All of the kittens in the world have been kidnapped. The lead character is Stanky Dog and the others that help him are traditional house pets with laser beams coming from their eyes, the ability to transform to something many times larger than their small self and more superpowers. The only thing this book needs to be more attractive to elementary ages is to have it printed on pizza scented paper. I just scratched a couple of the pages to see if they thought of this, and they don’t. There are a couple words in The eXpets that those second grade students won’t be able to read, but they’ll want ..read more

The picture book sets up the vehicles with various locations that are listed in a table of contents. Kids can look at vehicles in snowy places, in the mountains, the farm, in the city, play vehicles and many more. The book’s front cover shows examples of each locale, but doesn’t tell audiences that this is the flow of the book. The cover also has the text and illustrations in a slightly raised and glossy presentation. Kids (and adults) love this tactile trick that sublimely encourages readers to run their fingers over them so that they feel each bumpy letter or vehicle outline. This is also a ..read more

So, that movie broke the most important rule in monster films in that there were too many humans and almost all of them were annoying. In Godzilla x Kong the humans aren’t annoying for the most part. A couple of the actors fill the monster movie tropes that have to be filled in order to put butts in seats. There is the wisecracking, streetwise person who knows more than the scientists. There is a youth who is probably the key to saving the world. There is a mother figure who is much stronger than those around her think. There is a scientist who has a loose, approachable, hippie vibe, but is ac ..read more

The pacing and effective storytelling that happens in Ghost Book is remarkable. It establishes multiple characters in the underworld, lots of living characters, two disparate worlds, and creates a story that is completely understandable. Not only is this a story that upper elementary audiences will understand, they’ll feel the pain and frustration of the characters. They will laugh out loud when the ghosts want more dumplings. They’ll squirm just a little bit when the ghosts get a little disgusting. William’s proclivity to get himself into near-death situations keeps rearing its head will urge ..read more

In EidTale it shows the two kids in the courtyard, but when you open up the interactive elements they’re transported inside where they can poke through the circles, fold up the temple’s ceiling, and fold out the party’s atmosphere revealing the feast. This is a board book that’s designed for young readers, but can be enjoyed by anyone. A great example of this is a high school student who just saw the book on my desk. They said that the book was a “10 out of 10”, and had “lots of interactive elements that small kids can touch”. This is comfort food for those who will celebrate Ramadan, and an o ..read more

It’s when they raid the tomb that the meet the aforementioned skeletal figure and the action and humor in The Court of Souls really take off. There are twists in the plot that won’t be mentioned here. There are so many possible ways that the book could’ve fallen short, taken predictable paths or produced a lame, uninteresting graphic novel that would’ve made it blend into the crowd. This is not that boring, disposable graphic novel. For starters, it’s an oversized graphic novel that puts its footprint on par with an illustrated book. Its soft back presentation is telling you that it’s a graphi ..read more

That’s because every page is glossy and covered corner-to-corner with bright, vibrant colors or photographs that makes young kids think something pleasant. The pictures of the farm, its vegetables, the beach or the critters that live in the desert will inspire curiosity and make kids want to read. The text is simple, and combined with the context clues, is at a level where most second graders will be able to read without assistance. The activities, due to the nature of them explaining how to do something, are written at a higher level. The classics, for lack of a better term, are all things th ..read more

It’s not a flaw with The Day the River Caught Fire, but more a slow build-up that might confuse and frustrate some young readers. They will see that the fire happened in 1969 and then in 1970, i.e., the next year that the global call to action Earth Day occurred. In reality, it was building up throughout the 1960s. Unfortunately, political or social change doesn’t happen that quickly. Most elementary ages won’t view the book as a timetable on pollution and the world’s major economies in dealing with it. The Day the River Caught Fire will appeal to those ages via its set up, succinct text and l ..read more

Where second language learners will enjoy this book is actually seeing Spanish in action. They can define new words. They will see verb tenses in action, like era, vesti, sentia, tenia and so many more examples of past, future imperative and other instances of verbs being used in instance other than the present tense. It’s very important to know your verbs, but knowing and using them correctly in their various tenses is what separates being able to communicate versus being on the path to fluency. It’s that fluency in a second or third language that can open up any number of employment opportun ..read more

The poems are short, on average they are six stanzas with two lines in each one, and effortless to read. They add context and interest to the illustrations, while the paragraph text finishes the hat-trick by adding more details that allow audiences to use their imaginations and think about something common yet out of this world. The title, The Museum on the Moon, also engages young audiences to think about the impossible. They know what a museum is, and they know what the moon is, but there is not a museum on the moon. Contrary thinking or stating the impossible in a statement of fact is a gre ..read more