Can I Play Too? by Mo Willems

In traditional Mo Willems fashion, this book was absolutely adorable. Elephant and Piggie are playing catch when a snake comes and asks if he can play, but he doesn’t have any arms! Through the process of trial an error Piggie finally comes to a conclusion, where they are al able to play catch. The unique thing about this book was the dialogue. It was very short and straightforward, but because of the comic book style of using text bubbles, it seemed more meaningful. The background color of each bubble was different depending on which character was talking. They changed up the size and shape of the text and bubbles to match the mood and feeling of the character. Plus, the way they solve the dilemma in the end was very creative. I am now an Elephant and Piggie fan!

LEGO Star Wars: A Visual Dictionary by Simon Beecroft

The author opens up the book with an annotated timeline of all the Lego models, related to Star Wars that had been sold between 1999 and 2009. He then divided them into categories such as: Movie Saga, Clone Wars, Specialist Sets and Beyond the Brick, followed by a lot of sub-categories. Under each heading he has a picture of the complete model of everything mentioned in the timeline at the beginning. He uses captions to explain who and what they are, how they function and he labels everything. This is definitely a really cool visual dictionary collection, especially for Star Wars buffs, collectors or hobbyists who build their models. I’ve never been a huge fan of Star Wars, but I realize that a lot of people are and was therefore able to appreciate the time and effort that was obviously put into this book.

City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems

City Dog looked forward to going to the countryside whenever he could, so that he could see his friend Country Frog. They go through spring, summer and fall, but by winter Country Frog has disappeared and by the following spring he’s still gone. City Dog doesn’t know what happened to his friend, but he is able to move on in a positive way. There are two strengths to this book. First of all is the author Mo Willems, he is so good at using a few well chosen words to convey so much emotion. The second strength is the illustrations. They are done in water color, which gives them a slightly fuzzy look, but the technique gives them a lot of depth and emotion, so the complement the text. I think this would be a wonderful book to use with younger students to practice making predictions about what they think happened to the frog.

Sparrow Girl by Sarah Pennypacker

The elders in Ming-Li’s village in China have decreed that all sparrows be killed because they eat too much of the wheat crop. Over the course of three days they decimate the population. Ming- Li makes a vow with her older brother to save as many of the sparrows as they can. In the end she was only able to save the lives of seven, yet the sparrows she protected end up saving the village. Therefore, she becomes known as “Sparrow Girl.” Apparently, this picture book is based on a true event called “The Sparrow War” which took place in 1958 in China. There were two things that caught my attention while reading this book. The first thing was the illustrations, which were well drawn and supported the story, but the characters didn’t really look Chinese. The other thing I noticed was the text. It was extremely small, but easy to read due to the type of font. I think this would be a good book to use in an English class, to show how real events can be semi-fictionalized and made into story books.

Fancy Nancy: Oh La La it's Beauty Day by Jane O'Conner

Fancy Nancy wants to do something nice for her mom’s birthday, so she decides to give her a spa day in the backyard. She creates a spa, complete with facials and hairstyling. She gives her mom a complete makeover, but in the end she’s worried she ruined it because her hair style doesn’t turn out at all like it’s supposed to. The neat thing about this book is that Fancy Nancy provides you with the recipes for yummy snacks and tips to re create your own spa day, things such as a facial mask recipe. In addition, she explains why and to make it sound more upscale, she uses basic French words ad in some cases big words because as she explains they sound sophisticated. This is another book geared towards girls and one that they would find delightful. Plus, it may make them want to read the rest of the books in the Fancy Nancy series.

Written in Bone: The Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland by Susan M. Walker

This is a wonderful non-fiction book that looks very closely into forensic anthropology, which is basically the study of skeletons and scientists are able to piece together how they died, how old they were when they died, their nationality and in some cases identify who they were as well as their social standing. The author Mrs. Walker has teamed up with some forensic anthropologists to create a fascinating journey into how the colonists of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland lived and died. My favorite part of the book was the pictures. The pictures were real photographs with captions which supported the text very well. In addition to the photographs, they also provided maps to show the locations of where they were digging. Also, the text was very straight forward and easy to understand. Plus, since there wasn’t a lot on each page because of the pictures and layout, it didn’t seem like you were reading a boring text book. This would be a good book to use in a history class for research and get the kids more engaged in their learning.

The Very Fairy Princess by Julie Andrews & Emma Walton Hamilton

This book was absolutely adorable. Geraldine doesn’t just believe that she is a Fairy Princess, she knows for a fact that she is! The entire book she talks about what she does, that lets her know this, such as how she has to wear her crown at all times even in the bathtub so she makes one out of bubbles. Geraldine is very imaginative and in the end, you can see why she feels like fairy princess. My favorite part of the book was the fact that after she explained to you what she did as a fairy princess, at the bottom of the page in parentheses she explains why, even when her brother tries to prove her wrong. It really is a cute picture book, definitely geared more towards little girls, but it would be a god book to read aloud before they go to bed.

Book Fiesta! by Pat Mora & Illustrator Rafeal Lopez

This was the 2010 Illustrator Award winner of the Pure Belpre Medal. Basically this book is written to celebrate children’s day and book day. It is a book that tells you where books can take you and how we should all celebrate together on this day in April. Plus, it’s written in English on one page and Spanish on the other. Combine that with the colorful illustrations and wonderful writing of Pat Mora and you have a good choice for kids. The biggest strength of the book is the bilingual aspect. It allows more people to understand the book, since not everyone has English as their first language. Plus, since Spanish is the second most predominate language in the United States it makes the most sense. I think as librarians and teachers that we should promote Children’s Day/ Book Day or El día de los niños/El día de los libros by reading this book.

My People by Langston Hughes & Photographer Charles R. Smith Jr.

This particular book won the 2010 Coretta Scott King Award for illustrator. The illustrator was Charles R. Smith Jr. and he chose to take sepia tone photographs of African Americans of all ages and put the poem “My People” by Langston Hughes with the pictures. Even though this was a very short poem, when you combine it with the pictures it is very moving. It is suppose to be a tribute to the African American race. My favorite feature was the fact that the photographs were done in the sepia tone. This made them more powerful. You could really see the detail yet still tell that they were African American. I will be honest because of this, though I found it moving I probably didn’t get as much out of it as I would have had I been an African American myself. Yet another book, that would be good to use in the introduction to poetry or during African American heritage month in February.

Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable LIves of Bass Reeves by Vaunda Micheaux

This was the 2010 Coretta Scot King Award winner for author and another remarkable book about an African American, that I’ve never heard of. Bass Reeves was a former slave, who escaped to freedom and went onto become a U.S. Marshall in the territories. He was known as a force to be reckoned with someone who always got his man. In his three decades as a lawman, he made more than 3,000 arrests and only killed 14 people. Even though it was a biography, since it was combined with such wonderful illustrations. It actually read more like a story picture book that provided you with interesting information. The other neat feature was that at the end it provides you with a timeline, additional information and resources for further study. This would be a good book to use during African American history month.

The Hunt for the Seventh by Christine Morton- Shaw

Jim and his family move into a haunted mansion, after his father becomes the head gardener. There is a stone garden and stone statues located throughout the grounds. The spirits are children who keep telling Jim to “Find the Seventh” No one believes him, the owners autistic son Einstein. Jim has to figure out the clues that the ghost children are leaving for him and solve the prophecy before it’s too late. However, things aren’t always as they appear. This book reminded me a lot of the movie “The Sixth Sense” as far as not seeing what is coming until the end. Throughout the whole book Shaw did wonderful job of tying all of the clues together, without being predictable at all. Also, the aspect of Jim’s family dynamics and how everyone is coping with their mothers’ sudden death adds another dimension to the story. This was a book that I couldn’t put down and kept me guessing till the end, a definite recommendation to reluctant readers.

Jake Ransom and the Skull Kings Shadow by James Rollins

Jake Ransom’s parents were famous archeologists who disappeared a couple of years ago. One day Jake gets a weird package and the next thing you know Jake and his older sister Kady are transported into the strange world of Calypsos, located thousands of years in the past. Jake realizes that in addition to having to watch out for the Skull King, who is trying to take Calypsos over, that this world could lead them to the answers of why their parents disappeared. This is the first book in this series and it reminded me of a cross between the Percy Jackson series and the movie “National Treasure”. It is definitely action packed and full of adventure. I thought it was a little on the predictable side, but for younger reluctant readers, especially boys I think this would be a good suggestion and one that would keep their attention.

My Abuelita by Tony Johnston

A little boy lives with his grandmother and describes the routine they follow before she goes to work every morning, including bathing, singing, dressing, eating breakfast and getting dressed. The biggest strength of the book is the illustrations. They appear to be alive. The characters look like puppets without strings and because of the depth and color combinations it looks like you can actually see into the picture, in a 3- dimensional manner. In addition, it has Spanish words sprinkled throughout with the meaning being written within the text, so they are easy to understand and no meaning is lost. This would be a good book to read aloud to kids because it has a lot of voice ad lends itself to lively reading.

Punkzilla by Adam Rapp

Jamie is fourteen- years old and has gone AWOL from military school. His goal is to travel across country and get to his oldest brother “P” before he dies of cancer. On his trip, which takes many days he encounters all types of intriguing people and experiences many weird things. He writes all of his thoughts and experiences down in a notebook. Each entry is written as a letter addressed to family and friends that he will never send. This was a very honest, gritty book. Between Jamie’s encounters with a transsexual, getting jumped in a bathroom and getting touched by an old man and that’s just the tip of the iceberg, you’re not sure what will happen next. In addition to the situations that Jamie gets himself into, his dialogue and thoughts are very authentic. The most unique thing about this book was that it’s hard to know what race Jamie is. In the beginning based on his manner of speech and his nickname “Punkzilla” I thought he was black. Eventually you realize that things aren’t always what they seem. My only issue with the book was the ending. I thought it ended way too abruptly and left a lot of questions unanswered. However, it did leave room for a sequel.

The Season by Sarah MacLean

Seventeen- year old Lady Alexandra was raised in a house full of brothers, so the last thing she cares about is behaving like a proper aristocratic lady and getting married. Alex and her two best friends Ella and Vivi, get into all types of trouble and in the process Alex even finds love. Of all the books that I’ve read recently, this was by far one my favorites. It had a little of everything that makes the recipe for a good story, things such as romance, murder, adventure, espionage, etc. Plus Alex and her two friends were extremely relatable because of their way of thinking and frank conversations you really get to see what is going on in the girls’ heads. This book is definitely more geared towards young women who like mystery, romance and characters they can relate too.