Jason Cooper

I gave this book a 4/5 star review. I think this would be a good guided reading book. Since the topic is spiders, I think you would be able to tell what your student is understanding from the text. There are a lot of pictures that would allow you to show the students what is going on in the text. As you read, you would be able to come up with questions that would help you see what the students are understanding. I believe that you would be able to tell if your students are critically thinking from the understanding of the text. I would use this book with a group of students that was not scared of spiders. There are also sections of the book that explain more about spiders that you can go over with the students.… (more)

You can't go wrong with some classic Peanuts cartoons, am I right? Peanuts Vol. 9 created by Charles Schulz (and written by Jason Cooper with illustrations by Vicki Scott and Paige Braddock) is a collection of our favorite kids and their antics. (Do you recall the sound of the incomprehensible droning of the adults in the cartoon?) This (being volume 9) is obviously one of a series of collections like this that put together some of the best of the best of the Peanuts gang. From what I can tell they don't have specific themes and it doesn't matter which order you decide to read them. This was such a trip down memory lane for me and it made me vividly recall Sunday mornings and reading the newspaper cartoons in color. If you've never experienced the hopelessness of Charlie Brown, the ingenuity of Snoopy, or the wisecracking Lucy you owe it to yourself to settle down for some lighthearted hilarity. Pick up something sweet and fun to settle down with for the weekend! 10/10

PS When did Marcie fall in love with Charlie Brown?! I knew about Peppermint Patty but Marcie threw me for a complete loop!

PPS Do kids know about the Legionnaires? Do you? Well, I suggest you do a little homework because there's a whole set of jokes about them in this volume and you'll surely be lost if you don't.… (more)

I have no idea if this book was just too below my grade level or what, but I did not like this book at all. I just know so much more about the history of Philadelphia than this book told, so the book made me very frustrated. The pictures in there were average. I would not say they were much to look at, thought I do recognize that the book is over ten years old, so the author did not have a camera that takes photos that are of the same quality as today's cameras. He did address a variety of landmarks, such as the Liberty Bell and the Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier. The Tomb was interesting to learn about, because I had never heard of it before reading the book. The book also describes the events that happened in the Revolutionary War in simple terms: "The Declaration basically said that the American colonies would no longer agree to the rule of English. Together, they would be a new nation." There was not really a big idea in the book, because it is just a walk through some of the history of Philadelphia. Overall, this is probably a great book for kids. I just could not stand it.… (more)