Sophie's Squash  By:  Pat Sietlow Miller Illustrated by: Anne Wilsdorf

One day Sophie finds a squash at the farmer’s market.  She decides that the squash is her pet and names her Bernice. She takes the squash everywhere she goes and does everything with it.  Her parents try to get her to replace her squash with dolls and trucks, but Sophie cannot let go.  One day Sophie’s squash has blotchy spots, and Sophie doesn’t know what to do. So she asks the farmer at the farmers market how to keep Bernice healthy. Sophie finds out that Bernice needs fresh clean dirt, so she places Bernice in the ground.  But it starts to snow that night and Sophie is sad in the morning when she cannot get to Bernice, every day Sophie watches for the snow to clear to find Bernice, and one day she is surprised to find something special where she has placed her.  This is a wonderfully creative story. The illustrations were delightful and full of life. Great for a classroom read aloud or for any elementary reader.

Great Non Fiction

Pedal it! How Bicycles are Changing the World By: Michelle Mulder

 This is the story of cycling.  The author, Michelle Mulder, loves bicycles and uses one everyday for everything as she does not own a car.  In this book Mulder shares the history of bicycles and how they have changed since the invention of them. Mulder also shares how bicycles are used all over the world for many different things, such as for electricity. The photographs in this book are amazing. They come from around the world, to show just how important bicycles are to people around the world.  This is a great book for anyone who loves bicycles, and a great addition to a nonfiction collection.

Down to Earth: How Kids Help Feed The World  By: Nikki Tate

 

 This informational book helps readers know where food around the world comes from.  It talks about what types of gardening, farming, and ranching happen all over the world.  This is a great book for students to understand how the food they eat gets to them. The images from all over the globe, help readers understand the diversity of the world, and how different kids like them get their food.  It even talks about worm farming.  This is a definite must have interesting book.

Bogart and Vinnie: A Completely Made Up Tale of True Friendship

Bogart and Vinnie: A Completely Made Up Tale of True Friendship By: Audrey Vernick  Illustrated By: Henry Cole

This is the story of a dog who gets lost. Vinnie, cannot find his owners and tries his hardest to make friends.  He meets Bogart, a lonely rhino, and they become close friends.  Everyone cannot believe how the rhino and the dog are so close, the news comes and they are famous.  But Vinnie still misses his owner.  The best part is the end, so pick it up today.  This book is laugh out loud funny, with great illustrations that made my class smile.  I was asked to review this for our school library. 

King Hugo's Huge Ego

King Hugo's Huge Ego By: Chris Van Dusen

King Hugo loves himself. He just cannot get enough of him.  He makes everyone bow low to him, and he talked about himself all the time.  One day he messes with the wrong girl, she puts a curse on him. So now every time he thinks of himself his head gets a little bigger. Until one day when it is so big that a gust of wind carries him off the castle to where he finds the same girl. She gives him the what for and they fall in love.

Funny story with great illustrations. This is a perfect read aloud book for any elementary school classroom. A fun filled rhyming book that shows how if you only think of you, you don't have time to think of others.

I borrowed this from the public library
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5004-9

Lawless

Lawless By: Jeffrey Salane

M has always been home schooled.  But things are about to change when she is sent to Lawless.  Lawless is hiding something and M knows it, but doesn't catch on until she wakes up on a plane and realizes that she is the pilot.  M is now at a school for thieves.  She had no idea but her father and mother are not the people she thought them to be, they also were thieves and her father was a great one.  M is learning all the things that thieves need to know, and a whole lot more. She is good at what she does though and that quickly makes her a target, for friends and for enemies. 

I liked this book.  It had an interesting plot, that kept me reading.  I enjoyed M, and felt for her as she began to find out things about her past that were not true. She also had to learn to find the truth in a school filled with lies and tricks.  Great read for any fourth or fifth grade reader. 

I borrowed this from the public library
ISBN: 978-0-545-45029-4

Zoomer's Summer Snowstorm

Zoomer's Summer Snowstorm By: Ned Young

Zoomer is at it again, and this time this inventive little dog is making it snow in the summer!  Zoomer just wants it to be cooler so when he makes a snow cone that ends up bigger then he thought it would he has an idea. Just keep letting it snow!  He blasts their backyard with a huge snow storm that creates a day filled with chilling out fun!

I love Zoomer!  This book does not disappoint!  It is so funny and Zoomer is one creative dog.  I think the things that he creates are neat and the illustrations that Young creates are just fun!  Great book.

I borrowed this from the public library
ISBN: 978-0-06-170092-7

Airman

Airman By: Eoin Colfer

Conor Broekhart was born in a hot air balloon so it is no doubt that he longs to leave the Earth and fly.  He grows up in the castle playing and having adventures with the princess, and getting lessons from the King's right hand man in fighting and the idea of flight.  When Conor is wandering the castle one night he sees something that changes his life forever.  He sees the murder of the King!  The King's murderer knows that Conor has seen him, so he sends Conor to the prison diamond mine.  Conor spends many years there, and has one friend.  While he is the Conor never gives up hope of flight, and has a lot of time to plan his escape.

I thought that this book was great. It had a lot of love, deceit, and hope.  I liked the main character Conor, his struggles made him a stronger person, but also did not allow him to give up easily.  I also thought that it was nice in the book that Conor had many older men in his life to give him advice and to help him on his way, that is important for young men, to have an older person to lead them and guide them.  Again, Great Teen Read!

When looking for a picture of the cover of the book, I found this picture.  This is a picture that I think captures the main character, Conor, so well, and it's a pretty cool one!

I borrowed this from the public library
ISBN: 978-142310751-4

The Hidden Summer

The Hidden Summer By: Gin Phillips

Nell does not have a happy life. She lives with her mother and has had many step dads. Nell does not know when her mom is going to be nice or mean, and she knows her mother does not want her around.  The worst thing happens when Lydia, Nell's best and only friend, is told that she cannot spend time with Nell.  But Nell has a plan.  Nell makes up a summer camp for Lydia and  summer school for her so that they can spend their days together hiding in the abandoned putt putt golf course. Here they have many adventures and meet a family that is living in the 9th hole.  Lydia gets tired of living at the golf course and Nell knows that she must eventually return home, but is having trouble doing it.

I really  liked this book.  I thought that it showed the resilient strength of kids that live with parents that are not doing well.  It breaks my heart that there are many kids that live with people that maybe do not even wan them.  I thought that the strong friendship between Nell and Lydia helped each of them find someone that accepted them and made them feel loved.

I borrowed this from the public library.
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3836-2