Category: Cream of the Crop Nominees

What’s Inside a Flower: and other questions about science and nature

What’s Inside a Flower: and other questions about science and natureWhat's Inside a Flower?: And Other Questions about Science & Nature by Rachel Ignotofsky
Published by Crown Books for Young Readers on February 2, 2021
ISBN: 9780593176474
Pages: 48
Genres: Non-Fiction
Format: Picture Book Nonfiction
Goodreads
five-stars

Book 1 in series “What’s Inside.” The distinctive art style and engaging text clearly answers any questions you have about flowers. It’s both a picture book to read to kids and a book for them to sit and search through. Although it is very informative, the stunning artwork is what truly makes this an exceptional book.

Reviewed by Barb Rehmeyer, Liberty Library

five-stars

The Way of the Hive

The Way of the HiveThe Way of the Hive: A Honey Bee's Story by Jay Hosler
Published by HarperAlley on April 20, 2021
ISBN: 0063007363
Pages: 160
Genres: Animals
Format: Graphic Novel
Goodreads
five-stars

I tore through this graphic novel about Nyuki, a Honey bee, and her hard earned acceptance of her place in her hive. Nyuki is convinced that she’s destined to do whatever she wants and can pick and choose jobs despite what her beloved older sister, Dvorah, says. After she adventures out and experiences a terrifying encounter with both a spider and a praying mantis, she withdraws into the hive and has trouble facing the fact that soon she’ll have to leave and collect nectar. I loved Nyuki, even when she was being difficult, and her quest to grow into her altruistic self. The book goes into intricate and fascinating detail about the life cycle of bees (they have spinnerets and spin their own larval cocoons?!) and it all works and flows within the context of the story. The characters are well developed and I admire how much emotion they were able to capture in the illustrations of the bees’ faces and body language. That couldn’t have been easy. The book also includes an introduction based on bee mythology and has an extended section in the back for further reading. Excellent for budding entomologists in middle school or even high school .

Reviewed by Sarah Maciejewski, Patten Free Library, Bath

five-stars

WOW in the World: The How and Wow of the Human Body

WOW in the World: The How and Wow of the Human BodyWow in the World: The How and Wow of the Human Body: From Your Tongue to Your Toes and All the Guts in Between by Guy Raz, Jack Teagle, Mindy Thomas
Published by Clarion Books on March 2, 2021
ISBN: 0358306639
Pages: 192
Genres: Non-Fiction
Format: Nonfiction
Goodreads
five-stars

WOW in the World:  The HOW and WOW of the Human Body

 

Mindy Thomas and Guy Raz have written a book, based on their children’s podcast, covering all parts of the human body aimed at elementary students.  It is filled with facts, humor, and the answers to the type of questions students wonder about: “Mindy Interviews Her Lungs”. “What is the Color of My Pee Telling me?”, and “The Scoop on Poop”, for example.  Poop gets an eight-page spread with the different types illustrated.  Farts get four pages.  The drawings are excellent and confer so much information.

One thing I did notice was that menstruation wasn’t mentioned.  The butt gets four pages and even describes animals that don’t have butts.  There is a Glossary, a bibliography, and QR codes to take readers to the podcast sections.  The Source Notes are extensive and impressive and there is an index.  This book should be in all elementary and public libraries and is recommended for Cream of the Crop.

 

Reviewed by Ellen Spring, Oceanside High School, Rockland

five-stars

When the World Was Ours

When the World Was OursWhen the World Was Ours by Liz Kessler
Published by Aladdin on May 18, 2021
ISBN: 1534499652
Pages: 352
Genres: Historical Fiction
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Goodreads
five-stars

Liz Kessler, author of the Emily Windsnap series takes readers in a totally different direction in her new book When the world Was Ours. Inspired by a true family story, she introduces the three main characters living in Austria just as Hitler is coming to power. Leo, Elsa and Max are the three young friends who have been best friends forever. the story opens in 1936 and Leo has invited Max and Elsa to his ninth birthday, a day at the Vienna Ferris wheel, the Riesenrad. Little do they know that after this day, their lives will never be the same- ever.

Leo and Elsa are Jewish and as the reader reads each chapter-the years that follow , they are in the classroom where they ae asked to sit in the back, friends told that they are to shun them, and they don’t understand why. The reader follows the fear, humiliation and then terror of what their lives become as Hitler rises to power. Max’s family on the other hand rises in stature and position as they embrace the new rule, though Max wanting to please a father that is disappointed in him, struggles to do what is expected of him as a Hitler youth.

This is a hard book to read. Kessler writing hits hard and she does not hold back in its reality. The friends do not live happily ever after and when the horror of the war is over, their families are forever changed, as is the world.

There are many, many stories of the war and the holocaust, but somehow this one is different, it leaves an impression on the reader and there are pieces of it that one could be reading in todays news.

Cream of the Crop

suggested reading level-grades 4and up

Reviewed by Kathy George

Gray Public Library, Gray Maine

 

 

five-stars

Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey

Maybe Maybe Marisol RaineyMaybe Maybe Marisol Rainey by Erin Entrada Kelly
Published by Greenwillow Books on May 4, 2021
ISBN: 0062970429
Pages: 160
Genres: Realistic Fiction
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Goodreads
five-stars

Marisol Rainey is a delightful and endearing character. She has a penchant for naming inanimate objects and a healthy fear of many, usual childhood things, the most absorbing being climbing the tree (Peppina) in her backyard. Marisol is such a relatable and likeable character. She lives in a world where her mother is Filipino and her father is white, but is also away working on an oil rig, so in addition to feeling different for having a parent from another country, she also acutely misses her dad. Her nemesis, Evie, has a way of pointing out how much fun she has with her own dad, which hurts Marisol’s heart. However, she has a best friend, Jada, who is a particularly lovely character, and who helps her feel like she is enough even with her sadness and fears. A wonderful book for readers in grades 2-4 who know what it’s like to worry about everything and who are still defining for themselves what it means to be brave. Highly recommend.

Review by Jill O’Connor, Merrill Memorial Library, Yarmouth

five-stars

Unsettled

UnsettledUnsettled by Reem Faruqi
Published by HarperCollins on May 11, 2021
ISBN: 0063044706
Pages: 352
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Goodreads
five-stars

Nurah, a Pakistani girl has it all. Family and friends  who love her. When her father accepts a job offer in  America, Nurah must leave all she knows. This is her story. A story of learning to settle into a new country, neighborhood, school and culture. She misses her best friend, grandparents  and struggles to fit in yet keep her identity and honor her culture.

This story is told in verse, with short chapters and divided into 9 sections that not only explore Nurah’s struggles but cover topics of domestic abuse, bullying, assimilation, racial profiling.

Author Farqui  introduces the readers to Islamic concepts and uses both  Arabic and Urdu words throughout the story which adds depth to the story. It is an authentic look at what it means to leave one life and begin a new one. It is also the story of what it means to be  Pakistani and Muslim in America.

Ms. Farqui has added back matter – glossary of Arabic and Urdu terms, an author’s note, even a recipe for kababs.

This is a fives star story ! It is  a thought provoking coming of age story that is not to be missed.

Add this to : Other Words for Home-Jasmine Warga, Kelly Yang’s Front Desk, and Hena Khan’s Amina’s Voice.

Reviewed by Kathy George

Gray Public Library, Gray, Maine

 

 

 

five-stars

Leonard (My Life as a Cat)

Leonard (My Life as a Cat)Leonard (My Life as a Cat) by Carlie Sorosiak
Published by Walker Books US on April 13, 2021
ISBN: 1536207705
Pages: 240
Genres: Animals, Fantasy, Humor, Science Fiction
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Goodreads
five-stars

Leonard the cat narrates this story. Leonard is also an extraterrestrial being whose inhabitants visit Earth to experience life in a corporal body when they reach 300 years old. Leonard intended to experience life on Earth as a Yellowstone forest ranger but ended up as a cat in South Carolina. He is rescued from a flood by Olive, who may need some rescuing of her own, and soon they are inseparable. Olive is spending the summer with her grandmother while her mom travels with her new boyfriend. Olive’s mom is thinking of moving them to California from Maine at the end of the summer. This book is heartwarming and hilarious — at one point Olive describes middle school as “being dropped on an alien planet.” From the author of I, Cosmo, this should be very popular with upper-elementary and middle-grade readers and animal lovers of all ages.

Recommended for Cream of the Crop.

Reviewed by Karen Sandlin Silverman, Mt. Ararat Middle School, Topsham

five-stars

Yang Warriors

Yang WarriorsYang Warriors by Billy Thao, Kao Kalia Yang
Published by Univ Of Minnesota Press on April 13, 2021
ISBN: 1517907985
Pages: 40
Genres: Realistic Fiction
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Goodreads
five-stars
Following the Vietnam War, the CIA conducted a secret war in Laos that relied on the Hmong soldiers to prevent the threat of Communism from spreading throughout Southeast Asia. Tens of thousands died or fled. Ban Vanai was a refugee camp set up for the Hmong people and other tribes of Laos in 1975 in Northeast Thailand.

Author Kao Yang and her family lived at Ban Vanai when she was a child.  Her story is about her ten cousins who trained daily as warriors in the event they might have to defend their families. They balance stones on their heads, sit for hours in the hot sun, and wield magical swords as part of daily drills in the camp.

After a week without fresh vegetables, the warriors decide to risk everything, including punishment from both family elders and the guards for leaving  the camp  to get  for fresh food for their families.

While on the surface it appears to be a story of children finding a way to pass the days in a refugee camp, it is a story of never giving up, of working as a group in times of great need, the comradery this group of “super heroes” shows to each other and their people as they struggle to maintain their culture and dignity.

Illustrations by Hmong artist Billy Thao bring the Yang warriors and their camp to life with the colors of the region and the feel of the camp.

An authors note gives truth to both her culture and her childhood.

There are not many stories about refugee camps and even fewer about those in Southeast Asia. This one should not be missed.

Grades 3-6

Reviewed by Kathy George

Gray Public Library, Gray Maine

 

five-stars

1 2 3 Cats

1 2 3 Cats1 2 3 Cats: A Cat Counting Book by Isabella Kung, Lesléa Newman
Published by Candlewick Press on May 4, 2021
ISBN: 1536209953
Pages: 26
Genres: Animals, Fiction in Verse/Poetry
Format: Board Book
Goodreads
five-stars
 

Perfect board book that is sure to find its way into public library collections as well as be gifted as a baby present.  1 2 3 Cats is presented in the perfect size for toddler hands.  The dark shades of the cats and the amount of white space make the board book just right for babies to focus on the illustrations.  Readers, both adult and child will appreciate the rhyming text and simple concepts.  Best of all are the mannerisms of individual cats as they play and interact.  The numbers are large and bold while the background is minimal.

Be sure to include this title where board books are collected and use for baby story times.   This playful rhyming board book is sure to be a success with all audiences.  Cat owners will be on the lookout for a look alike to their own cat while they enjoy a baker’s dozen of the cuddly creatures.

 

Recommended by Jan Hamilton, retired youth services librarian in Scarborough, ME

Cream of the Crop

five-stars

Out of the Blue: How Animals Evolved from Prehistoric Seas

Out of the Blue: How Animals Evolved from Prehistoric SeasOut of the Blue: How Animals Evolved from Prehistoric Seas by Elizabeth Shreeve, Frann Preston-Gannon
Published by Candlewick Press on May 11, 2021
ISBN: 9781536214109
Pages: 32
Genres: Non-Fiction
Format: Picture Book Nonfiction
Goodreads
five-stars
Before the text begins, Elizabeth Shreeve cleverly has readers guess, among hippos, dolphins, and sharks, which two animals are the closest relatives? Shreeve, complimented by Preston-Gannon’s illustrations, impressively chronicles life on Earth from its beginning until mammals arrive on the planet. The kid-friendly text makes the subject entertaining and easy to follow. The time periods (noted at the bottom) and notes accompanying various creatures are a nice addition. This will surely be the go-to book for teachers and parents when teaching evolution.

The total package is simple and effective.—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

A book to be read over and over for its intriguing story, illustrations, and captions. —School Library Journal (starred review)

Reviewed by Barb Rehmeyer, Liberty Library

five-stars