Book Review

"Colin isn't at all like Lee and the other peas."
"He is much too tall and much too orange."

Lee and Colin are so different. Lee is a pea: little, round, and green. Colin is a carrot: large, rectangular, and orange. All of Lee's friends are peas, except for Colin. Not only does Colin not look like Lee and his pea friends, but he cannot do many of the things peas can do like roll or bounce. However, Colin can do many things the peas cannot. Will the peas accept Colin for who he is, even though he is not the same as them?

These simple illustrations in this story of friendship and acceptance make detecting round peas as different from orange carrots fun for those just learning shapes and colors, and funny for those already in the know. This title is best for birth through out preschool and readers who are learning about being accepted and accepting.

Find Carrot & Pea: An Unlikely Friendship in the Library.

Brittany, Kids World

"Sometimes, I feel like I'm standing at the starting line of a race, waiting for the whistle to blow."

Sasha is a small plucky young horse who just doesn't fit into the herd. She admits, "I stink at staying still," and her classmates know she is more prone to daydreams than focusing on her teacher. Downhearted and depressed after failing a school lesson, Sasha's parents let her in on a little secret that has the potential to change everything.

With less than 100 pages and illustrations on every page, this series opener is a tidy little transitional chapter book perfect for early elementary readers just making the jump into chapter books. My Little Pony fans will find the artwork appealing, and kids who struggle sitting still will find in Sasha a kindred spirit.

Find Tales of Sasha: The Big Secret in the Library

Celeste, Kids World

"I was enslaved in Central Africa. In chained coffles, I survived the long walk to the coast."

After reading an 1828 estate appraisement listing only the names, ages, and prices of a family's slaves, author Ashley Bryan decided to bring these forgotten souls to life, giving each their own story and dreams using free-form poems. Weaving the eleven people together through marriage, friendship, or mere shared servitude, a community emerges and just how grave and dehumanizing the conditions of slavery were comes to light. Each fictionalized account of a real person merits reflection on how the institution of slavery gravely affected our brothers and sisters in the past, and how it still affects us today.

The illustrations bring life to each fictionalized story in a way that is not too juvenile for its target audience, but could be easily emulated by any young artists who happen to be reading. This book is recommended for readers in grades 3-6 and would pair flawlessly with Laurie Halse Anderson's Seeds of America trilogy.

Find Freedom Over Me in the Library.

Brittany, Kids World

"Her name was Swatch, and she was a color tamer."

Do you have a hard time choosing just one color to call your favorite? Then meet Swatch. This young girl collects breathtaking colors from all over and places them in jars. One day, she stumbles upon the color she hasn't yet collected: yellow. But yellow doesn't want to be tamed. Will Swatch continue to try and tame yellow, or will she let it roam free?

This picture book is perfect for exposing pre-kindergarten students to a beautiful array of colors. It will be sure to capture their attention with its vibrant artwork.

Find Swatch: The Girl Who Loved Color in the Library

Aseel, Kids World

"Can you yawn like a Pteranodan?"

This self-designated "Help-Your-Child-to-Sleep Book" offers illustrations of sleepy dinosaurs as a backdrop for its quiet interactive text. With tips from a certified Pediatric Sleep Consultant, this book offers struggling parents a guide to help settle down rombitious young ones. Encourage your child to do as the dinosaurs do- fall sleep. Young dinosaur fans, particularly those between ages 2 and 5, will find this a perfect bedtime story.

Find Can You Snore Like a Dinosaur? in the Library

Celeste Kids World

"But in Mississippi you never knew what little thing could spark a flame and get you killed. Registering to vote. Voting. Or even something as little as whistling at a white woman."

 Jim Crow laws are still affecting Mississippi in 1955 as with the rest of the Deep South. African American's are legally free, but in Mississippi the color of your skin still means everything. Rose Lee Carter, the 13 year-old African-American narrator shares her dreams of moving out of her grandparent's sharecropper house and to live up north. But to where? To Chicago, where her Mama left her and her brother for a husband and a new set of kids? Or to St. Louis with her Aunt Belle, a Civil Rights activist that supports the controversial NAACP?

Throughout the book we read about racism in the South and how some African Americans like Rose Lee's grandmother are content with their lives working for a white family and okay with the law that deemed, "separate but equal". But, Rose Lee Carter and those in her community are forced to see things differently when an African American boy, Emmett Till, is found murdered for allegedly whistling at a white woman.
 
Would you stand up for what you believe in even if you might be killed? Or would you stay in the shadows and hope that nothing changes?

Rose's voice comes through as a witty and intelligent young girl that tries to see hope in the darkest places. This heart-felt, but raw historical novel is recommended for sixth grade and up.

Find Midnight Without a Moon in the Library.

Victoria, Kids World

"No animal is too small, large, cute, ugly, slimy, furry, feathered, stinky, or dirty... Bog Hollow to the rescue!"

A new chapter book series is hitting Library shelves. The Bog Hollow Boys are part adventure, part ecology exploration, and part mystery. This kid team made up of Ace, Daryl, Ethan, and Nellie (yes, a girl) invesigate suspicious events at Bog Hollow State Park. Together they rescue animals in need from natural hazards and human dangers such as poachers- when they are not in trouble themselves!

These short chapter books will fit perfectly in the hands of 3rd grade and advanced 2 grade readers who love slightly irreverent antics. No real new ground has been broken here, but older fans of the Wild Kratts will likely want to take a look at this series of self-designated animal protectors.

Find the Bog Hollow Series in the Library

Celeste, Kids World

"Iz tak unk gladdenboot?" "Unk gladdenboot!"

This 2017 Caldecott Honor picture book leaves a lot to the imagination. Written entirely in seemingly nonsense words, readers follow a group of bugs discover, celebrate, and eventually abandon a flower throughout its life cycle. Half of the fun of this title is guessing what each bug is saying and what each nonsense word means, what part of language it is, and perhaps making up nonsense dialogue of your own. The other half of the fun is reveling in the wonderful illustrations and learning to connect pictures to text no matter their meaning. Without being heavy handed, Du Iz Tak? hands each reader a lesson in language and storytelling they are sure to never forget!

This title is wonderful for older preschool and younger elementary school students alike, with each age group garnering a different lesson from the text and illustrations.

Find Du Iz Tak? in the Library.

Brittany, Kids World

“He was beginning to have new ideas about how the earth was formed and how animals evolved in order to survive.”

This picture book depicts Charles Darwin as a young man when he sails the HMS Beagle in 1831. The five-year voyage would bring him to exotic places that would spark his curiosity about biology and geology. It teaches us that we should keep our eyes open because we never know what we can learn in the world!

Thermes brings Darwin to life with bright colors and detailed maps of his travels with a time-line of his journey in the front and back of the book. This biography is recommended for all elementary school students, especially those in the lower grades.

Find Charles Darwin's Around-the-World Adventure in the Library

Victoria, Kids World

“M - Moon. Crescent moon in the sky, Bend like me --- Watch clouds float by.”

A colorful ABC board book that doubles as a yoga primer. Each page offers an animal pose with a simple rhyme, inviting little ones to make the shape and be the animal. The poses are simple and convey the intuitive nature of yoga. Back material recaps the origin of each pose used here and explains “What is yoga?” for a young audience and their co-yogis.

This book is recommended for fairly limber caregivers who are stuck indoors with children age 8 and under. Offer the kiddos a new way to be active, entertained and possibly a bit more self-regulating.

Find ABC Yoga in the Library

Mary Jo, Kids World