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Columbus Day, Kristie Hinckley
Columbus Day, Kristie Hinckley
Children's Book and Media Review
Columbus Day is an informational text that helps young students learn the background about the holiday we call Columbus Day. Christopher Columbus was an explorer born in Italy. He was commissioned to find new routes to China and Italy. In 1492, he arrived in America and every year on the second Monday in October we celebrate that monumental event. He led the way for many Europeans to come to America. Franklin D. Roosevelt is the president who made Columbus Day a national holiday.
Hoop Genius: How A Desperate Teacher And A Rowdy Gym Class Invented Basketball, Ariel Woodbury
Hoop Genius: How A Desperate Teacher And A Rowdy Gym Class Invented Basketball, Ariel Woodbury
Children's Book and Media Review
James Naismith takes over a rowdy gym class that has already made two teachers quit. He tries to play football and soccer with them, but the kids keep getting hurt. One night he stays up trying to think of a game to play with them where they couldn't run with the ball (to prevent tackling). He remembers a game he played as a kid called Duck on a Rock that he adapts into basketball. The first day he tries out his new game, the kids are still too rough. But Naismith sets up the game so that if a player …
Blackhearts #2: Blacksouls, Tessa Mcmillan
Blackhearts #2: Blacksouls, Tessa Mcmillan
Children's Book and Media Review
Finally reaching Nassau, Anne and her friends, Cara and Coyle Flynn, seek out their uncle, Alastair Flynn, for work and safety. Meanwhile, Teach’s ship, the Deliverance, is attacked by pirates. The captain refuses to fight and is killed, causing Teach to take command. Teach and the crew are arrested for mutiny in Nassau by Governor Webb. Webb releases Teach but holds the crew hostage to force Teach into capturing the pirate, George Easton. Anne and Beth discover Mrs. Webb's secret, but she kills Beth and tortures Anne to hide her crimes. Teach rescues Anne and locates Easton, but realizes Webb …
Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever, Ariel Woodbury
Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever, Ariel Woodbury
Children's Book and Media Review
The Confederate Army is on the verge of defeat. Robert E. Lee's army at Petersburg is the only thing keeping the Confederates in the fight. Lee manages to escape with half of his army, but the road to Richmond, their capital, is now undefended. Ulysses S. Grant chases them to their ultimate defeat and the war is effectively over. Back Washington D.C., John Wilkes Booth is planning the kidnapping of Abraham Lincoln for the Confederate government. After the news of the Confederate defeat, he becomes so enraged that his plans change. He and his group of conspirators are now going …
Hippomobile!, Aylea Stephens
Hippomobile!, Aylea Stephens
Children's Book and Media Review
Jimmy and Stella are the only kids in their little town of Wymore. They have forty-seven grandmas and grandpas in this retirement community, and are perfectly happy in their slow, quiet lives. However, when the grandma the runs the restaurant says that she’s going to have to close it because she doesn’t get enough customers, the twins are determined to find a way to save their little town. The answer to getting more people in the town seems to be centered around the town’s treasure, a broken hippomobile with a fascinating past. If Jimmy and Stella can find a way …
Palace Of Spies, Aylea Stephens
Palace Of Spies, Aylea Stephens
Children's Book and Media Review
When Peggy is kicked out of her uncle’s house because she refuses to marry the man her uncle wants her to, she is thrown into a world of the royal court and espionage. The mysterious man who claims to know her father asks her to play the part of Lady Francesca at Hampton Court. Peggy has to find the information that her new benefactors want, but uncovering what happened to Lady Francesca could be a matter of life or death for her as she starts to uncover the Jacobite plot to change who rules England. During her time at court …
Spirit Seeker: John Coltrane's Musical Journey, Aylea Stephens
Spirit Seeker: John Coltrane's Musical Journey, Aylea Stephens
Children's Book and Media Review
John Coltrane lived in a world full of music. He heard it at church, and especially at home. When his father, grandfather, and grandmother all died within a short time, he wasn’t sure life could ever be okay again. His family had no money, but John turned to music to fill the hole where his Papa had been. He learned the alto saxophone, and it gave him voice. He listened to big bands and one day he listened to Charlie “Bird” Parker playing a new type of jazz, bebop, that John loved and began playing as he toured around. Still, …
Miss Moore Thought Otherwise: How Anne Carroll Moore Created Libraries For Children, Aylea Stephens
Miss Moore Thought Otherwise: How Anne Carroll Moore Created Libraries For Children, Aylea Stephens
Children's Book and Media Review
When most people thought girls should stay inside and do quiet activities, Annie Carroll Moore thought otherwise. She liked to play outside and read stories. Children weren’t allowed in libraries, and most people thought reading wasn’t important for girls. When she was older and both her parents died from the flu, she moved to Brooklyn, New York, when she found out that libraries were starting to hire female librarians. As a librarian, she encouraged children to check out books and encouraged other librarians to let children read the books. She wrote book reviews and helped people find good books for …
The Executioner's Daughter, Charlotte Esplin
The Executioner's Daughter, Charlotte Esplin
Children's Book and Media Review
At 11 years old, Moss is bored with living in the Tower of London. She longs to go out and explore the villages that surround the Tower. However, her dad has always told her that they are prisoners in the Tower and his job is to execute. Moss hates her job--catching the heads. After discovering that her father has lied to her for her whole life, Moss runs away to find the mill by the river where her mother died. Once there, instead of finding her mother she finds the fearsome and dreaded Riverwitch, of whom she has heard stories …
Rocks Minerals & Gems, Olivia Hales
Rocks Minerals & Gems, Olivia Hales
Children's Book and Media Review
A visual catalog of rocks minerals and gems, this book features full and half page images of various rocks along with information on them. The informational chart on the left side of each page includes the hardness, luster, where the rock can be found, how it breaks, its level of transparency, uses, and more. For some rocks featured in this book, photos of its varied appearances are included. Historic uses by man are included in the side notes and subheadings, alongside brief facts. This book is concise in its descriptions, and very legible despite the many photo backgrounds. The pictures …
Lights On The Nile, Abigail Packard
Lights On The Nile, Abigail Packard
Children's Book and Media Review
Kepi had no intention of journeying up the Nile to the capital city to speak directly with Pharaoh Khufu. She was content to stay at home and help her crippled father begin his baking business. But when some boys steal Babu, the baby baboon that Kepi saved, Kepi has to journey up the Nile to save him once more. Along the way Kepi herself is kidnapped, faces many dangers, meets new friends in the capital city, and eventually finds herself face to face with Pharaoh Khufu—the pharaoh who commissioned the pyramid that Kepi’s father was injured while building. Kepi fails …
The Secrets Of The Immortal Nicholas Flamel #6: The Enchantress, Lisa Packard
The Secrets Of The Immortal Nicholas Flamel #6: The Enchantress, Lisa Packard
Children's Book and Media Review
Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel have one day left to live and they decide to spend it by fighting off the monsters on Alcatraz to save San Francisco. They have many immortals and Elders fighting with them including Mars, Niten, Machiavelli, and Billy the Kid. During the fight they realize not all of them will survive the night, but it means saving the world from the monsters and destruction. They eventually defeat the monsters, but at great cost. Although they are all immortal or Elder, each character feels the effects of aging due to using their auras for too long. Sophie …
The Secrets Of The Immortal Nicholas Flamel #4: The Necromancer, Lisa Packard
The Secrets Of The Immortal Nicholas Flamel #4: The Necromancer, Lisa Packard
Children's Book and Media Review
Nicholas and Perenelle only have a few days left before they die. Josh and Sophie are back in San Francisco and are going home to rest before they have to go and fight the Dark Elders. Aiofe, Scatty's sister, shows up and takes Sophie away to find out where Scatty is. Josh and Sophie meet Niten, an immortal sword fighter and helps them hone their skills. The Flamels take Josh and Sophie to Prometheus so that Josh can learn the magic of fire. After he learns, Mars takes over his body and takes him to Dee and his partner, another …
The Secrets Of The Immortal Nicholas Flamel #3: The Sorceress, Lisa Packard
The Secrets Of The Immortal Nicholas Flamel #3: The Sorceress, Lisa Packard
Children's Book and Media Review
osh and Sophie are distraught. They don't know what has happened to their friend Scatty, but Nicholas assures them she is fine. They travel to England in search of the ancient (and insane) Gilgamesh the King to teach them Water Magic. Despite the king’s mental instability, the twins and Flamel have no other choice than to seek help from the king. Saint-Germain finds them help in England from Palamedes, a knight from the round table, and none other than William Shakespeare. However, Dr. Dee finds them with an Elder and an Archnon, a powerful being before the time of the …
The Secrets Of The Immortal Nicholas Flamel #2: The Magician, Lisa Packard
The Secrets Of The Immortal Nicholas Flamel #2: The Magician, Lisa Packard
Children's Book and Media Review
Josh and Sophie Newman are now in Paris with Scatty and Nicholas. The more Nicholas uses his magic, the faster he ages. If they don't get the Book back, Nicholas will die in a few weeks. Not only are they being chased by Dr. John Dee, but also the immortal Niccolo Machiavelli—both very dangerous men with Dark Elders on their side. This unique bunch of people find shelter and food from a former student of Nicholas. The Comte de Saint-Germain and his wife Joan of Arc. Josh still doesn't trust Nicholas, but he and Sophie have nowhere to go. Sophie …
The Secrets Of The Immortal Nicholas Flamel #1: The Alchemyst, Lisa Packard
The Secrets Of The Immortal Nicholas Flamel #1: The Alchemyst, Lisa Packard
Children's Book and Media Review
Twins Sophie and Josh Newman just moved to San Francisco while their parents are in Utah digging up artifacts. Their coffee shop and bookstore jobs are right across the street from each other. One day at the bookstore Josh smells rotten eggs and mint, only to find out that it's the smell of distinct magic. Dr. John Dee, smelling of rotten eggs, has come looking for a book written by Abraham the Mage. And it turns out that Nick Flemming, Josh’s boss, smells like mint. The two battle and Dee steals the book, but Nick saves two very important pages …
Andrew Zimmern's Field Guide To Exceptionally Weird, Wild, And Wonderful Foods: An Intrepid Eater's Digest, Aylea Stephens
Andrew Zimmern's Field Guide To Exceptionally Weird, Wild, And Wonderful Foods: An Intrepid Eater's Digest, Aylea Stephens
Children's Book and Media Review
For Andrew Zimmern, host of the TV show Bizarre Foods, no food is too weird. In this book, he explores foods from around the world that might seem unusual to eat, such as alligator meat, brains, cockroaches, dung beetles, garlic ice cream, haggis, liver, octopus, rabbit, stuffed lamb spleen, turducken, and many others. He discusses the benefits, or lack of benefits, from each food, but then expands the information with recipes, photos, related trivia about the area it comes from; famous sayings related to the food, the area it comes from, or other fun trivia.