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Junie came to Paws to Read. So soft!
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The introduction starts off very well, noting specifically that these are generalities and every dog is different. It also mentions other senses we don't usually talk about, like proprioception. With examples of specific dog behavior, Gibeault explains the science behind how dogs see, smell, taste, touch, and hear. She also talks about how these senses have developed over the evolution of dogs, how different breeds may have different degrees of senses, and how their senses affect their behavior. The last section talks about the possibility of dogs' ability to sense the magnetic pull of the poles, magnetoreception, and compares dog senses to humans, concluding that we're all amazing just as we are.
The text is in larger chunks, usually in two columns per page, but Latif's brightly colored illustrations not only show the scientific and anatomical concepts, they also include brightly colored backgrounds to guide readers through the text. Although I have been struggling a lot in getting kids to read longer nonfiction, the layout of this book should make it an easier sell to reluctant readers and the popular topic will intrigue them.
Verdict: A strong addition to nonfiction collections, this fills a niche in talking about all the senses of dogs and the layout makes the longer text accessible. Recommended.
ISBN: 9781771475242; Hardcover at $11.17 on Baker & Taylor.jpg)
Carla, a bouncy young girl with blonde pigtails and a missing front tooth, likes to stand out and is excited about possibly getting classes when her class goes for vision-screening. She prepares by trying out different glasses styles, much to the astonishment of Buster, her shyer friend. After their exam, both are glum - Carla because she doesn't need glasses and Buster because he does! Carla is happy for her friend though, until he explains that, while he knows she likes to stand out, he doesn't like everyone looking at him, although he's not worried about being teased. He just doesn't like extra attention. But Carla has a clever plan for the whole class to enjoy glasses and to make Buster feel better.
The illustrations are a little blurry and the kids' mouths especially have a slightly odd perspective. I've also noticed that the glossy paper Flashlight Press uses seems to tend towards books that fall apart easily. These minor quibbles aside, as well as my perpetual complaint about unrealistic class sizes (15 is better than the usual 10 I guess) this is a fun and relatable story. Carla is a much nicer kid than class clowns usually are, able to see others' perspectives and how they might not enjoy the same things, and her idea is very clever and fun.
Verdict: I wouldn't recommend this so much for kids getting glasses - it's generally not a big deal and I never heard of any modern kids being teased for it (although the cost of frames makes me wince at Carla's carefree fiddling with them at the shop) but this is a nice story about different personalities being friends. Pair it with A home for every bird.
ISBN: 9781947277717; Hardcover/Picture book on Baker & Taylor for $10.61.jpg)
Colorful greens, blues, and purples introduce readers to a lanky green frog with a red bathing suit and fishing pole, relaxing on a rock. Not just any rock, this is THEIR rock! But then they hear snoring and discover a light green frog in a yellow-striped bathing suit. Frog no. 1 angrily wakes them up and proclaims, in rhyme, their ownership of the rock.
The two quarrel, demonstrating their ownership of the rock, waving their possessions around, and generally cause a ruckus... which attracts the attention of a hungry heron nearby. The two quickly forget their fight in the imminent danger of the bird and they help each other escape and find a new, smaller rock that's just right for both of them!
I'm not usually a fan of rhyming picture books, but the bouncing rhythm, cheerful pictures, and cheeky humor of the bug-eat-bug world in the background of the story make this a new favorite of mine. It's sure to be a hit at storytime and will be a great choice for frog or sharing storytimes. I also appreciate the hint of realism in showing various creatures on the menu, although they all safely escape.
Verdict: A surefire storytime favorite and must-have for most libraries. Recommended.
ISBN: 9781682637463; Hardcover/picture book on Baker & Taylor for $10.63.jpg)
It's not a good start to the new school year when Pablo's abuela drags him out of bed to save their nonexistent goats. Once he remembers he's in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio, he realizes that doesn't make things any better - his sister is insisting he learn to waltz for her quinceanera, his parents won't get him a phone, he runs into a weird new kid, and he's still unpopular at school, due to... the incident. Oh, and he's gotten stuck with a haunted locker in the haunted basement.
Pablo's plan is to lie low and just make it through middle school, but it's getting harder and harder to do that as things just keep happening! When an inky black monster named Obie pops out of his locker and offers to help him summon monsters from mythology to solve his problems, he's hardly even surprised. He is surprised and overjoyed when he finds a phone in his locker - his parents finally got him a phone!? Nope, turns out it's a trick and the next thing he knows Pablo has summoned Coatlicue and she is NOT happy. She's decided it's time for all the ungrateful humans to pay for what they've done, starting with Pablo's middle school, the firefighters who show up (his mom gets transformed into an armadillo), and everyone she can get her stone jaguar claws on.
Readers are in for a wild ride, as one moment Pablo is debating the merits of tacos with his new friends, and the next minute he's using D&D rules to try and plan a strategy for saving his hometown. There's a sharp reality to the story, despite the mythical monsters, as the students deal with racism and hostility in their own ways and Pablo finds a way to honor his heritage and still be himself. At the same time, the story never takes itself too seriously, with Pablo's hilarious interactions with his abuela (where has she even been keeping those bones!?) and his determination to save his new friends, his family, but maybe not the bullies... Every kid is a unique character, showing all the drama, awkwardness, and struggle of middle schoolers, from Pablo's former best friend, who falls back on threatening to call I.C.E. on the Hispanic kids, to his new friend Maggie who has declared war on all technology because she's tired of dealing with the girls' group chat.
Verdict: For a story about ancient mythical beings returning to unmake the world, this is real, funny, and hits home in all the right ways. I've been looking for books that center Hispanic experience in the Midwest for a long time and never expected to find the perfect book in a fantasy graphic novel starring a nerdy short kid and a bloodthirsty goddess. Aguirre hits every point for the classic middle grade audience and I highly recommend this for all public and school libraries.
ISBN: 9781250749734; Paperback on Baker & Taylor for $9.44.jpg)
This novelty board book has loose sliders in the four main pages that make it look as if leaves are "falling" out of the picture. The rhymes emphasize colors and movement, encouraging readers to scrape, rake, tip, and blow the leaf piles.
There are four pages with a slider and while they are loose, it does take some tapping and shaking of the book to get them to come out. When you do, they all tend to come out at once. The book itself does not feel very sturdy, with a thin cardboard cover holding the four thicker boards in place.
The art is cheerful and colorful, showing a diverse range of children playing outdoors in the leaves. The cover picture shown doesn't accurately show the way the sliders work - they all slide out horizontally on the right, so when they're all out it they're stacked on top of each other, not in a fan pattern.
Verdict: I think this will be popular, appealing to adults' nostalgia about leaves, and might, possibly, inspire some kids to try to keep leaves around a little longer. Although the book is flimsy, it's inexpensive and in areas with four seasons it's worth purchasing several copies even if they don't last long.
ISBN: 9781665962056; Board book on Baker & Taylor for $5.66.jpg)
The story begins with two plump orange squirrels, Dad and a child, setting out into the woods. The child squirrel narrates the story in simple sentences, explaining that they are making a familiar trip to see an acorn they buried last autumn. They talk casually about how they love acorns, the other animals who eat them, and how there are fewer every year. As the two travel through the woods, there is a rich forest life to watch all around them.
Birds flit about and watch them, other squirrels zip up and down the trees, and woodland animals, from bugs to bears, enjoy acorns in their own way. There are colorful leaves falling, rotting logs providing homes to animals, berries and fungi, and a delightful variety of plants. Finally, the two arrive at the largest oak in the woods, from the branches of which they can see their buried acorn, which has sprouted!
They water and care for it and the small squirrel imagines coming back the next day and the next - and finally seeing it grow into a giant tree with acorns for everyone.
There's no explicit lesson or dramatic plot twist, just the quiet enjoyment of two creatures in the woods and the gentle hope for the future. This is a very different style from most American picture books, which tend to have a very specific narrative style, but it's one I find refreshing and peaceful.
Verdict: It might take a little while for storytime audiences to adapt to this different style, but it's a lovely book to accompany outdoor expeditions or storytimes about forests, acorns, or the fall season.
ISBN: 9788000072890; Hardcover on Baker & Taylor for $10.05
Self-Directed Activities
Meetings, hosted events, etc.
Notes
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Rafa, short for Rafael, promises Mama to stay close if he gets out of the cart. For a while, he does, clinging tightly to her legs with easy to follow blue pants with big white polka-dots. But when he chases down and picks up a berry that falls off a display, he goes to show Mama... and it's the wrong pair of legs!
Rafa panics and runs through the produce section, until he finally finds Mama, but it's the wrong pair of legs again! Finally, he hears the loudspeaker talking about the bakery and remembers getting cookie samples there. So he wipes away his tears, finds the person handing out cookie samples, and asks him to use his walkie-talkie to find Mama. Finally, the right pair of legs arrive! Another child loses their mom at the same time, but all are reunited and it's a happy ending.
There's a short afterword with discussion questions for making sure kids know what to do if they get lost or separated. The author also has an online activity kit to help kids memorize their phone number.
There are some assumptions here, not exactly stereotypes, but close. Many kids don't have a stable adult in their life, let alone a phone number that stays the same. There's also the assumption that the families are shopping at the same (big) store regularly. However, it's reasonable to assume that if a kid's family has the time and bandwidth to read aloud to them and discuss what to do if they get lost, they have enough stability to have said information to pass on to the kids.
The art is friendly and shows a diverse group of people, body types, and fashion choices, mostly from the legs down of course, wandering about the store.
Verdict: A unique and must-have addition to most library collections, this would be something I'd use in a safety-themed storytime, recommend to kids learning basic safety, or even use when covering life skills and critical thinking with older kids - it's funny but relatable. Highly recommended.
ISBN: 9781958325223; Hardcover/picture book on Baker & Taylor for $18.04
Hide and Seek in Nature features animals and plants. Each spread follows the same layout. On the left, a page with a solid background color has a simple sentence or two around a cut-out showing part of an image to identify. For example, "It seems like we're deep in the jungle... Who can that be, grinning at us?" On the right, there are four options to identify the image seen through the cut-outs with a question for each object like "Are they monkeys?" The left page folds out to reveal the answer to the riddle, showing the plant or animal in context and giving a few simple facts about it.
Some of the answers can be narrowed down by very close examination, or by looking at the slice of image not hidden by the fold-out page, but it's not possible to choose a single definite answer as no clues are given and multiple images are identical to the cut-out image.
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Both books have thin, cardboard pages and would technically be classified as board books, although they are very different from the traditional board book. I, personally, being someone who likes there to be one correct answer, found these exasperating and frustrating. I think a certain number of children will agree with me. However, I also think there's value in having books that make you think and ponder and realize that sometimes there just isn't one correct answer!
Verdict: These won't be for every kid, but they will be fun to spark discussion about perspectives as well as inspiring kids to observe nature.
Hide and Seek in Nature ISBN: 9788000072883; Hardcover on Baker & Taylor for $11.96
