Catherine Rondina

"Meh. Another facty book about how stupid grown ups are. I will just skim it," I said to myself.

One hour later I had read it from beginning to end.

"Yeah, but who actually believes all this stuff anyways?" I said to myself.

Two days later, I realized I had quoted it to three different people, at least twice each.

Yep, we need this one.

With suitably kooky and humorous illustrations, Rondina walks us through Healthy Habits - did you know sugar doesn't make kids hyper? Wet hair has absolutely show more nothing to do with catching cold? Next up, we have Weird Science. Can you really scare someone to death? Is yawning contagious? How often should you brush your hair? Can a chicken live without its head? Next we have Food Fallacies. Does eating carrots improve your eyesight? Will you really get cramps if you go swimming after eating? Finally, we have Animal Tales, with the ever-popular will a toad give you warts? As well as other burning questions, like Is a dog's mouth cleaner than a human's? Will a falling cat always land on its feet? And Why do lemmings walk off cliffs - or do they? The book ends with a sly list of "Parentisms" just for fun.

This is a perfect book for reluctant readers or kids who like lists of facts, science, or debunking anything (in other words, every eleven-year-old that ever lived). The questions have a funny or silly scenario about the question, then a well-written explanation of whether or not it's true - or if it's unproven either way. This is a great one for school booktalks as well as fact displays or to hand out to your almanac and Guiness book of world record fans.

Verdict: A must-have for libraries serving elementary and middle school kids. Just don't be surprised if you find your young patrons quoting it back to you for the next couple months!

ISBN: 978-1554534548; Published August 2010 by Kids Can Press; Review copy provided by publisher through Raab Associates show less

Grade Range: 4 and up
Literary Merit: Good

This was a fun, easy to follow biography of one of Canada's best goaltenders. This book explains Carey's background as a son of a former hockey player and the first female chief of the Ulkatcho First Nation to his current run as a celebrated and trophied goaltender in the NHL. The short sentence structure of the book will be easily attainable for struggling readers, and this high interest topic will keep them interested. There are several tidbits in show more the book that provided background knowledge for various aspects of the book, from First Nations to the ins and outs of the game of hockey. I think current hockey fans and any one interested in hockey will enjoy this book. show less

This informational text for middle-grade readers seeks to reveal the truth behind common advice from adults, but is neither as entertaining nor as informative as it could be. The book is a series of sayings and urban legends that are explained on one page, then either confirmed or debunked on the next page. The language is firmly anti-adult, but often the facts support the examined advice. The writing often feels contrived, clearly an adult trying too hard to sound cool in order to gain the show more reader’s trust. A list of common unexamined adages at the end intends only to add humor, but falls flat. Cartoonish black and white illustrations strengthen the childish tone of the text, but do not add meaning. Though the text references some sources, there is no bibliography or index. The premise of fact-checking conventional wisdom will appeal to children, but the book’s attempt to trick readers into recognizing the wisdom of adults feels dishonest, and the questionable accuracy of the content makes it no more trustworthy than the ideas it attempts to debunk. Additional Purchase. Grades 5-7. show less

This book was a really interesting informational text that describes the many different cultural holidays all over the world. Each country has a child introducing the holidays and saying their name and where they are from and then going in to the actual explanation of the holiday which I thought was a really great way to present this information to children. The illustrations that were throughout the book really were amazing with great color and I feel that this really added to the show more explanation of what the holidays were about. These pictures made it easier for a children to envision that people and what goes on during each holidays which is why I really enjoyed the book. Knowing about different holidays around the book is really interesting and this book was able to do it in a child friendly and intriguing way which is why I thought it was an awesome book. show less