Steve Breen

Sib Squad: Flying High is a delightful and engaging story that brings language to life through clever wordplay and an abundance of homophones. The humor and creativity woven throughout make it a fun read for young learners, while also supporting vocabulary development and phonemic awareness. It’s a wonderful addition to my classroom library, and I’m excited for my students to enjoy its playful approach to language.

It's been many years since I celebrated the pitch-perfect humor of Steve Breen's Stick. Although he's done many things over the years, it's only now that I see, once again, that hilarious sense of humor and perfect timing show up in a picture book again - and this time his art style and writing has developed much further.

Benny the woodpecker wants a waffle. He's never had one before, he's not even sure what they are, but they smell oh-so-good and he's willing to do anything to get one. But show more no matter what clever plans he tries, he just can't get into the diner! Finally, Benny comes up with the most daring, explosive, dramatic plan ever...not to mention the most sneaky!

What I loved about this story was not just the surprise ending but that it was funny all the way through, which will hold the attention of kids who haven't developed enough to wait for a punch line. Breen's illustrations are light and cheerful with perky animals and jokes for adults to enjoy as well.

Verdict: Time to start planning those woodpecker and waffle storytimes!

ISBN: 9780062342577; Published 2016 by Harper; Borrowed from another library in my consortium show less

Benny the Woodpecker awakens to the most heavenly smell one morning, following it to the newly opened 'Moe's: Home of the Hot Waffle Breakfast.' But his attempts to get in the door and to get some of those delicious waffles are baffled by the waitress, who continually ejects him from the premises. The other animals are amused by Benny's troubles, and try to convince him that woodpeckers don't eat waffles. Not to be dissuaded, Benny uses a cunning stratagem to fool both his fellow forest show more dwellers and the humans inside Moe's.

An entertaining tale, one which features an amusing ending - Benny is one clever woodpecker, managing to fool everyone! - Woodpecker Wants a Waffle would make an excellent story-time selection. It's the sort of book that rewards a closer examination. In fact, as someone who always scans the colophon for any information about the medium used in a picture-book's illustrations, I was amused to see a little joke contained in that short description. Recommended to anyone looking for engaging picture-books featuring funny stories, as well as to any waffle lovers out there! show less

Violet VanWinkle's parents own a salvage yard, and from a young age Violet loved tinkering and making things. Eventually, she makes fantastical flying machines, though she gets made fun of for wearing coveralls to school and reading books about science and engineering. Eventually, she enters an air show, but on the day of the show she has to make a choice.
This is a delightful book with witty retro illustrations. Violet's crazy inventions, like the hot-air balloon powered by bubbles with a show more bathtub for a basket, are what put this one in the Modern Fantasy genre, but the rest of the book is pretty realistic. This is a great "girls in STEM" pick. show less