The reader has the opportunity hear an African tale through the eyes of a talented author and illustrator—Gail Haley. This story is why books are written—to spread them to the face of the earth. In this story, Ananse, the spider man, seeks to buy stories from the Sky God. Once given the cost of these sought after stories, the spider man climbs back down to earth to find the things the Sky God demanded. To most, the price of these stories is great and impossible to obtain, but to Ananse it is simple and soon obtained through skills and craftiness. Whether Ananse is successful is not the question. The question is how did Ananse get the things the Sky God required for his stories. You will have to find out by reading this book. This is a great read for children ages 5 – 12 who love folktales.
Opera is what she did well, but very few know the early start of Marian Anderson’s life. This ballad offers readers a chance to find out how Marian’s humble beginnings lead to her triumphant end. The beautiful illustrations add to the authentic text that rhymes. Readers will get a sense of what life was like for African American entertainers during a time in America’s history when they were not given equal treatment even though they were crowd pleasers for all who heard them. This is a good read for children ages 5 – 12 who love poetry and history.
This Newbery Honor Book Author sheds light into the realistic topic no one wants to talk about—Race. In this book readers are given an in-depth look into what race really is and why race should really be identification and not a differentiation. Questions are asked and answered with hopes of giving readers a better understanding of how race should be celebrated and not justified or elevated. Similarities, not differences are given throughout this book that encourages tolerance, denounces racism, and conveys race awareness. This book is appropriate for children and adults, especially Grades 2 – 9.
This fact book about the animal kingdom is an informative source for those fascinated with a variety of creatures and their behavior. The comparison of different animals gives the reader a connection to how sibling and family relationships are alike and different. The short side captions of factual nuggets about each creature provide a better understanding before and after reading the detailed descriptions. Jenkins and Page provide exciting pictures of each of the 21 siblings from a beaver, an elephant, an anteater and more. Although the font is not applicable for story time, the reader and listener will enjoy learning about the unfamiliar animal world, how their families get along, and how similar we are to some of these four-footed beasts. Sisters and Brothers is suitable for classroom settings in Grades 3 – 6.
Since communication skills are necessary for healthy relationships and success in school, this resource book /DVD combo is worth the investment by any school and library. In addition to being strongly aligned with the National English Language Arts Standards and Research Base, I Can Communicate uses a 42 minute DVD that gives students examples of real-life situations, advice on how to communicate effectively, and a precise summary of each topic discussed. The workbook supplies helpful tips on how to clearly and simply send and receive messages by visual activities, discussion questions, hands-on projects, and communication exercises. By using pre- and post- True/False Tests to monitor students’ growth, teachers and parents will appreciate this assessment tool as the answer key is provided. It is clearly a teacher’s or parent’s guide because it offers simple, straightforward text that can easily be explained and understood by adults and children, alike. By providing open-ended questions for students to engage, this resource book offers an opportunity for students to express themselves accurately. While this is a helpful resource book in explaining successful communication, there are simple punctuation marks that could be added and taken away. For example: on page 67 under Students Fact Sheets—the colon after Good Communicators is not necessary and periods should follow each of the advantages on the same page. This comprehensive resource book provides a well-rounded course of study for grades K – 6.
This book is one of a 12 book series—“Let’s Go!” It is appealing to a young child and parent/teacher who want to offer informative facts about trucks. Using imagery of real trucks, Hanson adds descriptive adjectives that provide fun facts about the different types of trucks. The reader will enjoy seeing these child-friendly photographs and changing color pages behind each text. Let’s Go By Truck is suitable for Preschool – 1 Grade or can be used as a high interest/low level material for Grades K – 2. Hanson accomplishes the goal of providing phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, text comprehension and fluency to help young readers develop appropriate reading skills. The print quality is large enough to enjoy in a group setting, but varies in font size from page to page. Any school or public library will find this book and series useful and well circulated.
This collection of poetry contains mostly prose, poems and mini stories featuring a wide cast of characters from toddlers to teens. She is a Canadian who lives in Guelph. Her book featured sequenced the joys and pains of giving and receiving. She takes her readers to different backgrounds, moods, and rich language through the variety of gifts.
This book effectively enlarges the adolescent’s awareness of how to write and illustrate terrific books. Loreen Leedy uses literary terms that would encourage research, brainstorming, and adventure writing. Not only does the book show how to plan, write and design a fantastic book, it gives graphic steps on how to illustrate one too. There are loads of tips for coming up with exceptional characters and settings, finding the perfect title, making revisions, choosing art supplies, and finding the pages of your own original book. By using a boy, a girl, and a dog, Leedy provides age appropriate ideas and simple direction on how to write, illustrate, design and find books. I would recommend that this book be considered because of its variety and promotion of imagination, creativity and reading and writing-which are all keys to success in school.
The main characters in this story portrayed the inner feelings and testaments of African Americans in the South, from Emancipation in 1863 to the 1954 Supreme Court decision that declared school segregation illegal. Not only is the language full of affection and imagery, the characters reveal beauty and endurance throughout a history of pain and shame. The events in Free at Last! Gives an accurate account of the ugly years of lynching, the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, and the invention of laws that sanctioned the degradation of breaks in every aspect of life. The point of views described as effective as the illustrations by Shane Evans. The ideas presented in this book are appropriate for children ages 8-10 and older. This book is highly personal growth. This nonfiction book talks about South Carolina on various occasions.
Swain has collected the history of candy and put it in a way that even a child can understand. The young reader discovers how their favorite sweets were created and discovered. They find out how their favorite holiday is dependent on the availability of the candy used to represent that particular holiday. For example, candy can at Christmas, heart candy at Valentines, chocolates for an anniversary. Men, women, boys, and girls had a hand or mouth in the discovery of some of the best candies.
This book is a useful tool to explain the 3-Dimensional triangular shape to small children. Parents and teachers will find their job a lot easier when sharing this book. The real-life imagery gives a greater understanding of pyramids and how they are constructed. The interactive sections toward the end of the book provide the reader a chance to evaluate and test his/her knowledge of a pyramid. What In The World Is A Pyramid? Is suitable for Grades K – 2. The cover is very appropriate to the text as well as the style in which it is presented. This will be a practical addition to any school or public library. Hanson uses effective and simple text to accomplish the goals of SandCastle books.
Reviews by Shiela Martina KeaiseChildren’s Librarian of the COLLETON COUNTY MEMORIAL LIBRARY