Another great addition to Hank Zipzer's story. I love how he struggles with many of the same things the students in my class struggle with, helping make them realize that we all have things we need to overcome.

Bug in a Vacuum is a telling of Kubler-Ross's Five Stages of Grief in a way that children can grasp. It is told via the journey of a fly with cute, big eyes, when he finds himself accidentally sucked into a canister vacuum cleaner. He goes through the stages of grief as he deals with his new surroundings and reality. I really liked that the story is written cyclically so that children, or adults, can see that even though you may find yourself dealing with grief, life continues on afterwards.

This isn't a children's book! I thought from the description that it might be a fun addition to my classroom library. I was wrong! However, it was throughly enjoyed in the teacher's lounge. It brought some much needed chuckles as the end of the school tear approaches and everyone is feeling stress and burn out. Cute idea for a grown-up audience.

A cute informational book for young readers about lice. It offers facts in a light-hearted way to make the reader not squirm while learning about lice - what they do and where they come from. As a teacher in a city elementary school, lice is a regular issue and I appreciate the way the content is presented so that it demystifies what it means to have lice. My only complaint is the very end of the book where it intreats the reader to run away the next time he/she sees a louse. Since we have several students who regularly have lice (and bedbugs), I would rather the reader learn to avoid sharing personal items and have compassion rather then run away and make the affected person feel like a pariah.

Roger is Reading a Book is a charming story about a man and his quest to have a nice, quiet spot to read. Through some trials and tribulations, he finds that spot while introducing a friend to the joys of a good book. This is a great addition for a classroom library and could be used to help illustrate the need for a quiet and calm reading time, in school or out.

Audrey (Cow) is an absolutely charming book! The story is fresh and original with enough suspense and intrigue to keep an older elementary/middle schooler captivated. The thing I really enjoyed was learning the story through the voices of all the different characters. Bar-El did a tremendous job giving each character his or her own distinct voice without being distracting. Each character keeps the story moving forward. As a reading teacher, this book will be used to help students when we talk about voice and perspective. Thank you for an absolutely delightful read!

Love You When, is a heartfelt book that uses decorated river rocks for illustrations. The pictures are lovely and the sentiment the book professes is very nice, but I hesitate to include this book in my children's book library as it is categorized as. It seems much more like a book you would discover at a Hallmark Card & Gift store to give to someone on a birthday, anniversary, and other sentimental occasions. The book has a theme of loving someone through different seasons and times, but there isn't really a story there to grab a child's attention and keep them interested through the end of the story.

Lots of fun. A nice nod to The Tempest....

Bear has lost his hat and wants it back! He meets other animals while searching for his hat and the story has a nice little twist at the end to challenge young readers' abilities to infer what happened when his hat is finally found. It is a terrific book to reader with new or struggling readers in that the dialogue between bear and the other animals is colored to indicate who is doing the talking. It helps the reader work on reading with expression and understanding that the words are coming from different characters.

I love the message of John Jensen Feels Different. Everyone goes through stages when we feel odd and out of place and this story explores John's discovery that while he is different, that's O.K. - maybe something even to be celebrated! I thought the illustrations were charming and the message appropriate for pre-school through 6th grade. The one part of the book that felt odd was when the elderly lady collapsed in the E.R. I wasn't really sure why this was included, as it could be traumatic for some young readers, other than to introduce Dr. Field. His introduction could have taken place when John meets him about his own injury.
This is definitely a book I will use when teaching about celebrating everyone's unique qualities and how we need to appreciate who we are.

What I really like about Differentiation that Really Works is that there are great ideas as to how to structure lessons to meet everyone's news and there are handy reproducibles to help save time. The lesson ideas and templates offers a great jumping off point when preparing your own lessons too. As an elementary teacher I did like how the ideas could be scaled down to meet the needs of lower grades as well.

While the title says that the contents are geared toward gifted students, I found that the activities could be used to enhance any upper elementary/middle school curriculum regardless of the giftedness of the students. Most students respond to interesting lessons that allow them to do something other than sit and listen or fill out worksheets and to that end, this book can give the classroom teacher some useful insights on how to create dynamic learning experiences. It would have been helpful if the book had offered a content-area guide/index to help the teacher put her hands on appropriate materials more quickly.

I loved how this book allows children to experience getting along with each other even though we are all different and unique and have various living experiences. I like that it was written simply enough so that the book can be shared with pre-schoolers up through independent readers. I also liked how the book explores that while we tend to classify people into broad groups, there are nuances within the groups that need to be accepted and cherished as well.

I didn't necessarily understand everything in this book, but I throughly enjoyed it and learned a lot. Good book for science novices with inquiring minds.

If You Give a Dog a Donut harkens back to the cuteness of If You Give a Pig a Pancake, but with a nod to boys. My sons devoured the "If You Give" books until If You Take a Mouse to the Movies - the stories started to feel more forced than genuine. This latest installment is terrific - so much so that my now 10 and 13 year olds enjoyed reading it and pulled out our other "If You Give" books for fun...

Fantastic book written for children to have snapshot views of famous artists throughout history. I love that there are little known facts included in the articles to spark imaginations while reading non-fiction.

I really liked the beginning of this book. I thought the idea of witches, vampires, and daemons living among humans was a neat twist and I liked the inputs of discovering a long lost book putting the trio of "non-humans" on edge. That said, the book didn't resolve itself. It was a lot of reading for the crux of the story to go nowhere - the only thing that happened was that the witch and the vampire become romantically involved. I don't know if this is the first book of a series, and the upcoming conflict between the vampires, witches, and daemons will be played out in another installation, but as it stands, the discovery of the book loses any semblance of importance by the end of the book. I was disappointed how the book hobbled to an end.

I really like the message that the book, Willy, shares with the readers - that we all have differences in our apperances that make us unique individuals and those differences help make us special. The illustrations are lively and eye-catching and really help bring the moral of the story to life. Unfortunately, the book is wordy and clunky to read. I don't know if this is because it is translated to English, or the author just had a lot to say, but it is not a comfortable book to read out loud. It is almost like the story needed to be translated and then reworked to fit the rhythm of the English language. So, while I like the message and the pictures, this is not a book I would add to my classroom library as it is uncomfortable to read out loud and the sentence structure may confuse early readers.

A quick read - not as captivating as the first, but then again, it is the middle book.

I really liked the idea of this book because it mirrored what I tell my children, "If you don't believe in Santa, then why would he even visit our house?" As an adult I still cherish the idea of Santa and I want my family to hold onto the wonder and magic of the season as long as possible. That being said, "The Santa Club" starts off upholding the magic of the season, sharing the idea that there are "millions of members" in the Santa Club, but then it loses it's way as it launches into how Jesus died for our sins and that St. Nicholas was a follower of Jesus and he leaves gifts in Jesus' stead. The book becomes preachy and a bit off putting. As it leaves the story about the Jesus/St. Nicholas link, it tries it wrap back to how the story began, but it feels forced and false. I was hoping for a story that helped explain why there can be so many Santas out and about during the holiday season, but instead was left with a weak story.

While not as fulfilling as "Water for Elephants," "Ape House" is an interesting tale that makes one wonder about the pull of reality TV on our society. Would we be as intrigued with watching communicative Bonobos as we are watching people on "Big Brother" or "Survivor?" It is a tale that helps remind us that all life is important and unique and it is never O.K. to take advantage of anyone, I mean, any animal.

Good read - I didn't like how it just ended after such an intriguing story, but it was very entertaining.

In many ways it is unfair to call this book, "Harry Potter for grown ups." While it does begin with Quentin attending a magical school, it is so much more than just about his experiences there. The magic is darker and much more sophisticated as are the experiences the students find themselves in once school is over.

Good story around the Blitz in London in WWII. A page-turner.

Feels like about 50% of the story could have been edited out - it drags...

LOTS of practical advice and tips. This book has really helped us learn more about how our puppy thinks and how to train him accordingly. House training our pup was a struggle until we read this book!

Charming Christmas story that reminds us that Christmas isn't just about Santa and gifts, but also compassion and joy.

Another fun adventure with Skippyjon Jones. This time, when he goes into the closet, he is off to school. He learns that friends come in all sizes and to not jump to conclusions about people until you get to know them.

Nicely laid out book that gives children (and adults) confidence in their drawing abilities.

A fun return to Old Man Fookwire's world. Maybe not as endearing as the first book, but lots of fun and will cause giggles.