Posted in Preschool Reads

Aliens Get the Sniffles, Too! Get the lunar decongestants!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Aliens Get the Sniffles, Too!, by Katy S. Duffield//Illustrated by KG Campbell, (Nov. 2017, Candlewick), $16.99, ISBN: 978-0-7636-6502-9

Recommended for readers 3-7

A couple of weeks ago, I posted the trailer for the adorable picture book, Aliens Get the Sniffles, Too! Now that the book’s available, I can finally talk about it! Poor little Alien feels just awful! his two throats are scratchy, his five ears hurt, and he’s got three runny noses! Mama and Daddy Alien try all the different remedies, from Milky Way milkshakes to the dreaded lunar decongestants, but nothing works. Poor Mars Rover, Alien’s best buddy and loyal pet, feels awful seeing his friend so sick – and sometimes, a good friend is the cure for what ails you.

Aliens Get the Sniffles, Too! is great sick-day reading for little ones who feel just plain yucky. His sneezes, loaded with space terms (“AHHH-3-2-1-blastoff-CHOO!”), are powerful and shoot his friend across the room, scaring the poor parents. The story captures the pure misery of a cold, and the lengths we parents go to in order to try and make things better (even if they may make our kids feel worse while we’re trying). KG Campbell’s pen, watercolor, and colored pencil artwork presents readers with the cutest aliens, with giant, expressive eyes and calming pastel colors. Loyal Mars Rover is a three-eyed golden mutt whose attention is focused on his companion.

Aliens Get the Sniffles, Too! is a good add to picture book collections – we can never have enough sick day books! Recommend this one, along with favorites like Jane Yolen’s How Do Dinosaurs Get Well Soon? And Philip Stead’s A Sick Day for Amos McGee, to caregivers who have a snuffly one at home.

Posted in Fantasy, Fiction, Intermediate

5-Minute Stories for Minecrafters: Extreme Stories!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

5-Minute Stories for Minecrafters: Extreme Stories from the Extreme Hills, by Greyson Mann/Illustrated by Grace Sandford, (Sept. 2017, Sky Pony Press), $7.99, ISBN: 978-1-5107-2370-2

Recommended for readers 7-10

Buddies Zack, Sophia, and Anthony are Minecraft adventurers on the hunt for treasure. Over the course of eight short stories (or short chapters, since they do follow one adventure), the friends encounter zombies, spiders, exploding Creepers, and a dreaded Enderman! Written for a more intermediate audience, these are fun for a quick read-aloud during a circle time or for kids who are in the mood for something fast that doesn’t require a lot of commitment; something they can pick up during a homework or study break. Themes of working together and friendship frame the relationship between characters and influence choices they make while adventuring. Illustrations throughout the text keep kids in the story’s world, holding their interest.

Overall, a fun book to have available for Minecrafters. My library is loaded with them.

Posted in Fiction, Intermediate, Realistic Fiction

Ballpark Mysteries goes to Cooperstown!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Ballpark Mysteries: Christmas in Cooperstown (Super Special #2), by David A. Kelly/Illustrated by Mark Meyers, (Sept. 2017, Random House), $5.99, ISBN: 978-0-399-55192-5

Recommended for readers 6-9

Confession time: While I steer a lot of my readers toward the Ballpark Mysteries books, I hadn’t read one until Christmas in Cooperstown. I’m really glad I did read it, though; despite not being much of a sports fan, I do enjoy a fun mystery, and Christmas in Cooperstown was just what I needed.

Best friends Mike and Kate are volunteering to wrap presents for a charity, Cooperstown Cares, at the Baseball Hall of Fame. As a thank you, they and their friends are invited to a sleepover at the Hall of Fame, which is pretty fantastic. It’s a good thing, too – Mike notices that the Honus Wagner card – a rare baseball card that can go for millions of dollars at auction – has been stolen and replaced with a fake! He and Kate have to track down the clues, find the card and the culprit, and deliver the charity’s gifts on time. Pretty big order!

Sports fans will really enjoy the tidbits of sports history here. I was interested in the science behind discovering the fake card, and using his dad’s business as a baseball card dealer opens the door to some fun trivia and facts throughout the book. “Dugout Notes”, a regular feature in the Mysteries, on Cooperstown and the National Baseball Hall of Fame finish up the book, along with a recipe for All-Star Blue Chip Muffins, which have a little cameo in the story.

Readers can pick up Christmas at Cooperstown without having read other Ballpark Mysteries; there’s enough exposition that you can easily get into the groove of things. Black and white illustrations by Mark Meyers keep things interesting and moving along.

I got to meet David Kelly at KidLitCon this past weekend and he is the nicest guy! It’s always a bonus when you find out that an author is pretty darn cool on top of being a good writer. He was kind enough to pass on a set of his MVP series for my library kids, too!

MVP – Most Valuable Players – is another sports mystery series for intermediate readers; like Ballpark Mysteries, you can dive into each one separately, with no stress. In the first story, The Gold Medal Mess, we meet the MVPs on the opening spread, where we get their “stats” via an illustration and quick character description: Max is a great athlete and detective; Alice is an archery ace and animal lover; Nico can’t wait to practice and play; Luke loves to exercise his funny bone, and Kat, Luke’s twin sister, captures the best game-day moments on camera. The kids are getting ready for their annual school Olympics, but someone is leaving threatening letters, telling the school to cancel the Olympics or else. When things start going wrong on the big day, it’s up to the five friends to figure out who’s causing the trouble and save the day before someone gets hurt.

Each MVP book covers a different sport and features black and white illustration. The cast is a diverse, all-star group of kids with different interests and talents, and who work together to solve mysteries, help others, and take on bullies. Each book includes bonus facts on each featured sports: The Gold Medal Mess has Olympics facts and photos; other books have terms and diagrams. I’m putting these up on the “NEW” shelf tomorrow, and I expect they’ll be gone just as quickly as I get them up there. A good add to sports fiction and mystery collections!

 

 

 

Posted in Early Reader, Preschool Reads, Toddler Reads

Handmade Holidays: Books for the littles

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Don’t shoot me, I know we haven’t even hit Thanksgiving yet! But you and I both know that the holidays have a way of sneaking up on you, and I have some books that are perfect to let the kiddos make their own special gifts to celebrate the season. (Plus, you know me, I love a program in a book.)

Gift Boxes to Decorate and Make: Christmas, illustrated by Sarah Walsh,
(Sept. 2017, Nosy Crow), $15.99, ISBN: 9780763696375

Every single page in this book can be colored in and made into a box! Pages are perforated, to easily tear out, and scored for easy folding. This is such a great idea for storing little goodies for teacher gifts; you can take care not to rip the boxes when you open them and hang them up so you have a nice piece of artwork; or, you can keep little things like paper clips or rubber bands in them. It’s the gift you’ll enjoy receiving because it’s handmade, and the kids will love creating their own gift for you.

 

Make and Play: Christmas, illustrated by Joey Chou,
(Sept. 2017, Nosy Crow), $11.99, ISBN: 9780763696160

From the time my older kids were little, we’ve had a tradition of buying ornaments to decorate and hang on our tree. I’d buy kits from Oriental Trading, plain ornaments at Michael’s, anything my boys could make their own; I date them and hang them on the tree, and it’s created a sweet legacy to look back on. This year, I’m going to give my 5 year-old a new project: Make & Play Christmas! There are 10 absolutely adorable die-cut pieces to press out and create, all with die-cut slots to easily fit pieces together, and holes to tie string or ribbon through, to hang on the tree. From angels and colorful ornaments, to Santa and his reindeer, there is something for every kid to enjoy. A fun activity section at the end has more ideas to get ready for the holidays: craft instructions for paper chains, reindeer prints, and DIY wrapping paper; the words to “Jingle Bells”, “Deck the Halls”, and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”; and recipes for gingerbread cookies and snowball truffles. Way too much fun!

 

Press Out & Color Christmas Ornaments, illustrated by Kate McLelland,
(Sept. 2017, Nosy Crow), $15.99, ISBN: 9780763696184

For slightly older kids who want in on the fun (or little ones who want more to color), there’s Press Out & Color Christmas Ornaments. There are 20 die-cut ornaments in here for coloring; outlined in shiny gold foil and featuring beautiful designs including rocking horses, Russian nesting dolls, nutcrackers, and snowflakes. There are standalone pieces and pieces that fit together to make 3-D ornaments, and small holes punched in at the top to thread ribbon or thread through to hang up. Absolutely stunning.

 

Make & Play Nativity, illustrated by Joey Chou,
(Sept. 2017, Nosy Crow), $11.99, ISBN: 9780763696177

Last one for now! This Nativity, also illustrated by Joey Chou, makes a great gift to place under someone’s tree. There are 20 press out and put together figures to create the Nativity scene. Pages are thick and sturdy, and the pieces fit easily together; ideal for little fingers; instructions are included for more complex pieces, like the manger. Christmas activities feature at the end of the book: the Nativity story; crafts, like Make a Christmas Star, Make an Advent Calendar, and Make a Christmas Angel; and Christmas carols “Away in a Manger”, “O Little Town of Bethlehem”, and “We Three Kings”.

Posted in Fiction, Horror, Media, Middle Grade, Non-Fiction, Realistic Fiction, TV Shows, Tween Reads, Uncategorized

Part Lois Lane, Part Nancy Drew… Introducing Cici!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Cici’s Journal: The Adventures of a Writer in Training, by Joris Chamblain/Illustrated by Aurelie Neyret, Translated by Carol Burrell, (Nov. 2017, :01FirstSecond), $16.99, ISBN: 9781626722484

Recommended for readers 8-12

Cici’s dream is to become a novelist. She journals her thoughts and ideas, and constantly people watches, much to the chagrin of her mother and friends. Cici doesn’t see it as being nosy; she figures that you need to understand what’s inside of people in order to write about them. But when she starts digging further into people’s lives and expecting her friends to lie to her mother to cover up her “investigations”, they let her know that they’ve had enough. Can Cici learn to be a good friend and an attentive writer?

Originally published in France under the French title Les carnets de Cerise (2012), this is Cici’s first English translation and includes two stories. In the first story (title), Cici discovers an older man walking through the forest every Sunday, covered in paint and lugging cans of paint back and forth. In Hector’s Journal, she tries to get to the bottom of a mystery involving an older woman who takes the same library book out every week. Both times, Cici goes after her subject with gusto, but is often insensitive to her friends and mother. It isn’t until her mentor, a local author, steps in to have a heart to heart with Cici that she finally understands that she’s been using people, and starts taking others into consideration. Kids will recognize themselves and their friends in Cici, especially as she goes through the frustration of disagreeing with Mom and falling out with friends.

The graphic novel is a mix of graphic storytelling and journaling, with doodles, scrapbook pieces, comments, and notes throughout the book. The art is realistic with a soft touch, and Cici has a very fun and eclectic style that will appeal to middle graders. She complains about her friends throughout the book, and with seeming good reason: one girl is in a perpetually bad mood, and Cici herself can be exasperating (mind you, I say this as a 46 year -old mother of three, not a tween). In short, kids will identify with or see their friends in these characters, and dive into Cici’s adventures – and maybe start journaling on their own.

In my neverending quest to create programs that I can booktalk with, Cici’s Journal is a nice fit with a writer’s program I want to test out. Put this one with your Dork Diaries, Amelia’s Notebooks, Wimpy Kid books, My Dumb Diaries, Kate the Great, Origami Yodas, and Popularity Papers.

Posted in Preschool Reads, Toddler Reads

Board and Picture Book Rundown!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

I started this post in Hershey, PA while I attended KidLitCon17 – which was amazing, but kicked my butt! – so I’m finishing up now that I’m back home and getting ready to great a new week. More to come on the conference, but for now, let’s talk board books! I’ve been on a board book kick at work, having weeded a bit of the collection, so let’s take a look at a few that have just hit shelves. I’m on the lookout for fun, new, and different board books to get in front of the littles, and to keep up the momentum for my Mother Goose lapsit storytime. The Rodgers & Hammerstein board books are a must, and these look like big fun, too.

 
ABC for Me: ABC Baby Signs: Learn baby sign language while you practice your ABCs!, by Christiane Engel,
(Oct. 2017, Quarto Group), $16.95, ISBN: 9781633223660
Recommended for parents for kiddos 0-2
Sign language with babies has increased in popularity over the years. I used a couple of signs with my now high-schooler, and it blew my mind to see him communicating before he was fully forming words. It made things easier, too; he was able to express himself when he was hungry, for instance, and I was able to put together when he was fussy because he was hungry rather than running through a flow chart of options that always ended in tantrum. I use ASL in my toddler storytime to teach the kids a hello and goodbye song, so ABC for Me: Baby Signs is going in my distributor cart for my November order. This one goes in my Parenting collection, and I’ll use it in a storytime, too. With adorable illustrations and small call-outs with arrows and movement to show how to fully communicate signs, this book is a great new parent gift, too.
ABC Baby Signs is part of the ABC for Me series of board books, which includes ABC Yoga and ABC Mindful Me.
Little Concepts: ABC Color: Apricot, Burgundy & Chartreuse, 26 cool new colors are out on the loose!, 
Illustrated by Ingela Peterson Arrhenius, (Nov. 2017, Walter Foster Jr), $12.95, ISBN: 9781633223363
Recommended for readers 1-4
Primary colors are exciting, but why limit yourself? ABC Color introduces kids to the 64-crayon box, with colors like chartreuse, persimmon, and razzmatazz (it is too a real color). Each spread features two colors: they’re named on the left hand page, and the background design and accompanying illustration on the right page combine to create strongmen in striped singlets (scarlet and turquoise) or umber and violet (a reindeer by the light of a snowy moon). It’s just good fun, and a nice way to introduce even more complex words into a toddler’s or preschooler’s vocabulary. Get out the crayons and explore once you’re done! Kick your color by number worksheets up a notch!
The newest picture books I looked at are perfect for my littles, too. I can easily put these into my toddler storytime rotation and see the kids enjoying them.
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star: Classic Nursery Rhymes Retold, by Joe Rhatigan/Illustrated by Carolina Farias,
(Sept. 2017, Quarto Group), $12.95, ISBN: 9781633222373
Recommended for ages 0-5
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star is big in my storytimes (or anyone’s, really!), so a fun takeoff on the classic always brings some new life with it. Joe Rhatigan and illustrator Carolina Farias’ vision introduces readers to a group of cats that wants to hang out with their friend, the twinkling little star, but she’s so far away! Some ingenuity and teamwork, all in verse and to the tune of the original classic song, bring the friends together in the sweetest way that explains a lot. The song gets progressively sillier as the cats attempt their visit to the stars, offering readers the opportunity to work with facial expressions, gestures, and voice to make kids laugh along with you and the story. Perfect for a sing-a-long storytime. Make toilet paper roll rockets – DLTK Kids has an easy one that comes with a template.
GOA Kids – Goats of Anarchy: Polly and Her Duck Costume: + The true story of a little blind rescue goat,
by Leanne Lauricella/Illustrated by Jill Howarth, (Sept. 2017, Quarto Group), $17.95, ISBN: 9781633224186
Recommended for readers 3-8
Any book that includes the phrase, “Goats of Anarchy”, gets my attention. Polly and Her Duck Costume is the story of one of the Goats of Anarchy – a rescue for disabled and special needs goats in New Jersey – named Polly, a blind goat rescued when Leanne Lauricella adopted her and brought her to GOA. Polly loved being snuggled; it made her feel safe, so Lauricella came up with the idea of putting her in an adorable duck costume. It worked! When rescue goat Pippa joins the fold, she gets a duck costume, too. Eventually, the goats feel secure enough to go without their costumes, a testament to the safety and love they get at their home. A great book for kids because it’s adorable – there are baby goats wearing duck onesies! – and it leads into a discussion about special needs. Special needs readers will see themselves in Polly and Pippa, with their need for compression clothing to help them feel swaddled and secure; explaining to all kids that some children have sensory issues, and special clothes help them process their world at their own pace. The cartoony artwork is soft and sweet, almost reminding me of classic Golden Books artwork. There is a photo album starring Polly, Pippa, and Leanne Lauricella at the end of the book. Visit the Goats of Anarchy website to learn more about the organization, and link to their Instagram for more adorable pictures. There are more GOA books to come, including The Goat with Many Coats and Piney the Goat Nanny, about a rescue pig who comes to live at the sanctuary.  There’s a 2018 calendar due out, too!
Feather, by Cao Wenxuan/Illustrated by Roger Mello, Translated by Chloe Garcia-Roberts (Translated by)
(Oct. 201, Steerforth Press), $18.00, ISBN: 9780914671855
Recommended for readers 4-8

This beautiful book by celebrated Chinese children’s author and 2016 Hans Christian Andersen Award-winner Cao Wenxuan tells the tale of a feather trying to find its origin. The feather blows along with the wind, encountering different birds and asking, “Am I yours?”; the feather is usually ignored or brushed off. Just when Feather is about to give up hope, she spies a bird missing a feather… could it be? This beautifully illustrated and narrated story of searching for one’s origin, one’s place in the world, works on different levels for different age groups. For little readers, I’d pair this with Are You My Mother? and talk about families, who we are. For school-age children, this pairs with Jon Muth’s books, Zen Shorts and Zen Ties, offering a deeper look into daily life. The storytelling is meditative and the artwork is dynamic and beautiful. Both Wenxuan and illustrator Roger Mello are Hans Christian Anderson Award winners, and this pairing is wonderful. I’m hoping to see this one on my Mock Caldecott shortlist this year. Feather has starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus.

 

Seagrass Dreams: A Counting Book, by Kathleen M. Hanes/Illustrations by Chloe Bonfield,
(May 2017, Quarto Group), $17.95, ISBN: 9781633221253
Recommended for readers 4-8
This is a solid mix of concepts and nonfiction for readers who love ocean animals. Seagrass is rooted to the sea floor, long blades or narrow, hollow tubes, that provide food and shelter for a variety of animals. In Seagrass Dreams, readers meet and count barracudas, stingrays, dugongs, sea cucumbers, and more. Each spread provides the opportunity to count marine life and learn their numbers. Readers who can sit still a little longer can learn more about each animal through a descriptive paragraph. Back matter includes a recap of the animals, their scientific names, a glossary of new terms, and a map of seagrass meadow locations around the world. There are further references for readers who want to learn more. The illustrations are created with deep colors and movement; you can envision the seagrass waving underwater as the fish zip through the blades.  A nice addition to concept collections, especially where you have readers who love ocean books. Display and booktalk with Alison Formento’s These Seas Count! and Marianne Berkes’ Over in the Ocean: In a Coral Reef.

 

Posted in Fiction, Science Fiction, Teen, Young Adult/New Adult

Step into YA Cyberpunk with Marie Lu’s Warcross

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Warcross, by Marie Lu, (Sept. 2017, Penguin), $18.99, ISBN: 9780399547966

Recommended for readers 12+

Okay, confession time: I have never read a Marie Lu book. The desire’s been there: the Legend books, the Young Elites series, and most certainly, the upcoming Batman novel she’s writing. I finally saw my chance and jumped on the Lu reader wagon with Warcross, and I am SO glad I did.

Eighteen year-old Emika Chen is a bounty hunter, but not your conventional bounty hunter. Warcross is a MMORPG that’s a global sensation; accessible through VR-type glasses that convince your brain you’re in a different series of worlds. Emika tracks down Warcross players who are betting illegally, or getting up to otherwise shady stuff online, but business has been rough and she’s facing eviction. She decides to hack into the Warcross championships to steal an artifact or two to sell – the same shadiness she’d normally get an assignment to track down – and thanks to a glitch in the game, finds herself visible in front of the world. Hideo Tanaka, Warcross creator and brainchild, flies her out to Japan and immediately hires her to take down a security problem inside the game. He puts her on one of the Warcross championship teams and gives her carte blanche to track down the risk, but what she uncovers goes far deeper than a simple game glitch.

Warcross transports you into the story, making you feel like you’re observing the action from your own viewing area. There’s intrigue and subplots that constantly keep you guessing, and characters that will keep you invested – love them or not. It’s cyberpunk for a whole new generation – Neuromancer crossed with World of Warcraft. Intense writing, diverse characters, some romance, high-speed virtual reality gaming, and personal agendas gone wild make Warcross must-read YA.

 

Warcross received starred reviews from Kirkus, School Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly.

Posted in Preschool Reads

Ned the Knitting Pirate helped me get my knitting mojo back!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

I used to be an obsessive knitter. Day and night, commuting, sitting at home, I’d have something on the needles, until… my mojo ran dry. I just couldn’t finish a project. I could start a project. If you love doing something and suddenly, one day, hit a rough patch, you know how much this stinks. It’s really been getting under my skin, really letting it get to me… and then, I saw a Tweet for a book giveaway.

Ned the Knitting Pirate, by Diana Murray/Illustrated by Leslie Lammle,
(Aug. 2016, Roaring Brook Press), $16.99, ISBN: 978-1596438903
Recommended for readers 4-10

 

You know how sometimes, it’s the craziest thing that gets you back on track? Well, that was seeing this cover. First off, pirates. I love pirates. And Ned is a knitting pirate! I retweeted the cover to my knitting friends (all in various stages of mojo and lack thereof), and the response was just as enthusiastic as mine was! When author Diana Murray contacted me to offer me a review copy, I jumped at the opportunity, and I’m so glad I did.

First of all, look at this art. It’s simply adorable. The endpapers start the fun, introducing us to a sea monster and a mermaid. The rhyming tale kicks right in, as we meet the crew of the Rusty Heap. They’re a scurvy bunch of pirates, “tougher than gristle and barnacle grit”… they brag about their pirate-y roughness time and again, only to have Ned cheerfully chime in that he knits every single time. The captain is not thrilled with this. Pirates don’t knit! Oh, really? He sure changes his tune when a sea monster attacks them, and the only thing that stands between the crew and Davy Jones’ Locker is Ned and his knitting prowess: he fires a blanket at the monster, which curls sweetly around him and sends him off to sleep. Like the best knits do!

I read this to my kiddo in full pirate voice (my throat felt like it died the death of a thousand cheese graters, but it was all worth it), roaring and singing seafaring songs and pointing to my guy to chime in, “KNIT!” when Ned piped up. We had a blast with this book! The only thing I can’t believe is that it’s been out for a year and I wasn’t aware of it until now.

The cartoony art is adorable, and the rhyming pirate tale is complete with seafaring terms that every buccaneer-in-training will take to heart and love. And let’s take a moment to adore the fact that Ned is a GUY WHO KNITS. And he’s proud of it! More power to you, Ned! Bust gender roles – knitting is not just for girls! – and use your smarts to save your crew, thus getting everyone (literally) on board with the sticks! There is nothing like the soft feel of a homemade blanket to immediately put you to sleep, unless you’re one of my kids in infancy; nothing worked then. (But at least they were warm and wrapped in love.)

Bottom line: Ned the Knitting Pirate is SO GOOD. The words are fun and catchy; you want to speak like a pirate when you read this book. It’s perfect for a read-aloud, whether you read about pirates (may I suggest How I Became a Pirate and Pirates Don’t Change Diapers, by Melinda Long) or about knitting (I love Woolbur by Leslie Helakoski and Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett), and it’s perfect for a feel-good read; you cannot be in a bad mood after sitting with this adorable book.

So, my knitting mojo? Well, after reading this book for the third or fourth time, Kiddo turned to me and said, “When are you going to knit me something?” And I felt awful, because I haven’t knit this kid anything. One single thing. And it’s time to remedy that. So I pulled together all my yarn, tracked down as many of my needles as I could, and together, he and I picked a dinosaur hat and a Grumpasaurus stuffy that I’m going to make for him. For the hat, I’m going to use the Antler Toque pattern from Tin Can Knits, because it’s cool and the cable pattern looks kind of like dinosaur plates; from there, I’ll knit up spikes to sew onto the hat, so he can be a Stegosaurus.

If you’re not a knitter, Ned the Knitting Pirate may just make you one. Enjoy. Check out Diana Murray’s author website for more info on her books (including the super-adorable Doris the Bookasaurus), news, and fun facts.

Posted in programs

Halloween Slime Time!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

I’ve been settling in here at my new library digs, and finally felt comfortable enough with the kids to try something I’ve previously dodged in the past: slime. I feel like I’ve gotten to know my QH Kids and their parents well enough to attempt a mess on this level, especially after the Quirk Party bubble lab  and Annabelle Fisher author visit went so well. I found this great edible candy corn slime (more like Play-Doh in consistency) recipe from Teach Beside Me – incidentally, I love this site; you should add her to your list of program resources if you don’t have the site bookmarked already – and went for it.

I’m pretty sure the kids were happy. (And I love Facebook’s “Add Stickers” function so very much.)

The program was packed – 20 kids and 4 parents! – so I recruited one of my tweens to handle melting duties with me, and we let all the little ones get a turn mixing the candy corn and coconut oil together. The kids had a blast, but word to the wise, this stuff gets as hard as a rock pretty darn quickly. I had a great time, we were all covered in powdered sugar and laughing, and they’re excited about the next slime lab, which will be something more pliable, and in greater volume: Definitely need to double the materials list to accommodate the kids.

Tomorrow, it’s walking s’mores (Golden Grahams, mini marshmallows, mini chocolate chips, put ’em in a cup), Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and a costume party with a tube of zombie army men as the grand prize. Stay tuned!

Posted in Middle Grade, Non-Fiction, Non-fiction, Tween Reads

Science Comics and Dogs: A Reader’s Best Friend

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Science Comics: Dogs – From Predator to Protector, by Andy Hirsch, (Oct. 2017, :01FirstSecond), $12.99, ISBN: 9781626727687

Recommended for readers 8-12

With a rescue pup named Rudy as our host, the latest addition to the Science Comics pack looks at dogs, and their evolution from predatory wolf to man (and woman!)’s best friend. Readers also take a side trip into lessons on genetics and evolution, and the history of dog breeding. Rudy is a sweet, affable guide, forever in search of his favorite bouncy ball; kids are going to love him. Making him a rescue dog adds a nice socially aware touch, and provokes discussion about adopting versus shopping for pets. Kids will learn about Gregor Mendel, the scientist and friar whose work with pea plants made him a pioneer in modern genetics; they’ll learn about observable and inherited traits, and how chromosomes combine to pass along these traits. This is information that applies to everything, not just dogs. It’s packaged with a cute puppy and a bright toy ball, sure, but there’s fantastic, solid learning to be found here.

The Science Comics series keeps getting better. Put copies of this nonfiction series on your shelves and keep a set for your reference collection. They’re that good, making seemingly confusing subjects like genetics accessible to kids and adults alike. I haven’t been able to grasp a conversation about Punnett Squares since high school, but seeing it illustrated and explained in plain English here made it so reasonable! A glossary and additional resources are available at the end of the book. Science Comics are a must-add to middle grade nonfiction collections.