Diane Swanson

This book is just at the right level of disgusting to keep kids interested! The whole premise is to describe how food is digested. but the enhance biomechanical lesson with remarkable record-breaking feats, "try this" type of mini at experiments, and explanations of why people have gas, etc. The book also has a one page index at the end so that you could utilize this book as a reference. There are very technical terms that are explained through illustrations and even invitations to find show more certain things in your body (ex: open your mouth and look in a mirror...) What's great about this book is that it is engaging enough for some students to read just as free-reading, but it is non-fiction so they will learn from it too. show less

Ten stories from various eras in history of people who escaped or were rescued by tunnels. My favourite is the one where the Japanese embassy in Peru is taken over by terrorists and the government tunnels under a soccer pitch and comes up in the middle of a game that nearly all the terrorists are watching or playing. Only 2 non-terrorists are killed – one hostage dies of a heart attack and all the others are rescued.

This book contains vibrant photographs of sea creatures and contains great informational text features that are not common in children's literature. This book has headings, sidebars, a table of contents, and an index. I like this book because it specializes in the Pacific Northwest which makes it more relatable to the children because many of them could have traveled to the beach. The book is also split into five parts (Plants, Spineless Stars, Fish, and Mammals) so I could assign one part show more to each group and they could create projects that they present to the class to teach their part of the book. show less

I liked this book because it was informative as well as interactive! I liked the writing in this book, it was extremely engaging. Every page in the book has a "I spy, you spy" section where it allows the reader to find a difference in the photograph! By using the "i spy, you spy" technique, this author keeps the readers and engaged and by finding the thing in the photograph they are gaining more knowledge on the animal. I also liked the photographs in the book because they were real! It show more allowed the reader to become informed about the animals. For example, "find the long toes and sharp claws that help raccoons grip." The reader can look at the photograph and notice the claws that help the raccoons grip onto the tree branch in this case. The main idea in this book is to learn about different animals while staying engaged. show less