Winter Review Crew
Books to cozy up with and enjoy with a friend
Lower Elementary Reads
Be Quiet!
Easy Fiction
By Ryan Higgins
Disney-Hyperion, 2017
Lexile: 510
Humor; read-aloud; class management
Rupert the Mouse wants to create a wordless, artistic picture book. His two friends, ever respectful, realize it's hard to be both supportive and wordless. Be Quiet! is a fresh and earnestly funny book, begging to be read aloud or even as a short reader's theater: children and adults alike will laugh all the way through and then decide it's time to read it again. Educators, if you have a roomful of blurters, share this delightful romp; you may not stop the blurting, but you will unwrap a fun way to talk about why blurting is frustrating.
Terri Faulkner
Library Services
The Whopper
PS-2
Easy Fiction
By: Rebecca Ashdown
Templar Books, 2017
Tags: Lying; guilt
Percy’s not so fond of the wild sweater his Grandma knitted him, and after wearing it on a disastrous dog walk, it's only fit for the trash. He tells his mom he lost it, but is then confronted by a creature who declares he is Percy’s “big, hairy, monstrous lie," getting bigger and bigger as Percy avoids telling the truth until the Whopper swallows him up. When the Whopper threatens to consume his brother as well, Percy-in-the-Whopper confesses, the Whopper shrinks and disappears, and Grandma thoughtfully sends him another sweater, just as wild!
Watercolor illustrations bring the this common situation to life with plenty of humor. Use for a discussion about how we feel and what happens when fibs are told.
Reviewed by: Peggy Obert
Alumni
Bizzy Mizz Lizzie
Easy Fiction
Written and illus. by: David Shannon
The Blue Sky Press, 2017
Lexile: AD570L
Tags: Life Balance; Friendship
Bizzy Mizz Lizzie doesn't just participate in a few extra-curricular activities, she participates in ALL of them. Her goal is to be the best bee in her hive so that she can meet the Queen. When all the buzzing about causes Lizzie to become ill, she contemplates changing her ways.
If Mindfulness is a topic at your school, this is a good read-aloud to support the need to teach kids to slow down and smell the flowers.
Reviewed by: Denise Cushing
Carson Elem.
Giraffes Ruin Everything
By: Heidi Schulz
Illus. by: Chris Robertson
Grade Level: PS-2
Easy Fiction
Bloomsbury, 2016
Lexile: 520
Tags: Giraffes; Behavior; Friendship
Friends come in all sizes, but giraffes can be a problem. They have really long necks and you should never invite them to your birthday party! The boy in the story explains how giraffes can ruin movies, playing at the park and even games of hide and seek. When the kite is stuck in the tree, a giraffe can be very helpful. He decides everyone has a bad day from time to time, and giraffes are not so terrible after all.
This is a fun to read aloud book for our younger readers. It can also be tied in to a lesson on friendship. Everyone has a bad day from time to time, so “with a little effort – You’ll find the right things to do together.
Reviewed by:
Karen Burns
Place Bridge Academy
Little Wolf’s First Howling
By: Laura McGee Kvasnosky
Illus. by: Kate Harvey McGee
PS-2
Easy fiction
Candlewick Press, 2017
Tags: Wolves; Parents; Babies
A father wolf takes his son out into the woods to teach him how to howl. Big Wolf demonstrates, but every time Little Wolf tries to howl like his father, it turns into a jazzy melody. Though Big Wolf gently explains “proper howling form” and encourages his son to try again, the pup can’t stop embellishing.
This fun read aloud is a nod to individuality and improvisation. This title provides a positive message for accepting and encouraging self-expression. Gorgeous illustrations add warmth and realism.
Reviewed by Michelle Jensen
George Washington H.S.
Upper Elementary Reads
Blueberry Pancakes Forever
3-5
Fantasy
By: Angelica Banks
Illus. by: Stevie Lewis
Henry Holt and Co., 2017
Lexile:
Tags: Overcoming grief; Family; Adventure
Serendipity is an author. She and her daughter, Tuesday, lost their husband and father a year ago. Serendipity has created a world for her heroine, Vivienne Small. Because Serendipity and Tuesday are depressed and sad, Vivienne’s world is cold and dark and on top of that she has been captured by a character that Serendipity created when she was a child.
This book could be a gentle help to students who have suffered lose or use this book with students who enjoy fantasy. it is also interesting to contemplate worlds within worlds or world's which are created by powerful words.
Reviewed by: Chris Coble
CEC Early College
The Great Wave of Tamarind
3-5
Fantasy
By: Nadia Aguiar
Feiwel and Friends, 2017
Tags: Islands; Magic; Tsunamis; Competitions; Problem solving
Twelve-year-old Penny sets off on a journey to find the mysterious island of Tamarind in the hopes of finding a cure for her ailing grandmother. What she finds is an island under attack by a malevolent creature. To set things right, the magical Bloom must be collected from the coming Great Wave. Unexpectedly, Penny finds herself competing to be the one to save Tamarind and if lucky, her grandmother too.
While this title third in the series, it can stand alone. Themes of friendship and problem solving are explored. This charming, exciting read is appropriate for students in upper elementary and middle school. It would make a great read aloud.
Michelle Jensen
George Washington H.S.
Middle and High School Reads
The Secret of Nightingale Wood
6-8
Historical Fiction
By Lucy Strange
Chicken House, Scholastic, 2017
Lexile: 730
Tags: family secrets, grief & loss, mental illness, loneliness, imagination
Scarred by the death of her brother, 12 year old Henrietta and her family move to Hope House manor to heal. Unable to cope with their grief, Henry’s father goes abroad for work and her mother is placed under the care of a manipulative local doctor. When her baby sister, Piglet, is eventually placed in the care of a local family and her mother in an asylum, Henry enlists the help of a mysterious woman in the woods to reunite her family.
Set along the English seaside in 1919, this is a beautiful story dealing with themes of grief, loneliness and mental health. Recommended for upper elementary and middle school students.
Lori Micho
Library Services
Falling Over Sideways
6-8
Realistic Fiction
By: Jordan Sonnenblick
Scholastic, 2016
Lexile: 860
Tags: Fathers and daughters; Middle Schools; Strokes
Claire's middle school life is a constant juggling act with school, family, and dance class relationships, and she feels like she's barely making it. Then something worse happens- her dependable, funny father has a stroke one morning when they are eating breakfast together, and she doesn't know how she will survive. Unexpected emotional help comes her longtime "frenemy" Ryder and other people she thought uncaring.
Claire's character is sometimes sardonically funny and superficial, but she matures as she gains new perspectives and insight when things seems to be falling apart. Common adolescent issues of bullying and self-awareness get excellent treatment in this engaging read.
Reviewed by: Peggy Obert
Alumni
The X Files Origins Agent of Chaos
6-8
Science Fiction
By: Kami Garcia
Macmillan Publishing Group, 2017
X-Files; Mystery: Kidnapping; Aliens
This new series is based on the popular show, The X Files. This story takes place before the television series starts and takes the reader back to the early days, when Fox Mulder in a teenager in high school. His sister was kidnapped five years ago and has never been found. The family moves away from their hometown to get a fresh start. When in his new town, a local boy is found dead and other is abducted. Mulder and his new friends try to find the truth.
This is an interesting view on the early days of Fox Mulder before the days of the X-Files shows. The reader gets to watch Mulder as a fifteen year old, and how he begins to learn what he needs to survive and find the knowledge that leads his way to the FBI and the X-Files.
Reviewed by: Karen Burns
Place Bridge Academy