Bears Make the Best Reading Buddies (Capstone, 2016) is propelled by the power of persuasion. In it, Adelaide wants to convince her teacher, Mrs. Fitz-Pea, to allow her reading buddy to participate in their classroom reading project. The problem is that Adelaide’s reading buddy is a bear. Not a tiny teddy bear, mine you. A… Read more »
Debbie Gonzales
What Does It Mean to Be An Entrepreneur?
What Does It Mean to be an Entrepreneur? (Little Pickle Press, 2016) explores the initiative, tenacity, and persistence needed to successfully transform an inspiration into a functioning reality. Entrepreneurs approach problem-solving opportunities by asking the questions “What if?” and “What for?” From there, they tirelessly investigate options in search of creative ways to develop… Read more »
GROUNDHOG’S DILEMMA by Kris Remenar and Matt Faulkner
Fair-minded Groundhog is caught in a conundrum. The seasonal prediction he makes on Groundhog Day pleases some of his friends, but not all. Bear and Hare want six more weeks of winter. Squirrel and Sparrow, most definitely, do not. Groundhog explains that he’s not in control of the weather. Instead, he merely “Calls it like… Read more »
A Tale of Highly Unusual Magic by Lisa Papaemetriou
In Lisa Papademetriou’s fascinating A Tale of Highly Unusual Magic (HarperCollins, 2015) two girls on polar opposite points of the earth are brought together by a magical book entitled The Exquisite Corpse. Kia is from Houston. Leila is an American living in Pakistan. Each have a copy of the magic book that writes its own… Read more »
WATER RUNS THROUGH THIS BOOK by Nancy Bo FLood
Cowboy Up! author Nancy Bo Flood and photographer Jan Sonnenmair have partnered together once again to craft another incredible book. Their latest, Water Runs Through This Book (Fulcrum) is an active, vibrant, and poetic celebration of an element that is essential to all of life – WATER! Young readers will learn that water molecules are… Read more »
POET: THE REMARKABLE STORY OF GEORGE MOSES HORTON by Don Tate
Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton is the story of a man who was born with words inside of him – words full of life and love and wonder. Poetic words. Musical words. Profound and philosophical words. Thoughts and perceptions that had to be expressed. However, young George Moses Horton was enslaved. There… Read more »
A Maze Me: Poems for Girls by Naomi Shihab Nye
Nye’s A Maze Me: Poems for Girls (Greenwillow Books, 2014) is a tender tribute to girls from the ages to 11 to 13, an honest study of a young girl’s need to be heard. Regarding pre-adolescent girls, Nye states, “I want to talk to her. Ask her things. See what she is looking at, off… Read more »
