular topic with kids. When mine were little they were absolutely fascinated by the whole process, and little books like this are a fun way to share their enthusiasm and get in some reading practice.

Not Pulitzer material, but a fun little book with a sense of humor.½

The charcoal drawings are nice and simple still showing the texture of the paper the originals were drawn on. The book is loosely divided into habitat sections with the poetry about the animals found in those habitats. The absolute best part of the book is at the end where the author explains in brief the form and inspiration of each poem. It is an exceptional feature.

Has in-depth information that suits older children (I am not sure it should even be in the children's section) and a decent format. However, there are few citations and the book gives in to the stereotype of Cleopatra's death by snake which is hotly contested in the academic world. In fact, many scholars believe that to be a myth and that the truth is far less dramatic.

This was a cute book with a great story. I would use it in the classroom on Groundhog day. It teaches about having patience and about how Brownie Groundhog and February Fox have to patiently wait for spring. It also teaches a lesson about sharing and making a new friend through the sharing process.