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The Witch's Vacuum Cleaner And Other Stories, Olivia Noli
The Witch's Vacuum Cleaner And Other Stories, Olivia Noli
Children's Book and Media Review
The Witch's Vacuum Cleaner and Other Stories is a collection of short stories written by Terry Pratchett when he was seventeen. The stories were published weekly in his local newspaper when he was working as a junior reporter. Pratchett promises a series of adventure in his newly edited and compiled anthology. The first story is "The Witch's Vacuum Cleaner," in which a party magician is cursed by a witch for disturbing her vacuum cleaner. Throughout the story, Ron Swimble, the party magician, becomes enamored with the witch and proposes marriage (and asks her to lift her troublesome spell). The book …
The Graveyard Book, Olivia Noli
The Graveyard Book, Olivia Noli
Children's Book and Media Review
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman is the story of a boy who is cared for by the residents of a graveyard after his family is murdered. Named "Nobody Owens" to protect his identity, he is raised by the ghosts and a vampire, all the while hiding from the real world outside the borders of the graveyard. Silas, his vampire guardian, investigates throughout the novel who wants to murder "Bod" (short for Nobody). As he grows up, Bod learns many things about life from the ghosts and Miss Lupescu, a werewolf who occasionally visits. In the end, he learns why …
The Widow's Broom, Karen Abbott
The Widow's Broom, Karen Abbott
Children's Book and Media Review
A witch summons another ride, and leaves her old broom behind after it lost it power to fly and crashed them into an elderly widow's garden. After taking in the broom, the widow discovers that it can sweep a floor by itself, play a piano one note at a time, and magically perform other useful tasks. Her neighbors come to see the broom and feel that the broom is unnatural and dangerous. Children bully the broom, and when it defends itself the neighbor visits the widow and demands that it's destroyed. In order to placate her neighbors, she pretends to …
Scholastic Discover More: Dolphins, Kristie Hinckley
Scholastic Discover More: Dolphins, Kristie Hinckley
Children's Book and Media Review
Readers will learn more than they ever knew about dolphins in Scholastic Discover More: Dolphins. Dolphins are similar to humans in many ways, including their status as mammals. Readers will learn how dolphins breathe, communicate, travel, and hunt. Many interesting facts are scattered throughout the book; for example, did you know that a dolphin can rest half of its brain while the other half is alert? This book is also full of captivating photographs of dolphins in their natural habitats.
A Year Down Yonder, Sydnee Burr
A Year Down Yonder, Sydnee Burr
Children's Book and Media Review
The Great Depression has ended, but the ripples of its effects are far from over. Unable to feed their whole family, Mary Alice's parents are forced to split their family apart and farm their children out to relatives. Arriving at the train depot, Mary Alice is greeted by her disgruntled and rough Grandma who will be her caretaker for a foreseeable future. Adjusting to an old house, a country life, a tiny school house, and small town ways is no easy feat. Eventually Mary Alice is charmed by her new life, makes friends, and discovers the sweet side of her …
Save Me A Seat, Sarah Rawle
Save Me A Seat, Sarah Rawle
Children's Book and Media Review
Sixteen-year-old Charlotte sees the future, but the unpredictable episodes cause blackouts, and classmates avoid her because of her bizarre behavior. But Charlotte feels that it is best they stay away: after the death of her father, she knows the conseque
Pandora, Jess Verzello
Pandora, Jess Verzello
Children's Book and Media Review
Pandora lives alone in a place of forgotten things. She builds herself a lovely home and spends her days fixing broken and lost things. One day a bird falls from the sky, but Pandora isn’t sure how to fix him. She cares for the bird and nurses him back to health. As he gains strength, he brings back seeds and twigs from other places. But then the bird leaves and doesn’t come back. Pandora is heartbroken, but little by little the seeds grow until the place of forgotten things becomes covered in flowers and greenery. She hears her friend’s birdsong …
The Revolution Of Evelyn Serrano, Sarah Rawle
The Revolution Of Evelyn Serrano, Sarah Rawle
Children's Book and Media Review
It's 1969 in El Barrio, Spanish Harlem, New York, and ever day feels the same to Evelyn. Every day Puerto Ricans work and work but don’t really get anywhere. But El Barrio takes a turn when the Young Lords activist group rises. Evelyn senses a change when her Abuela comes to stay with her family and she learns the history of her family and Puerto Rico. The activist group soon sets fire to the garbage that was not being picked up by the city’s sanitation department. They then petition and use the First Spanish Methodist Church building, lasting twelve days …
League Of Archers, Tessa Mcmillan
League Of Archers, Tessa Mcmillan
Children's Book and Media Review
Elinor Dray can’t handle being a novice nun. Mercifully, the Reverend Mother uses Elinor’s archery skills to supplement the nunnery’s scarce provisions. Escaping the abbey, Elinor rejoins her friends, the League of Archers, to hunt and daydream about Robin Hood’s deeds. One night, Elinor meets a mysterious archer who is shot by a poisoned arrow. While the man dies in the abbey, Elinor learns he is Robin Hood and the Reverend Mother is Maid Marion. As if planned, the constable arrives to arrest Marion (still a wanted criminal) and take Elinor to Baron Lord de Lay’s castle. The baron spreads …
Bel The Weather Girl: Raindrops On A Roller Coaster: Hail, Kristie Hinckley
Bel The Weather Girl: Raindrops On A Roller Coaster: Hail, Kristie Hinckley
Children's Book and Media Review
Bel, Dylan, and their dog Stormy discover hail in this next adventure in the Bel the Weather Girl series. They are surprised to learn that hailstorms actually happen during summer months, not winter. Hail is made inside storm clouds when raindrops are carried to the top of the clouds where it’s cold. Those raindrops turn into balls of ice that become too heavy, falling to the earth. Basically, they are like raindrops on an icy roller coaster!
I Am Not A Chair!, Ariel Woodbury
I Am Not A Chair!, Ariel Woodbury
Children's Book and Media Review
All the other animals keep mistaking Giraffe for a chair! He tries to speak up, but every time he does something happens! So he tries a different approach: he decides to show them the difference between himself and the chair by making one. Unfortunately for Giraffe, the chair looks just like him! A hungry lion sits on Giraffe while he looks for an animal to eat. Giraffe stands still until he finally tells the lion that he's a giraffe. The lion is so scared that his chair is talking that he runs away. The next day, Giraffe tells everyone what …
The Hybrid Chronicles Book #3: Echoes Of Us, Lisa Packard
The Hybrid Chronicles Book #3: Echoes Of Us, Lisa Packard
Children's Book and Media Review
Addie and Eva sneak into another institution to record and expose the government’s secrets to the public, hoping to put a stop to the unethical hybrid program. But they linger too long and are recognized by one of the doctors, barley escaping. They finally find help, but Eva realizes Addie isn't there with her: she has disappeared. Realizing she can't stop moving, Eva and her friend travel to find Eva’s family. They find her family and Eva realizes she has to put an end to all the confusion before she loses them again. When Addie finally wakes up, both girls …
Amity, Lisa Packard
Amity, Lisa Packard
Children's Book and Media Review
Conner has just moved to a new house with his family. The first night, he wakes up at exactly 3:14 AM and sees a dead girl in the window, but then she disappears. Eventually the house, Amity, makes him have strange dreams that tell him what to do. One night he dreams about a binder that is full of newspaper clippings from the future that says that a family was killed at Amity and Conner was the murderer. Now driven mad, Conner sets out to kill his dad, but his twin sister follows him and Conner kills her by accident, …
The Hybrid Chronicles Book #2: Once We Were, Lisa Packard
The Hybrid Chronicles Book #2: Once We Were, Lisa Packard
Children's Book and Media Review
As fugitives of the law, Eva and Addie are safe . . . for now. Although they have to stay indoors to remain unrecognized, they are still trying to find the other children that were taken from the hospital. They find other souls like them and come up with a plan to expose the corrupted government and their maltreatment of the hybrid population. Addie and Eva start to question how far they are willing to go for the hybrid cause when they discover that their friends are planning on blowing up a hospital with innocent people inside it. Eva and …
The Shady Tree, Sierra Beveridge
The Shady Tree, Sierra Beveridge
Children's Book and Media Review
Tan Tan is an angry rich boy who loves his Shady Tree. He lives in a big house and loves to play under the shade of the tree with all of his toys, but then Ping shows up. Tan Tan does not like Ping and tells him to leave. Ping gets the idea to buy the shade from the beautiful tree and Tan Tan agrees to sell Ping the shade because he thinks Ping is being silly. But Tan Tan slowly learns that this was a mistake as Ping invites his friends (and their animals) over to sit with him …
La La La: A Story Of Hope, Karen Abbott
La La La: A Story Of Hope, Karen Abbott
Children's Book and Media Review
A small girl is singing her song to the world. She listens with her hand to her ear, but there is no response, just a few falling leaves. Are they answering her song? She ventures outside but neither the tree nor the pond nor the grass are responsive. She returns inside frustrated. The leaves continue to follow her inside. Has something changed? She ventures out again into the night, but still nothing sings back to her. She finds a ladder, but still can't seem to reach the answer to her song. Back inside, she sings herself to sleep and from …
The Hybrid Chronicles #1: What's Left Of Me, Lisa Packard
The Hybrid Chronicles #1: What's Left Of Me, Lisa Packard
Children's Book and Media Review
Eva and Addie are two souls living in one body, just like everyone else, except they have a secret: Eva was supposed to disappear but she didn't. She's trapped inside their mind, unable to move. One day they meet Hally, who turns out to be a hybrid like her with two souls, and her brother Devon, who tries to help Eva be in control again. Unfortunately, the hybrids are found out and taken to an institution where they are operated on. Luckily, Eva and Addie, Hally, Devon, and two other children escape, marking the beginning of a revolution.
Moo, Lisa Packard
Moo, Lisa Packard
Children's Book and Media Review
On a whim, Reena's parents decide to move to Maine just because she said they should. When she arrives, twelve-year-old Reena expects to have fun riding bikes, visiting beaches, and making new friends, but her parents volunteer her and her brother to help their neighbor, Mrs. Falala, with her very ornery cow, Zora, to train Zora to be in the state fair. Although Reena starts out very unwilling to do anything, she eventually learns how to control Zora and is able to enter her into the fair. She becomes good friends with some farmers and even Zora, although ornery, is …
That's A Possibility!: A Book About What Might Happen, Ariel Woodbury
That's A Possibility!: A Book About What Might Happen, Ariel Woodbury
Children's Book and Media Review
Will the mouse find its way through the maze? It's a possibility! Could you knock down twelve bowling pins in one roll? That impossible since there are only ten pins! This book gives simple, and often funny, examples for many terms like certain, likely, probable, and improbable. There are many simple illustrated examples to help kids to learn the concepts easily.
Room On The Broom, Annie Huish
Room On The Broom, Annie Huish
Children's Book and Media Review
The witch tapped her broomstick and whoosh! The witch and her cat were gone. This captivating motion picture, as inspired by the book Room on the Broom, by Julia Donaldson, follows a witch and her cat as they fly through the wind. Along the way, the witch loses articles including her hat, bow, and wand. As each article is lost, the witch and her cat fly down to find what they are looking for, and on their way pick up a dog, a bird, and a frog. Everyone seems happy (even though the cat may not have been at first), …
This Or That? Moth Or Butterfly?, Ariel Woodbury
This Or That? Moth Or Butterfly?, Ariel Woodbury
Children's Book and Media Review
Moths and butterflies both start as caterpillars, but they are much more different than you might think! Moths are more active at night and butterflies are more active during the day. Moths have thicker bodies and feathery antennae; butterflies have larger wings and brighter colors.
Room On The Broom, Annie Huish
Room On The Broom, Annie Huish
Children's Book and Media Review
The witch tapped her broomstick and whoosh! The witch and her cat were gone. This captivating book follows a witch and her cat as they fly through the wind. Along the way, the witch loses articles including her hat, bow, and wand. As each article is lost, the witch and her cat fly down to find what they are looking for, and on their way befriend a dog, a bird, and a frog. Everyone seems happy, but when the frog jumps on the broomstick, it snaps in two and the animals all fall into a bog! As the witch gains …
Measure It!: Fun With Length & Distance, Ariel Woodbury
Measure It!: Fun With Length & Distance, Ariel Woodbury
Children's Book and Media Review
Length is the measurement of how long something is. Distance tells us how far apart things are. Most countries use the metric system (centimeter, meter), but the United States uses the standard system (inch, foot). Rulers are used to measure things, but you can also use your hand or a book!
Animal Rescue Center: The Injured Fox Kit, Amanda Durrant
Animal Rescue Center: The Injured Fox Kit, Amanda Durrant
Children's Book and Media Review
Ella and her family run the Animal Magic Rescue Center that takes in all sorts of animals in need, including a stubborn and ornery goat named Gordon. When young Ella goes to check the gate before closing the rescue center for the night, she hears a faint animal cry from the forest. She finds an injured fox kit who they take back to the rescue center and nurse back to health. As the fox, named Copper, is recovering, Ella falls in love with him even after the warning from her mother that he is a wild animal. Ella and her …
The Stray, Phyllis Rosen
The Stray, Phyllis Rosen
Children's Book and Media Review
A young family is falling apart because the father is never home due to the pressures of his job. The dad suggests getting a dog, but his wife concedes only if a stray magically shows up on their doorstep. Soon after, a stray does show up! The dog protects the kids, gives the family lots of love, and becomes a member of the family. When the family moves to Colorado, the young father takes his nine-year-old son, the family dog, and two of his son's friends backpacking in the mountains. However, the group is literally struck by lightning. The dad …
Fablehaven: Dragonwatch, Olivia Noli
Fablehaven: Dragonwatch, Olivia Noli
Children's Book and Media Review
Dragonwatch is the first novel in the second Fablehaven series. The story continues just a couple months after the finale of the previous series. Kendra and Seth Sorensen are on their grandparent's magical preserve during the summer, but trouble soon takes them to Wyrmroost, a magical preserve for dragons. Kendra and Seth's powers make them the only eligible candidates as the new caretakers. Accepting the job has its risks as enemies exist within and without the magical stronghold, but Kendra and Seth ultimately save the day and strengthen their preserve. Unfortunately, word spreads that another dragon preserve has fallen, leading …
Yours Sincerely, Giraffe, Sarah Rawle
Yours Sincerely, Giraffe, Sarah Rawle
Children's Book and Media Review
Giraffe is so bored that he decides to do something about it. Pelican is starting a new mail service, so Giraffe decides to write a letter to whomever it reaches on the other side of the horizon. Pelican delivers the letter to Seal, who then delivers the letter to Penguin. Even though Giraffe does not know what Penguin looks like and Penguin doesn’t know what Giraffe looks like, they continue to send each other letters and become great friends! Giraffe decides to visit his new friend, so he dresses up in what he thinks Penguin looks like. When Giraffe arrives, …
Brain Game Treasure Hunts: Jungle Puzzles, Ariel Woodbury
Brain Game Treasure Hunts: Jungle Puzzles, Ariel Woodbury
Children's Book and Media Review
Imagine you are walking on the Inca Trail on your way to Machu Pichu when you fall and find yourself trapped in a clearing with an ancient temple! Unable to find a way back to the trail, you enter the temple. You have to solve puzzles as you make your way through the temple. After you finally make your way through the temple, you wake up mysteriously back on the Inca Trail.
Steve Jobs: Insanely Great, Jarrett Bell
Steve Jobs: Insanely Great, Jarrett Bell
Children's Book and Media Review
Entrepreneur. Rule-breaker. Designer. Inventor. While other authors have attempted to create a biography about the man behind Apple appropriate for children, this is the first biography, presented as a graphic novel, written and drawn from the perspective and level of a sixth grader. The life of Steve Jobs is a story of revolutionary change; a man who significantly affected how the technology industry perceives design, functionality, and the power of thinking outside the box.
Bomb: The Race To Build-And Steal-The World’S Most Dangerous Weapon, Robyn Lee
Bomb: The Race To Build-And Steal-The World’S Most Dangerous Weapon, Robyn Lee
Children's Book and Media Review
Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon takes young adult readers through the years leading up to the first use of the atomic bomb by the United States against Japan in World War II. Bombreads like a thriller as you follow the story lines about the scientists in the United States trying to build a functional bomb, their counterparts in Great Britain, and the espionage the Soviets used to successfully steam information. Steve Sheinkin takes you behind the scenes to learn about some of the most influential people in scientific history and what they had to sacrifice …