Bruce Koscielniak

Geoffrey Groundhog's ability to make predictions about whether winter will last make him a local celebrity. However, when that results in a cadre of TV cameras and lights outside Geoffrey's burrow on February 2nd, Geoffrey can't tell if he sees his shadow or not!

This book is a really fun way to discuss Groundhog's Day and the lore that surrounds this holiday. Geoffrey is a likeable character whose ability to predict the weather gets him caught up in a chaotic situation outside his control. show more All of this is done in such a tongue-in-cheek way that it can't help but be funny. I love how the illustrations supplement the text by including things like Geoffrey's face being plastered on to every kind of ad come the end of January. Of course, because it's a children's book, the weather problem is easily sorted out and all's well that end wells. show less

Really quite fun. I love the details, esp. in the scene of the shops on Main St. And the satire. I think it must be for grade-school children rather than tots, though. LFL find.

"The Story of the Incredible Orchestra" was chock-full of information about instruments and the development of the modern day orchestra. The book begins in the 1500s with composers and the beginning of the orchestra in the 1600s. It lists reasons for performances like pageants and military music. It accounts the achievements and influences of composers like Bach, Gabrieli, and Mozart. This book also gives in depth definitions of instruments such as piano, kettledrum, oboes, and violins. The show more illustrations were honestly overwhelming. There were so many instruments and actions on each page that you didn't know where to look. There were also short snippets of information in all directions included in the illustrations. The text was very wordy and at a high reading level so this book would most likely have to be read aloud and discussed rather than read for pleasure. It included many dates and terminologies that required an education of music to fully understand. There are many opportunities to learn something you didn't know before! I appreciated the inclusion of today's influences such as computer synthesizers being used to recreate sounds, which is found in most music today. show less

This is a beautifully-illustrated book about Johann Gutenberg and the invention of printing. It shows what it was like to produce books before Gutenberg, and how he transformed the world. It is not as interesting as many picture book biographies I have read; it basically reports the facts instead of telling a story. However, it is very informative and my 6-year-old found it quite interesting.