Devra Newberger Speregen

I liked the book "Ilan Ramon: Jewish Star". I think the author did a great job in building Ilan as a character. In talking about his preparation to go to space they talked about the different things that he brought with him, his time with his children and family. Additionally, I liked the author's inclusion of photographs. They helped me as reader visualize what it would be like to be in the space station and shows the crew together like family. The big idea of this book is that you can do show more anything you want to if you put your mind to it. show less

I've been on a bit of a kid's horror kick lately. Nothing like a good ghost story or weird, creepy tale to make winter seem a little less blah.

Scary Stories to Drive You Batty is a middle grade book featuring three creepy stories for kids. The tales are short and age appropriate.

The Mystery of Joe Duffy - A dead baseball player haunts a diamond at the baseball camp. It will be a summer Stephanie and Jordan never forget!

The Mummy - Richard and Jordan like to play mean pranks on their little show more sister. When they discover a mummy in the attic, the joke is on them!

Truth or Scare - The new kid in the neighborhood shows up to help initiate members into the Oak Street kids club. His game -- Truth or Scare -- is definitely frightening!

The tales are spooky and cute. All content is age appropriate. The front cover art is awesome! You can't go batty without some bats to keep you company!. Each story is about 14 pages long, perfect length even for reluctant or slower readers. I could definitely see using these stories as a lead-in to a creative writing assignment. Have the kids read the stories to themselves or out loud to each other.....then they write their own scary story!

Devra Newberger Speregen is the author of more than 100 books for kids and adults. show less

I liked this book because the characters are believable. Being the youngest in my family, I could relate to Ariel who wanted to light the candle on the menorah. In the story, there were too many family members and not enough candles for each to light a candle on the menorah. Unfortunately, Ariel was unable to light a candle because she was the youngest and the candle lighting went from oldest to youngest. I also liked this book because of its ending. Even though Ariel was unable to light a show more candle, she received a menorah of her very own on the last day of Hanukkah. Also, I liked this story because it contained features from the Jewish culture. For example, in the story Arielle was “drawing a dreidel” and the mother was making “latkes.” The big idea of Arielle and the Hanukkah Surprise is that when one is patient, they will be granted rewards. In the story, Arielle had been patient for years waiting to light the menorah. When it is finally time for her to light the menorah, an extra family member, who was older than her, lite it instead. While Arielle was upset, she was surprised with her very own menorah her family gave her. show less

Based off the Disney movie, this book shows the importance of standing up for what you believe in, and how it’s better to try to understand something instead of fighting.