animals – Page 30 – Mom Read It

Animal Fiction, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Humor, Middle Grade, Tween Reads

It’s Sweater Weather! (the graphic novel, not the forecast)

Posted on January 25, 2016August 24, 2019 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Sweaterweather, by Sara Varon (Feb. 2016, First Second), $19.99, ISBN: 9781626721180

Recommended for ages 10+

You may have seen Sara Varon’s work before – she’s given us fun, all-ages graphic novels like Bake Sale, Chicken & Cat, and Odd Duck, and we’ll also be getting President Squid this year (review coming). She draws friendly, fun animals (and squids) in a cartoon style that makes you just want to curl up with these characters, have a cup of tea, and chat.

Sweaterweather is a re-issue of the original 2003 version, with extra stories and content. It’s done in two-color, and is part graphic novel story collection, part peek into Sara Varon’s creative brain. We have stories, essays, and journal entries existing together, an invite for kids and teens to take a load off and enjoy socially awkward animals wandering around Brooklyn and hey, while you’re here, see what goes on in the mind of a creative person!

Kids who love graphic novels and animal fiction will enjoy Sweaterweather for the stories. Creative kids will appreciate the big picture Sara Varon displays for them, and maybe, get them journaling and doodling on their own.

Sara Varon’s author website is great for burgeoning artists and fans. There are sections devoted to her books and illustrations, updates, and links to pages for her favorite illustrators and designers. She’s also an award-winning author/illustrator: Odd Duck was selected by Kirkus Reviews as one of the Best Children’s Books of 2013, Bake Sale was named a YALSA Great Graphic Novel for 2012, and Robot Dreams was on Oprah’s Kids’ Reading List in 2008. In 2013, Sara Varon was a Maurice Sendak Fellowship recipient.

Here’s a sneak peek at some of the artwork from Sweaterweather.

Animal Fiction, Preschool Reads

Buddy and Earl Go Exploring – A buddy tale of imagination!

Posted on January 21, 2016August 24, 2019 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Two friends – a hedgehog and a dog – settle down for the night. When the house is asleep, Earl, the hedgehog, announces that he’s leaving – much to his best friend, Buddy’s, chagrin. But wait! After running and running on his exercise wheel, Earl arrives at his destination and discovers that Buddy is there after all! Buddy’s confused, but goes with the flow, and the two go on an adventure that will have parents and kids alike laughing and wondering what their own pets get up to when everyone’s asleep.

Buddy and Earl Go Exploring, by Maureen Fergus/Illustrated by Carey Sookocheff (March 2016, Groundwood Books), $16.95, ISBN: 9781554987146. Recommended for ages 4-8

The second book in the Buddy and Earl series is just as much fun as the first book, and loaded with imagination. Earl sees things differently, through fantastic eyes – Buddy’s water dish becomes a lake; Dad’s referred to as a “hideous ogre”; Mom’s hairbrush is a lovely lady hedgehog – and Buddy is drawn into this wonderful world of adventure. We know that poor Buddy is the fall guy – he’s the Pinky to Earl’s Brain, the dopey friend that blunders along – but we love it. The friends care for each other and watch out for each other, with Buddy providing the muscle and Earl bringing the fantastic.

The art is sweet and appealing, done in acryl gouache on watercolor paper, then assembled in Photoshop, to bring it all together. The story begins with the endpapers, gently drawing readers into the story and giving them one final giggle at the story’s end. Plain black font is unintrusive and makes for an easy read-aloud, and this is a great book for read-alouds. I’d add this to a bedtime story read-aloud or a pet storytime and let the kids tell me what they think their pets do at night!

Buddy and Earl Go Exploring is out in March, but you can pick up the first book in the series, Buddy and Earl, to keep the kids entertained while you wait.

Animal Fiction, Fiction, Intermediate, Realistic Fiction

Meet Shelter Pet Squad’s newest addition, Paloma!

Posted on January 5, 2016January 4, 2016 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Shelter Pet Squad are a group of kids who volunteer at the local pet shelter, taking care of the animals and helping Ms. Kim and Ms. Flores, who run the shelter, with adoptions. In the latest book in the series, the gang meet a group of new puppies referred to as “satos” – mutts or mixed breed dogs – found in Puerto Rico. Suzannah, one of the squad kids, falls in love with Paloma, one of the new satos who was found, with her siblings, in an old tire. Suzannah doesn’t have any pets, because her building won’t allow it – but she really loves Paloma, and is torn between wanting her to go to a good home, and staying at the shelter just a little longer so she can have more time with her.

Shelter Pet Squad #3: Paloma, by Cynthia Lord (Jan. 2016, Scholastic), $5.99, ISBN: 9780545636049

Recommended for ages 7-10

This is my first foray into the Shelter Pet Squad series, and I really enjoyed it. There are diverse characters, both male and female, to attract both boys and girls who love animals – and what kid doesn’t love a book about animals? The kids are ordinary kids who help at their local pet shelter – kids can identify with them, and be inspired to do something to help at home. The characters are friendly, polite, and enthusiastic about what they do, and they react like real kids to situations; witness, Suzannah’s desire to adopt Paloma. She knows she can’t bring her home because her building doesn’t allow pets, so she doesn’t want her adopted right away – she wants to spend more time with her! And when Paloma isn’t adopted right away, Suzannah feels guilty. It’s an honest, human reaction that kids will recognize and appreciate.

There’s some great, subtle instruction in here about taking care of pets, too. The kids learn how to approach a dog, for instance (let it smell your upturned palm, don’t go to pet it right away); they learn to make toys for mice (fill a wiffle ball with paper and seeds that they can discover on their own), and even make no-sew pillows for the new puppies to sleep on. Instructions for the pillow craft are included at the end of the book, and that makes for a fun craft time at school, the library, or home. Kids will also love the Erin McGuire’s black and white illustrations of the kids and the pets.

Series like these always do well at my libraries. There are so many of them, it’s hard for me to keep up with them all! I think I’ll be ordering Shelter Pet Squad – it’s kids helping animals, helping each other, and having fun. What more can you ask out of a series?

Cynthia Lord is the Newbery Honor award-winning author of Rules. I love her picture book, Hot Rod Hamster, and so do the kids I read it with during storytime. Her author website has materials and resources for many of her books, and brief excerpts for the previous two Shelter Pet Squad books. The first book in the series, Jelly Bean, was named one of the 2014 ABC Best Books for Children list by American Booksellers Association.

Early Reader, Preschool Reads, Toddler Reads

Mexican Folk Art and Concepts meet with Animal Talk!

Posted on December 22, 2015August 24, 2019 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Animal Talk: Mexican Folk Art Animal Sounds in English and Spanish, by Cynthia Weill/Art by Rubi Fuentes and Efrain Broa (March 2016, Cinco Puntos Press), $14.95, ISBN: 9781941026328

Recommended for Infants-5

Animals talk in all sorts of languages! Animal Talk translates animal sounds in Spanish and English, using beautiful folk art to illustrate the concepts. It makes sense that different languages would interpret animal sounds differently, after all – when an English speaker hears a cat meow, a Spanish speaker hears a cat miau. A rooster greets the dawn in the U.S. by hollering, “cock-a-doodle-doo!”, and in Spanish countries, he calls out, “ki-kiri-ki!” It’s a wonderful way to see how sounds are the same, yet different, between two cultures.

I love this series. Doctor Cynthia Weill has written several concept books featuring Mexican folk art, including Opuestos, Colores de la Vida, and ABeCedarios. Animal Talk is her fifth book in this series, and it’s a fantastic addition for a library like mine, in a neighborhood densely populated with Central and South American families, and it’s a great library addition to any library where you have little ones ready for a storytime. The artwork is breathtaking. Mexican folk art is vibrant, lively, and bright – eye-catching to little eyes and minds! Animal sounds make for great storytimes; teaching animal sounds in different languages makes for even more fun. It lends itself to a great interactive experience!

The books themselves are works of art; not even an exaggeration. Craftsman Rubí Fuentes and Efraín Broa from the Mexican state of Oaxaca create these beautiful images, and you’ll want to buy an additional book just to frame the artwork in here.

One thing I desperately need is for these books to come out in board book. They’re beautiful hardcovers, but I’ve got lots of little hands that would get even better use out of them if moms, dads, and librarians didn’t have to worry about torn pages so much.

Put this in your animal storytime, and throw in a round of Old MacDonald Had a Farm while you’re at it – and make the animal sounds in both languages!

Cynthia Weill’s author webpage features a video about the artists who made the wood carvings for her book, Opuestos. Show this video to your older patrons and students to show them the work that goes into these beautiful books. Take a look at more of the gorgeous art from Animal Talk right here!

Fiction, Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Tween Reads

Dead Possums are Fair Game – Middle Grade Math Madness!

Posted on November 28, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Dead Possums are Fair Game, by Taryn Souders (Nov. 2015, Sky Pony Press), $15.99, ISBN: 9781634501620

Recommended for ages 8-11

Fifth grader Ella is stressed out. Her math teacher has just announced that while there won’t be any more math tests for the remainder of the school year, the students will be putting on a math fair that will count as two test grades. Add to that, the fact that her awesome Aunt Willa is coming to live with her family for a month – but she’s staying in Ella’s room and brings her big, slobbery dog named Chewy (and it ain’t for Chewbacca), and you have a recipe for disaster! Ella’s a bit of a control freak who likes things in their own proper place; Willa has commandeered Ella’s bed and dresser, moved her furniture around, and taken over her bathroom. Chewy has taken over Ella’s extra mattress. Luckily, Ella’s got a great group of friends who team up with her for the math fair project, turning it into a memorial of sorts for the dead possum that became legendary during gym class. Maybe things will look up for Ella after all.

Dead Possums are Fair Game is way too much fun. Ella is a bit neurotic, which sets her up for all sorts of hilarious happenings, whether it’s being slobbered on by a big dog or stepping on a dead possum. There’s a nicely done focus on math, particularly time conversions and animal life cycles that will make teachers and parents very happy, and will hopefully show kids that math is less painful than they may think. There’s also a great discussion about how math is pretty important in every area of life; most careers require some sort of math knowledge, and it’s not a bad thing. Further information about animal lifespans at the back of the book will help English and Math teachers work together to use this book as a teaching resource.

Ms. Souders has a background in math education, and it shows not only in her ability to break down math problems to make common sense to kids, but in the interactions between kids and grownups and kids themselves. The dialogue is realistic and well-paced, and she has a neurotic kid’s inner dialogue down pat (I should know, being a former one myself). Dead Possums is a great add to your realistic fiction collections.

Taryn Souders also has a website, Whole-y Cow! Fractions are Fun, with downloadable math resources for kids.

Middle Grade, Middle School, Non-fiction

What’s Up in the Amazon Rainforest?

Posted on October 30, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

What’s Up in the Amazon Rainforest?, by Ginjer L. Clarke (Sept. 2015, Grosset & Dunlap), $8.99, ISBN: 9780448481036

Recommended for ages 8-12

I’ve been doing a lot of weeding in my new library spot, and the first section I hit was the Animals section. Naturally, I need some new books to fill in my shelves, and this beauty fits the bill. It’s a new geography series, loaded with color photos and a fold-out map, and it’s laid out like a dossier file, with photos sharing space with informative text, laid over maps in the background, and little touches like circled paragraphs and paper clips to give the feeling that kids are reading an environmentalist’s journal.

There’s a ton of information packed into this book: Ginjer Clarke looks at each layer of the rainforest, the flora and fauna that can be found there, and moves on to provide quick profiles on the people that live in the rainforest, products that come from the rainforest (yay, coffee and chocolate!), and most importantly, the importance of conservation and preservation. A bibliography and index round out the book. I’d love to see a glossary and some websites for kids included in future editions – admittedly, I’m working from a galley of the book, so if any of these resources are included in the finished copy, I apologize! In the meantime, her blog offers really cool updates and photos of different places she visits while researching her books. (Wait until you see the size of the oarfish.)

You’ll learn about pink dolphins – who knew there were dolphins in the rainforest? – and howler monkeys, Kapok and cacao trees. Fold-out maps will let kids place themselves in the locations they’re reading about.

Author Ginjer L. Clarke writes popular nonfiction books for kids. She’s got a section dedicated to her Baby Animals series on her website, and sections with more information about her other series, including more of her What’s Up, Out, and Wild Animals series.

Check out some more of What’s Up in the Amazon Rainforest below. The pictures are unbelievable!

Animal Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Fiction, Intermediate, Middle Grade

The Magical Animal Adoption Agency is open for business!

Posted on October 30, 2015October 29, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Magical Animal Adoption Agency, Book 2 The Enchanted Egg, by Kallie George/Illus. by Alexander Bolger (Nov. 2015, Disney Book Group), $14.99, ISBN: 9781423183839

Recommended for ages 8-12

The Magical Animal Adoption Agency is back, and so are Clover, whose gifts with animals surpass any magic she may not have, Mr. Jams, the proprietor, and Dipity, the green magical cat Clover rescued from the witch in the first book. In this second book in the series, Clover must once again keep an eye on the adoption agency while Mr. Jams is away – but a large egg has hatched early, and the newest member of the adoption agency is keeping Clover on her toes!

This series is a feel-good read. Clover is a sweet, gentle soul who learns about herself and what she’s capable of in each book, going from a self-conscious, clumsy girl in the first, to a more confident young girl who realizes that she doesn’t need magic to take care of magical creatures in this book. There are positive messages about self-esteem and caring for others, taking responsibility, and most importantly, the value of being kind.

This is a great series for kids, especially those who love fantasy or just love animals. The first book was well-received at my former library, and I can’t wait to get these two books into my new patrons’ hands. Animal fiction does really well with middle graders, and a series like this, that pairs the fantastic within our everyday world gives readers a necessary spark of magic in their lives.

Magic Tree House fans, Critter Club fans, steer them all to these books. They’ll love you for it.

Animal Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Middle Grade, Tween Reads

Tristan Hunt and the Sea Guardians: Middle Grade marine adventure!

Posted on October 19, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Tristan Hunt and the Sea Guardians, Book 1: The Shark Whisperer, by Ellen Prager, (May 2014, Mighty Media), $9.95, ISBN: 978-1938063442

Recommended for ages 9-13

Twelve year-old Tristan Hunt is kind of a klutz. He trips and falls a lot, which garners him a lot of teasing at school and disappointed glances from his father at home. The luckiest thing happens to him, though, when he falls into a shark tank while vacationing with his parents in the Florida Keys – not only does he emerge unharmed, but shortly after the incident, he receives an invite to a very special summer camp – a summer camp where all the campers learn that they have special talents when it comes to the ocean and the creatures that live there. Tristan can communicate with sharks – that’s a pretty handy talent to have! – and once he’s in the water, he’s not a klutz at all.

That’s not all, though. The camp staff not only teach the kids to hone their abilities, but use them to protect and rescue sea life. They’re supposed to wait until they’re older and receive more training before they qualify for missions, but when critical mission pops up and the team is short-staffed, Tristan and his friends may have to save the day.

This is the first book in a middle grade series that Mighty Media was kind enough to send me, and I am thrilled that they did. With hat tips to both Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, this summer camp for gifted kids is packed with adventure and wonder – the kids are thrilled, yet nervous, about discovering and embracing their new abilities. There’s some great information about various forms of sea life in here, making this a must-read for kids with an interest in sharks, dolphins, octopuses, or any other sea creature. Once it’s established that the kids can communicate with the animals, they each exhibit their own personalities, which adds some fun to the mix (and the sharks with Jamaican accents are hilarious).

Author Ellen Prager is a marine scientist and children’s author, so she brings a great deal of expertise and knowledge to the book. Budding conservationists are going to want to have this book in their collections, too. Ellen Prager’s author webpage offers more information about her background, beautiful photos, fun facts, and printable puzzles to share.

The series is also perfect for your more conservative students and readers. It’s clean, the kids are respectful to adults and one another (mostly), and the adults are fun to be around while exhibiting concern for the kids’ welfare. We’ve got a villain who cares nothing for life outside of his own interests, and has the resources to make enough trouble for the Sea Guardians that we know he’ll be around for at least another book.

This is a fun series for both boys and girls that may have been missed when it hit shelves last year – make sure to give it a look and consider adding it to your shelves this year. I’m always a fan of finding a little magic in my tween realism when I can find it.

Animal Fiction, Preschool Reads, Toddler Reads

Roar! A Tale of Friendship and Sleepless Adventure

Posted on October 11, 2015August 31, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Roar! by Julie Bayless (Oct. 2015, Running Press), $16.95, ISBN: 9780762457502

Recommended for ages 2-5

A little lion cub can’t get to sleep. When he tries to wake up his family to play, their snores send him roaming the savannah in search of fun. He meets a group of hippos and a group of giraffes, but his friendly “ROAR” scares them off, but he and a bunny hit it off perfectly, and spend the rest of the night yelling “ROAR!” and “MORE!” together!

Roar! is a fun tale of friendship and adventuring. Kids (and sleepy parents) will recognize themselves in the little lion cub, trying to no avail to wake up the sleepy grownups to have some fun. The little guy’s no predator, but his friendly exclamation scares off much bigger animals; when he meets a similarly spunky bunny, the fun begins.

The book mixes graphic novel-style panels with full-page spreads and shifts in perspective, making this a fun read that will keep little ones engaged. It’s interactive – I’ve read this to toddlers and preschoolers, and we’ve hollered “ROAR!” and “MORE!” to our hearts’ content as we read through the book. I had one group of toddlers demand a second reading, and the roars were wonderful!

The digital art has a beautiful sharpness to it. The backgrounds are largely dark violet-blue, with the animals crisply defined against them. There are few words to the story: mostly “Roar” and “More”, with a few snores, burps and sniffs thrown in for good measure, so there is a lot of room for interaction – kids can describe the land, name the animals the cub encounters, and veer off into their own narration.

Roar is a great storytime book, bedtime book, anytime book. It’s been kid-tested, mother and librarian approved – don’t miss it!

Intermediate, Middle Grade, Non-fiction, Non-Fiction

Military Animals with Dog Tags – Because some heroes have more than two legs

Posted on September 19, 2015September 18, 2015 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Military Animals with Dog Tags, by Laurie Calkhoven (Aug. 2015, Scholastic), $7.99, ISBN: 9780545871594

Recommended for ages 7-11

You may know that horses were on the battlefield at war time, especially before vehicles like tanks and Jeeps came along. You may have even seen recent pictures of dogs aiding our soldiers overseas. But did you know that Poland had a bear that was a private? Or that honeybees have been used to sniff out bombs?

Military Animals tells the stories of different animals who have served in the military throughout time. You’ll learn about elephants, who have aided military operations from ancient history through to the VietNam War; how rats can find unexploded land mines (without getting blown up!), and how dolphins have helped with underwater surveillance. There are beautiful photos, stories that kids will love hearing about (great for read-alouds) and reading about, and a glossary and index at the end of the book. Get this one for your animal lovers and talk about the great things animals do to help us out. Then, brainstorm things that the animals in your own lives to do help you out – for instance, my cat helps cheer me up by cuddling with me when I don’t feel well, and my dog helps protect our home.

Author Laurie Calkhoven is all over my library. She’s written some great biographies for kids, and she’s written books for both the American Girl and Heroes of Olympus series, both of which see a lot of action in my public library. Her author website has links to her books and information about author visits.