*Picture book about volcanoes–found in non-fiction section–told in poem form *Subject matter: A volcano erupting and how it affects life around it *Rating: Volcano Wakes Up! is a wonderful book to teach kids about volcanoes and the life around them. Love it! Short, short summary: In Volcano Wakes Up!, Lisa Westburg Peters uses poetry to [...]

Recently, I was sent some books by an exciting educational company, Rubicon. Their slogan is “A Bold Approach to Literacy.” I think kids would really like these books, which can only be ordered by educators, but the lucky things is I have three samples to give away. Let me tell you about the samples, which [...]

Seeds of Change written by Jen Cullerton Johnson and illustrated by Sonia Lynn Sadler is a terrific and beautiful biography picture book about Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize winner and environmentalist Wangari Maathai. I am giving away one copy of this book that I received from Lee and Low for review. Simply leave a comment or [...]

photo by b1ubb www.flickr.com *Picture book for infants to preschoolers, realistic fiction *One little lamb as main character *Rating: One Little Lamb by Elaine Greenstein is a book of few words but it tells a complete story that children will enjoy with lovely illustrations. Short, short summary: Elaine Greenstein starts her story with one little [...]

photo by digipam www.flickr.com On Saturday, I was at a nature writing workshop presented by Jen Cullerton Johnson, who is the author of the upcoming book, Seeds of Change, a picture book about Wangari Maathai. I don’t want to tell you too much about this book because I hope to review it on here soon [...]

zebra in Tanzania by wwarby www.flickr.com *picture book, contemporary realistic fiction for preschoolers through third graders *two adolescent boys as main characters *Rating: Books like First Come the Zebra by Lynne Barasch are why I love to blog about children’s books. This book is beautifully done with a wonderful message and sharing an interesting place [...]

Florida Swamp photo by Peter Long www.flickr.com *Middle-grade to tween (there’s some language in here–FYI ) contemporary fiction novel *Middle-grade students Nick and Marta as main characters *Rating: A good eco-mystery for kids with a quirky cast of characters, similar to Hoot and Flush by Carl Hiaasen. Short, short summary: Scat has a main plot [...]

photo by digitalART2 www.flickr.com Before I write about this super cute book, Felicity Floo Visits the Zoo, I want to announce the winners of Clara Gillow Clark’s Hattie books from the contest I held on Tuesday and Wednesday. And the winners are. . . *1st place: Tami R. *2nd place: Shelby S. *3rd place: Bailey [...]

photo by >>>WonderMike

photo by Southern Foodways Alliance www.flickr.com *Picture book for preschoolers through second graders *Strega Nona as the main character *Rating: Another clever Strega Nona book by Tomie dePaola, perfect for plant lesson plans Short, short summary: Strega Nona, Big Anthony, and Bambolona are planting seeds with Strega Nona’s direction in the latest installment by Tomie [...]