"Coral reefs are home to thousands of plants and animals."

I love the vibrant colors and beautiful drawings of the coral and neighboring animals.

I loved how this book begins by a young girl who grabs a book and becomes engulfed by the beautiful coral reefs and slips away from her city. This eye-catching beginning will capture the students imaginations as they will get excited to learn more about coral reefs. Exciting introductions like this will excite children to learn more about a topic such as coral reefs.

RATING 4/5

NONFICTION

"A rock is lively... a rock is mixed up!"

I truly enjoy that this nonfiction book is in a series of other nonfiction nature books.

I love the series of these books! The facts are extremely lyrical and easy to listen to and read for younger children. Rocks are very popular with children especially boys so this book could truly capture their attentions. I love the calm nature of this book as you read about the different types of rocks you can find all over the world.

Rating 4/5

NONFICTION

"An egg is smooth... an egg is cozy."

I love that the author makes the eggs sound beautiful with their lyrical facts.

This book was also extremely lyrical for a nonfiction book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about different types of eggs such as hummingbird eggs and ostrich eggs. This would be a great book to read before going on a nature walk to keep an eye on certain types of eggs that you could walk into. I think children would be extremely interested in the pictures.

Rating 4/5

NONFICTION

"Redwoods regularly grow to be more than 200 feet tall."

This would be a great book to get kids into reading nonfiction because it has a fictional element of the boy saying the facts as he is in the forest.

This nonfiction book is not like any others I have read. I enjoyed that it was a fictional story about a boy walking in the redwood forest, however, the facts he reads about the redwood forest are true facts. The pictures were absolutely beautiful.

Rating 3.6/5

NONFICTION

"A seed is clever. It knows how to seek the sunlight..."

I love how this book is almost spoken out like a lullaby.

This nonfiction book delivers information about different kinds of seeds and the journey they must go through in order to blossom. Although informational, the pictures are absolutely beautiful and the information lyrically flows together to almost create a song.

Rating 4/5
Nonfiction

"Erdos realized that he doesnt quite fit into the world the regular way"

I think children will be interested in the animation of the pictures and how Paul Erdos runs between the pages.

I think this book would truly grab children's attention because they probably have never heard of somebody like Paul Erdos. Children will find his intellect astonishing but his common sense sort of humorous. Children will love to read how fast he can commute numbers in his brain but then was not able to butter bread until he was twenty. Fun facts in a fun way!

Rating 3/5
BIOGRAPHY

"Everyone's a New Yorker on Thanksgiving Day"

This book was a Caldecott Honor and a 2012 Robert F. Sibert Metal winner.

This was such a fun book! I loved the pictures and the vibrant, big balloons that filled every page. This is a great book for the children to relate to and learn more because many children watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. This could be a fun book to read right before Thanksgiving and have the children record and observe what kind of balloons they see on the big day.

"Alligator Society"

I love how you watched Jane's confidence and emotions grow stronger and stronger every page.

One of my favorite parts about this book was that it has excerpts of Jane Goodall's autobiography in it. I would love to read this children to kids as a way to show them the difference between a biography and autobiography. The pictures were beautiful and the story was heartwarming as you saw Jane's hopes and dreams come to life one page turn at a time.

RATING 3.6/5

"But Miss Moore thought otherwise!"

This would be a great book to read before the children go into the school library for the first time.

This biography would be a perfect book to read to a class to introduce nonfiction books! It is the story of Miss Moore who developed the first room for children in a library! I loved the repetition of "Miss Moore thought otherwise" because it tied in the title in with the reading.

Rating 3/5

BIOGRAPHY

" keep missed studying science it was not sure she would say on the job. But for two years, she did."

I find it interesting that there is a book about something very specific such as the woman who changed San Diego's landscapes.

I felt like this was an interesting book because I do not think that many children know who Kate Sessions is. I definitely did not. Kate Session is a woman who helped make San Diego from a dessert to a lush, leafy city. This book would be great for children who are really into the environment or are from San Diego! I really enjoyed the pictures and the language of this book.

4/5

BIOGRAPHY

" 'hold yo' head up and act like you b'long to somebody."

I love the family ties that are presented in this book. The respect that Tricia has from her grandmother is beautiful.

The dialect and dialogue in this book is extremely special and important for children to read. I love how true it is to how things were said in the south. This book is not an easy concept as it talks about the persecution of minorities, however, the main character Tricia Ann puts a positive spin on her adventures. Truly a must read.

RATING 5/5
HISTORICAL FICTION

" did you know that one of America's favorite songs, Take Me Out to the Ballgame, was written about a girl?

The pictures were extremely vibrant and made me want to go to a ball game!

This is such a good book about feminism and women's past in sports like baseball. I really did enjoy reading this book because it would be a great activity to read to children and teach them that anybody can do anything that they put their minds too.

RATING 5/5

HISTORICAL FICTIONN

"...my secret place"

I absolutely love the pictures of this book.

I enjoyed that the story was about a young girl named Olivia and her Uncle Jim. It is displayed in the Depression era and David Smalls illustrations are truly beautiful and allow the reader to truly see what the depression-era looked like. It was a Caldecott honor book in 1998 and the pictures are truly magical. This simplistic story will have children root on Lydia as she builds the rooftop garden of her dreams.

rating 4/5
HISTORICAL FICTION

" the butterflies still fly in the sky even though. Two killed one..."

Patricia Polacco is becoming one of my favorite writers.

Patricia Polacco does it again. She is such a phenomenal writer and author that I believe every child should be introduced to. Although this story is heartbreaking, older children will be introduced to what Nazi's are as they read about a true friendship and what it means to truly hide. This book is absolutely beautiful.

RATING 5/5

HISTORICAL FICTION

"Yesterday I was a young Japanese boy and today I am a baseball player."

I love how they introduced sports to Historical Fiction. This will grab a child's attention quickly.

This book will grab any boys attention right away. Many boys today feel very connected to their sport, so this will be a story that will capture their hearts into historical fiction. This story, about a Japanese boy who sent to an internment camp after the attack on Pearl Harbor with his family is both heartbreaking and inspiring as his father builds him a baseball diamond.

Rating 3/5

HISTORICAL FICTION

"Oh please sir, let me try on these shoes."

I feel like this would really speak to children because trying on shoes is something so normal to children.

I truly enjoyed and that this book was focused on two young girls in the South during the Civil Rights era because not only does it show a civil right movement but also shows feminism as two young girls find a way to obtain what they need. I like the simplistic message of Ella Mae wanting to try on shoes because it takes something realistic and elevates it to a story of racism. This will interest and inspire anybody who reads it.

Rating 4/5

"Nothing on a bulldog's face
Seems to have a proper place."

I almost adopted a bulldog over spring break so I loved reading a poem about bulldogs.