How Do You Feel?

How Do You Feel?How Do You Feel? by Lizzy Rockwell
Published by Holiday House on September 24, 2019
ISBN: 0823440516
Pages: 32
Genres: Non-Fiction
Format: Picture Book Nonfiction
Goodreads

How Do You Feel? by Lizzy Rockwell is an outstanding books to help 3 to 5 year olds understand their emotions. The elegant and deceptively simple acrylic colored illustrations direct the viewers eye to the single young child who is experiencing the event on the opposite page. There is plenty for preschoolers to think about internally and lots for adults to talk about with children all of whom have strong feelings that they are trying to understand with different degrees of success. This is a quietly stated, direct “feelings” book with just one question per double page spread, such as “Do you feel sad?” With seemingly increasing behavior problems in schools, this book offers  a welcome, calm approach to talking about and thinking about one’s emotions. Highly recommended for both public libraries and primary level schools by Margy Soule, Coffin Elementary School, Brunswick, Maine

5 stars

The Reasons for Seasons

The Reasons for SeasonsThe Reasons for Seasons by Gail Gibbons
Published by Holiday House on May 14, 2019
ISBN: 082344273X
Pages: 32
Genres: Non-Fiction
Format: Picture Book Nonfiction
Goodreads

This updated edition of Gail Gibbon’s The Reasons for Seasons provides k-2nd grade children a clear introduction to how the earth’s relation to the sun throughout the year makes the seasons. There are just a few sentences per page, and large, colorful drawings direct the viewer’s eye to what is being explained. With lots of labeled diagrams, an explanation of the earth’s rotation around the sun, and boldly printed headings for each of the four seasons, the book has a logical flow of information. Each season is covered in just 5 pages, and young scientists can absorb the brief information through words and text. Recommended bot libraries serving 5 though 7 year olds. Margy Soule, Coffin Elementary School, Brunswick, Maine

Rating 4

Bark in the Park!

Bark in the Park!Bark in the Park!: Poems for Dog Lovers by Avery Corman, Hyewon Yum
Published by Orchard Books on March 26, 2019
ISBN: 1338118390
Pages: 48
Genres: Fiction in Verse/Poetry
Format: Picture Book Nonfiction
Goodreads
three-stars

Bark in the Park!: Poems for Dog Lovers by Avery Corman and pictures by Hyewon Yum offers short two to four-line rhyming poems illustrated with colored lined drawings. There is a poem for  each of 38 different breeds. While enjoyable and easily understandable to young listeners, the poems lack the humor and heart of some earlier dog poetry books such as Patricia MacLachlan’s Once I Ate a Pie. Children will enjoy the end papers that show all the breeds represented, and if their favorite breed is included, all the better. Recommended as an additional purchase by Margy Soule, Coffin Elementary School, Brunswick, Maine

three-stars

Bats

BatsBats by Gail Gibbons
Published by Holiday House on September 24, 2019
ISBN: 082344354X
Pages: 32
Genres: Animals, Non-Fiction
Format: Picture Book Nonfiction
Goodreads
five-stars

Bats are the only mammals that can fly, who knew?  Children will learn how many inches are from a bats ear to its foot. Gail Gibbons writes informative science books that children can relate to. This book was first published in 1999 and this is a new updated version. The illustrations are wonderful and colorful. Children will remember the facts they learn through reading this book and will be sharing them with their family and friends.

Reviewed by Ginni Nichols, Children’s Librarian, Gardiner Public Library, Gardiner   ME

five-stars

The Supersmart Elephant

Published by Lerner Publications (Tm) ISBN: 9781541519848
Genres: Animals
Format: Picture Book Nonfiction

The Supersmart Elephant by Mari Schuh has what primary teachers seek in informational books – an index, glossary, labels, diagrams, bold chapter headings, and short, factual sentences, It also has colorful photos that children want. The book mentions some of the serious challenges elephants face in their struggle to survive, but it also presents some of the efforts that humans are doing to save them. After being given a brief introduction to the species, readers are presented with examples of elephants’ intelligence, communication skills and cooperative nature within their herds. Recommended by Margy Soule, Coffin Elementary School, Brunswick, Maine

Rating 4

Hummingbird

HummingbirdHummingbird by Jane Ray, Nicola Davies
Published by Candlewick Press on May 7, 2019
ISBN: 1536205389
Pages: 32
Format: Picture Book Nonfiction
Goodreads
five-stars

The hummingbird: a bird so small it fits in the palm of your hand, weighs no more than a nickel, is sometimes mistaken for a large insect and travels more than 2000 miles each year from Mexico and South America to lay their eggs in North America only to travel back to the south in the fall. Author Nicola Davies offers the voyage of the tiny hummingbird in a simple story told through the voices of the people that see them and offer assistance along their  way north. There is a grandmother and her granddaughter watching the tiny bird at grandmother’s hummingbird feeder, a sailboat offering a place to rest , others along the way with their feeders until  it reaches north where nests are made and eggs laid. Simple story told in simple text with bright, delicate illustrations complimenting the story. For the younger reader, a story, for the more experienced reader, small bits of information are offered on several pages. With an author’s note, bibliography and index at the end of the book, this is STEAM at its best. Use in units about birds, migration, and loss of habitat.

This is a cream offering

Submitted by Kathy George, Gray Public Library, Gray

five-stars

Cultivators Go to Work

Cultivators Go to WorkCultivators Go to Work by Jennifer Boothroyd
Published by Lerner Publications (Tm) on August 1, 2018
ISBN: 154152599X
Pages: 24
Genres: Non-Fiction
Format: Picture Book Nonfiction
Goodreads
three-stars

This is a straightforward book that would be great for a kid who loves machines but doesn’t need to know exactly how they work. If they are happy to just look at photos then they’ll enjoy it but the book definitely misses some opportunities to delve a little deeper. The most interesting thing about large machinery (at least to the kids I know) is how it works so some illustrations would have gone a long way in making this book more memorable.

Reviewed by Sarah Maciejewski, Patten Free Library, Bath

three-stars

Saving Emma the Pig

Saving Emma the PigSaving Emma the Pig by Jennifer L. Meyer, John Chester
Published by Feiwel & Friends on May 14, 2019
ISBN: 1250187796
Pages: 40
Genres: Animals
Format: Picture Book Nonfiction
Goodreads
four-stars

Emma the pig is pregnant and sick. The farmers of Apricot Lane Farms hope she has a small litter but then she gives birth to seventeen piglets! She’s exhausted and feverish and refuses to eat and the piglets have to live with the farmers for a while. While the writing in this book is a little odd (it took me a few pages to figure out that the narrator was a human and not a rooster, which is probably on me) the illustrations more than make up for it. This whole event was clearly nerve wracking for the farmers and the illustrations and text capture the tenderness and love that the farmers obviously have for their animals.

Reviewed by Sarah Maciejewski, Patten free Library, Bath

four-stars

Gymnastics Superstar Simone Biles

Gymnastics Superstar Simone BilesGymnastics Superstar Simone Biles by Jon M. Fishman
Published by Lerner Publications (Tm) on January 1, 2019
ISBN: 1541538501
Pages: 24
Genres: Non-Fiction
Format: Picture Book Nonfiction
Goodreads
four-stars

This is a simple and concise biography for very young kids.  The photos are great, there’s picture glossary at the end and there are a couple of interactive questions throughout the book. This is the kind of book I really appreciate when reading to small children. The text is informative, minimal and straightforward. I also love that it mentions that Simone Biles jumped on her couch when she was little which might make kids with a lot of energy think differently about themselves.

Reviewed by Sarah Maciejewski, Patten Free Library, Bath

four-stars

Crayola Fun Science Crafts

Crayola Fun Science CraftsCrayola (R) Fun Science Crafts by Rebecca Felix
Published by Lerner Publications (Tm) on January 1, 2019
ISBN: 1541510984
Pages: 32
Genres: Non-Fiction
Format: Picture Book Nonfiction
Goodreads
one-star

When my kids were smaller I took out every craft and STEAM book in the library and tore through them thinking “Why isn’t there a book of crafts that kids can do without an adult?!”(I eventually found a few.) This book, unfortunately, is one that I would have immediately returned as it’s essentially just an ad for Crayola products. The projects are either boring or too complicated to be done without a parent present the entire time.  It suggests science themed crafts but has no information to explain them. For example, a moon flip-book craft instructs the kids to research moon phases. Why not include a brief explanation for them?

Reviewed by Sarah Maciejewski, Patten Free Library, Bath

one-star