Reviewed by Margo Dill, www.margodill.com, margodll@aol.com *Middle-grade novel, fantasy *12-year-old boy as main character *Rating: Suzanne Collins captivates the reader until the end of the series, although some readers won’t want Code of the Claw to be the last book! Short, short summary: Gregor has his final adventure in the Underland in book 5, Gregor [...]

photo by Jessie Michael Nix www.flickr.com *Middle-grade novel, contemporary *10-year-old girl as main character *Rating: Because of Winn-Dixie might have been a great movie, but the book by Kate DiCamillo is ten times better. Short, short summary: India Opal Buloni, the daughter of a preacher, goes to the store for a few groceries and comes [...]

photo by CarbonNYC www.flickr.com *Picture book for prekindergartners through 2nd graders, fantasy *Little girl as main character *Rating: That Pesky Dragon is a fun read full of delightful pictures–who doesn’t love a good dragon story? Short, short summary: On Izzie’s dad’s farm, there are cows, goats, sheep, chickens, dogs, cats, oh, and that pesky dragon! [...]

photo by Marvin Kuo www.flickr.com Reviewed by Margo Dill, www.margodill.com, margodll@aol.com *Picture book for preschoolers through 2nd graders, contemporary *Marley the dog as the main character *Rating: Marley and Me meets the picture book format with roaring success! John Grogan’s book will delight dog lovers young and old. Short, short summary: The happy family on [...]

Let us know about a science project that you or your children did–either successful or not in the comments! I love this one in the picture below–a pop tart helper. photo by terren in Virginia www.flickr.com Reviewed by Margo Dill, www.margodill.com, margodll@aol.com *Picture book, contemporary for preschool through third grade (could be used up to [...]

So, a new puppy happened to our house. . . I always knew a baby could send you into a tail spin–but an eight-week-old puppy–WOW! We haven’t slept through the night, all we want to do is play or watch our new puppy, and we are constantly talking about whether or not he went potty. [...]

Reviewed by Margo Dill, www.margodill.com, margodll@aol.com *Picture book, contemporary *Spunky pigeon as the main character *Rating: Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late is a fantastic addition to the pigeon series. Mo Willems has another hit! Short, short summary: The pigeon is back, and this time he wants to stay up late. From the first [...]

photo by Paul Keleher www.flickr.com Reviewed by Margo Dill, www.margodill.com, margodll@aol.com *Tween novel, contemporary *Seventh-grade girl as main character *Rating: A great debut book in the Canterwood Crest series where you fall in love with the characters and can’t wait to find out what Sasha and Charm will do next. Short, short summary: Sasha Silver [...]

photo by Giles Douglas www.flickr.com Reviewed by Margo Dill, www.margodill.com, margodll@aol.com *Picture book for preschoolers through second graders (because of the subject–you could use this with up to fifth graders!) *Our loveable punctuation marks as main characters *Rating: Punctuation Takes a Vacation is a great way to teach students how to use punctuation correctly and [...]