The Little Bad Book 2: Even More Dangerous by Magnus Myst

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The Little Bad Book 2: Even More Dangerous
Author and Illustrator: Magnus Myst
Published October 11, 2022 by Delacorte Press

Summary: In this second book in the Little Bad Book interactive series, young readers will be dared to solve tricky puzzles and funny riddles and to become part of the plot in eerily funny stories in order to reveal the Little Bad Book’s secret!

HEY, YOU! PSSST

You might not believe this, but I’ve discovered the biggest secret in the world. Yes, honestly! Should I tell you? Okay. Just be careful! It will be the scariest thing you’ve ever read! I hope you can take it. Can you I bet you can. You’re brave, aren’t you?

Do you dare to read me? Come on–do it–read me!

You are the lucky reader who can discover the secret the little bad book is willing to share. The puzzles and riddles will challenge you, but it is definitely worth it! Go ahead and take a chance! You are the baddest one there is!

Review and Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: This interactive book enraptured both of my children (ages 6 and 9). The book breaks the fourth wall and speaks directly to the reader. I particularly appreciated the ways in which the book treats the reader as smart, capable people with agency. It also has that mild element of horror that really captures kids’ attention. This is a book that will be well-loved by the most avid readers and will hook readers who don’t typically fall in love with books. It’s extremely accessible. As a parent and teacher, I particularly loved how it tricks kids into math, reading comprehension, and logic puzzles. I was hooked (or tricked), as well. 🙂

Flagged Spreads: 

Read This If You Love: Interactive activity books filled with fun and educational activities

Recommended For: 

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**Thank you to Cate from Nicole Banholzer Public Relations for providing copies for review!**

Who’s That Dinosaur?: An Animal Guessing Game by Gabrielle Balkan, Illustrated by Sam Brewster

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Who’s That Dinosaur?: An Animal Guessing Game
Author: Gabrielle Balkan
Illustrator: Sam Brewster
Published September 21, 2022 by Phaedon

Summary: A playful, informative introduction to dinosaurs for the youngest readers, by the team behind the bestselling Book of Bones

Set up as a guessing game with visual and narrative clues, Who’s That Dinosaur? invites readers to examine seven skeletons and guess to whom they belong. The answer is provided in a vibrant, foldout reveal, accompanied by an explanation as to why each dinosaur’s body was so special.

It’s a humorous, informative introduction to fossils and dinosaur anatomy, where, in a surprise twist, young children learn how birds are modern-day dinosaurs. A fun and informative introduction to the ever-popular topic of dinosaurs.

Review: This book is such good fun! It is an informational fiction text which really engages its readers. Although this is marketed to younger readers (ages 2-4), My almost 6-year-old had a BLAST reading it. He was able to read the words, so it also offered great vocabulary for him. (My 3-year-old, of course, loved it.) This is a book that would be great for preschool or early elementary school classrooms. It is interactive, engaging, and a very fun read—for adults, too!

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: It would be neat to have children create their own interactive pages that fold out. They might pick a dinosaur or animal and research to create their own “Who’s that…” page filled with fun facts.

Flagged Spread:

Read This If You Love: Interactive activity books that are fun and educational

Recommended For: 

**Thank you to Phaidon for providing a copy for review!**

Charlie & Mouse Lost and Found by Laurel Snyder

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Charlie & Mouse
Author: Laurel Snyder
Illustrator: Emily Hughes
Expected Publication August 23, 2021 by Chronicle Books

GoodReads Summary: It’s puppy love! This latest continuation of the award-winning Charlie & Mouse early chapter book series will delight newly independent readers. Lost and Found is full of relatable trials (a lost blanket), surprises (a lost dog), and delights (a new puppy!) and overflows with the series’ signature humor and heart.

Charlie and Mouse are finding surprises in all sorts of unexpected places. After Mouse’s beloved blanket is lost and then found, they find a lost dog (and eventually her owner), seek out some ice cream, and discover a new puppy friend to take home at last.

BROTHERS ARE THE BEST: The Charlie & Mouse books show a sibling friendship and a family dynamic that is kind as well as playful.

AN ANIMAL LOVER’S DELIGHT: Featuring not one but two dogs—one very big and one very small—this fifth book in the Charlie & Mouse series makes a wonderful gift for any canine-loving kid! From going on walks to snuggling up together at the end of a long day, the furry friends in these sweet and silly stories are sure to enchant young animal enthusiasts.

IDEAL FOR NEWLY INDEPENDENT READERS: The interconnected but distinct short stories in this book offer an accessible transition for readers who are just moving into longer books, especially for reluctant readers.

HUMOR WITH HEART: The Charlie & Mouse books bring a fresh, humorous, and heartwarming approach to central themes to which readers of all ages can relate: imagination, creativity, play, and family are fondly celebrated in each of these stories.

WE NEED DIVERSE BOOKS: Charlie and Mouse are mixed-race Japanese characters growing up in Hawaii, a setting inspired by the childhood of up-and-coming Asian-American artist Emily Hughes. Every book of this early chapter book series offers an opportunity for young children of many different backgrounds to see themselves reflected in the stories they love.

Perfect for:

• Newly independent readers
• Parents
• Dog lovers

Ricki’s Review: Ahhh, I will read every Charlie & Mouse book that is ever published. This series has captured my heart. In this edition, there’s a lost blanket (Mouse’s) and lost dog. Charlie & Mouse care for the dog and eventually find its owners. There’s just something really special about Charlie & Mouse, as characters. They are charming and sweet, and I just can’t get enough of them. I highly recommend this series for early readers. The books remind me of an updated Frog and Toad in so many ways—the pictures, word spacing, humor, friendship, and charming characters.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: These books beg readers to write their own fan fiction—their own Charlie & Mouse stories. Teachers could allow students to work together or in groups and then bind them together in a class book.

Discussion Questions: 

  • What happens to Charlie and Mouse in this book?
  • How does the author use humor to make the story enjoyable to read?
  • What do Charlie and Mouse do with the dog?
  • What does this book teach you?

We Flagged:

“Blanket is missing,” said Mouse after lunch.

“Oh no,” said Charlie. “Where did you leave him?”

“If I knew that,” said Mouse, “he would not be missing.”

Read This If You Love: The previous Charlie & Mouse Books (See Book 1, Book 2, and Book 3); Frog & Toad series; Books About Friendship; Early Readers Books

Recommended For: 

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Don’t miss out on this one!

Educator Guest Post: “Story Talk: Use Conversation to Fall in Love with a Book–A Reading Resource using Float by Daniel Miyares” by Hillary Wolfe

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“Story Talk: Use Conversation to Fall in Love with a Book–A Reading Resource using Float by Daniel Miyares”

Reading a story with a child is one of the most loving ways to build a relationship. Snuggled up together, you can laugh, feel sad, be curious, and learn something, together. Stories open up worlds and let us see things through the eyes of another. It’s the best way to teach empathy.

The first few times you read a story, just enjoy the experience of saying the words, or looking at the pictures. How is your child responding? Let them just sit with the feelings they have.

But you don’t have to stop there. The real reason to read a story more than once or twice is so you can get to know it better, learn its secrets, discover what it’s trying to tell you. Just like a new friend, the first few times you meet, you just want to have fun. But each time you return to the story, try to learn a little more about it. This is how you fall in love with storytelling, and with reading.

Here’s a secret about authors: They wish they could be in the room with you, talking to you about their story. Since they can’t do that, they leave you clues instead. It’s like a puzzle – can you figure out what the author was thinking about? Why did they use that word, that color, or those images? The author loves it when you take the time to get to know what they are thinking.

Once you feel like you understand howthe author thinks, see if you can determine whythe author thinks that way. What was this story really trying to tell you?

Take a look at the picture book Float by Daniel Miyares. There are no words, but it is most definitely a rich story. The first time you read it, just flip through the pages and ask your child what is happening. What is this story about?

After a few reads, you can stop at a few places on each page and point to something, pose a question, and ponder with your child about the choices that the author or illustrator made. Not only are you getting to know the story better, you are providing your child with a blueprint for how to approach reading. Can they visualize something? Will they make a prediction? Does this story connect with their own life in any way? When children can do these things on their own, they are more likely to stay engaged with reading, and to go beyond the surface to explore deeper understanding.

If you want an example of how this can look, follow the prompts in the figure below. On each page of the story, notice the feature identified under “Stop at…”. Have a conversation about the feature. As you do this, you are modeling great reading strategies, such as Visualizing, Making Predictions, Summarizing, Asking Questions, Inferring, or Making Connections to the text. These conversations are reading skill-builders.

Then, go a little deeper. Ask your child to consider what the author was thinking about, or to try to explain a choice the author made. These questions will help the child understand that behind every story is a human being who just wants a moment of your time to talk to you about something they care about.

In school, teachers will call this “close reading.” Close reading means reading a text more than once, for multiple purposes. First, read to get the gist. What is the story about? Who are the characters? What happens first, in the middle, and at the end?

Next, read for author’s craft. This means paying attention to the word choices the author made, the text structure they chose, the images they used. What was the context for the story? From whose point of view is the story told?

Finally, read to evaluate the ideas from multiple perspectives. What does the story stir up in you? Does it make you want to take an action, or make a change in your own life?

This may sound very dry and academic and like it takes a lot of work. But it doesn’t have to be so formal. It’s a conversation, a way to make friends with a story, and let it into your life. Get to know it, ask it questions, try to understand its point of view. Be a good friend. In return, you may get a companion that will stay with you for a long, long time.

As you read…

Page Suggestions of Places to Pause… Focus on a Reading Strategy… Have a Discussion About…
Inside cover Arrows and dotted lines Visualize: What do the arrows mean? What do the dotted lines mean?

How many sheets of paper will be needed to make this?

Text Structure: What is the author/illustrator showing us?
Title Float Inferring: What did the instructions on the previous page make? (Hint: There’s a clue on the cover)
1-2 Picture: Notice the blue square Inferring: How many people are in the picture? Who do you think they are? Author’s/Illustrator’s Craft: Why is there only a little bit of color on the paper? What does the illustrator want you to notice?
3-4 What the child is wearing; the sky Predicting: What will the weather be like? Author’s/Illustrator’s Craft: Why did the author make the coat and boots the only color in the picture?
5-6 Third panel Questioning: How does the child feel in the first panel? In the second? In the third? Author’s/Illustrator’s Craft: What do the three panels represent?
7-8 Yellow Visualize: Does this look like rainstorms you have seen?

Make Connections: Do you like the rain?

Gist: What is this story about so far?
9-10 Reflections Question: Has the weather changed? Why is the picture of the house and tree upside down? Citing Evidence: How do you know it is still raining?
11-12 Blurred lines, ripples Summarizing: Explain what is happening in this picture. Citing Evidence: How does the author/illustrator show movement?
13-14 Second panel Visualizing: What angle are we seeing the child from? How do you know?

What do the wavy white lines mean?

Gist: What did the rain provide for the boat?
15-16 Child holding his hat; perspective Predicting: Who is faster- the child or the boat?

What will happen to the boat?

Citing Evidence: The child is holding onto the hat. Is it windy or is the child running fast? What are the clues in the picture?
17-18 Child’s pose Summarize: Explain what has happened. Integration of Ideas: How has the child’s feelings about the boat changed so far?
19-20 Top panel Questioning: Did the child see the boat cross the street?
21-22 Child’s pose Predicting: What is about to happen to the boat?
23-24 Child’s face Making Connections: How does it feel to lose something you care about? Author’s/Illustrator’s Craft: The illustrator used the color black and drew a shadow across the boat. Do you think the child will be able to find the boat?
25-26 Water Inferring: Where did the boat go?  
27-28 Third panel Inferring: How does the child feel? Integration of Ideas: The weather has changed again. What is the relationship between the rain and the child’s mood?
29-30 Shadow Visualizing: What time of day is it? Where is the child going?  
31-32 Boat Questioning: Who opened the door? Gist: What do you think the child will tell the adult about what happened?
33-34 First and third panels Making Connections: What do you do when someone you care about is sad? What makes you feel better when you are sad?  
35-36 Pink picture in the paper Predicting: What do you think they will make with the paper? Citing Evidence: Is it morning or night-time? What clues did the illustrator give you?
37-38 Color of the sky; what the child is holding Summarizing: What time of day is it? How do you know?

Predicting: What is going to happen next?

Integration of Ideas: Yellow is a bright color. What does the author/illustrator want us to know about how the child is feeling?
39-40 Child’s pose, clothes Predicting: Was your prediction from the last page correct? Integration of Ideas: What is something you can tell yourself when something makes you sad? What determines if you will be happy or sad?
41-42 Arrows, dotted lines Questioning: Why did this story end this way? Text Structure: How is this page the same as, and different from, the opening page?
Furthering the Conversation
Think about the title. What does the word “float” mean? Explain what it means for a boat or for a plane. How could you use the word “float” to describe an attitude?

Do you have a favorite story that you would like broken down this way? Please send suggestions to Story Talk, a website for engaging in reading conversations. https://hillwolfe.wixsite.com/story-talk, or email me at hw.storytalk@gmail.com.

About Educator Hillary Wolfe: Hillary Wolfe is a Director of Curriculum and Instruction in El Monte, CA, who has worked with students from grades pre-K through 12, and has served as an instructional coach, intervention coordinator, and media specialist. As a classroom teacher, she created a writing curriculum for middle- and high school literacy students reading two or more years below grade level, helping her students achieve substantial gains on state exams. Ms. Wolfe also brings 10 years as a journalist and an education columnist to her understanding of instruction and best practices. She has written books on writing strategies (Capstone 2013/2015), and teachers guides for phonemic awareness activities (Capstone 2017), as well as articles on literacy and intervention in national journals. She has made presentations around literacy for national organizations, and has served as an editor, curriculum writer, and Academic Officer in educational publishing as well as a Coordinator for Academic Interventions for the Orange County Department of Education.

Float
Creator: Daniel Miyares
Published June 9th, 2015 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Children

About the Book:A boy’s small paper boat and his large imagination fill the pages of this wordless picture book, a modern-day classic from the creator of Pardon Me! that includes endpaper instructions for building a boat of your own.

A little boy takes a boat made of newspaper out for a rainy-day adventure. The boy and his boat dance in the downpour and play in the puddles, but when the boy sends his boat floating down a gutter stream, it quickly gets away from him.

So of course the little boy goes on the hunt for his beloved boat, and when the rain lets up, he finds himself on a new adventure altogether.

This seemingly simply story from Daniel Miyares is enriched with incredible depth and texture that transcend words.

Thank you, Hillary, for this amazing resource!

Paint by Sticker Kids: Dinosaurs

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Paint By Sticker Kids: Dinosaurs
Published July 21, 2020 by Workman Publishing Company

Summary: Create pictures of 10 awesome dinosaurs… with stickers!

Step 1: Find the sticker
Step 2: Peel the sticker
Step 3: Place the sticker

…and watch your dinosaur painting come to life!

Includes everything you need to create ten sticker paintings on sturdy stock––plus, all the pages are perforated, making it easy to tear out each finished work to frame and share.

Features fascinating dinosaur facts on the back of each painting!

Ricki’s Review: This book is a gift to parents. I mean…kids! My 6-year-old spent three hours (no lie) working on three of these. It teaches him to focus, and it is helping him improve his fine motor skills. My 3-year-old, who is almost 4, finds it a bit more difficult. He can place the stickers, but he has trouble with the numbers and peeling the stickers off. I would say the sweet spot for this book would start at about 4.5 years old and continue up through adulthood. I am tempted to buy the adult version for myself, but the kid version would bring just as much joy. As a child, I loved paint by number, and this is paint by number without the mess! I offered to buy paint by number for my 6-year-old, but he said he preferred this sticker version and that it was more fun. 

Above, you can see the three pages that took my 6-year-old three hours to complete. He wanted to do a fourth, but I told him to take a break! We’ll definitely be buying the kids some of the other Paint by Sticker books for holidays. 😉

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: This is a great book to teach numbers. There are about 60 stickers on each page, and finding the stickers allows children to look at the numerical order of the stickers. My 6-year-old chose to go in sequential, increasing order, so it reinforced his number sense. (My 3-year-old preferred to peel stickers at random, but he was still forced to think about how the numbers were structured.) I could easily see this book at a freetime station or in a fast finishers bin. The pages easily perforate!

Read This If You Love: Interactive activity books filled with fun and educational activities; paint by number

Recommended For: 

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**Thank you to Workman Publishing for providing a copy for review!**

Dream Big, Little Scientists: A Bedtime Book by Michelle Schaub, Illustrated by Alice Potter

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Dream Big, Little Scientists: A Bedtime Book
Author: Michelle Schaub
Illustrator: Alice Potter
Published: February 18, 2020 by Charlesbridge

Summary: Twelve kids. A dozen bedtimes. Endless sweet ways to say goodnight with science! Spark curiosity and exploration with this innovative bedtime story for budding scientists that introduces eleven branches of science. From astronomy to physics to chemistry to geology, this STEM picture book will help kids get excited to explore. Includes further information about each branch of science.

Praise:

About the Author: Michelle Schaub is an author, a veteran teacher, and a poetry-in-the-classroom advocate. Her books include Finding Treasure: A Collection of Collections and Fresh-Picked Poetry: A Day at the Farmers’ Market; her poems have appeared in And the Crowd Goes Wild, A Global Gathering of Sports Poems, and The Poetry Anthology for Celebrations. To download free activity kits and curriculum guides for her books, visit her website: http://www.michelleschaub.com/; Twitter: @Schaubwrites; Instagram: @schaubwrites

About the Illustrator: Alice Potter is a London-based illustrator and children’s-wear print designer. Dream Big, Little Scientists is her first picture book. www.alicepotter.co.uk

Ricki’s ReviewThis book is very cleverly conceived. The spreads depict the different branches of science, and I had a lot of fun (as an adult) playing detective and examining the different bedrooms. My sons adored the book and asked questions about the different scientists and posters on the walls of the bedroom. We googled and learned about new scientists! A significant amount of thought and care went into this book, and it was not lost on me. I’ve read this several times now with my sons, and each time, I find something new that I enjoy. This book will make readers really excited to learn about science. Further, the language is beautiful, and it is very fun to read aloud. I have two science-y friends who are having a baby soon. You bet that I’ll be buying this book for them!

Kellee’s Review: I love when a traditional book is turned upside down and turned into something new and fresh, and that is exactly what Michelle Schaub and Alice Potter have done. It is a next level bedtime book because while it has such lyrical text that definitely will bring some yawns, it also is a book that will bring lots of curiosity to its readers as each spread unleashes another discussion about a different branch of science. Each page we looked at the posters, decorations, and books to see how they all connect. It was wonderful how the illustrator brought the authors intentions to life!  

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: Download the EDUCATORS’ GUIDE!

From the author’s note: “Be curious! Look around, explore, and talk about the world where you live . . . just like a scientist! To explore the different branches of science even more, visit: www.sciencekids.co.nz

Visit www.michelleschaub.com/scientists to learn about the scientists on the posters in each kid’s room.”

There are some great assets for this book in addition to learning about each scientist, including a book trailer. Here’s the link to the page on her site: https://www.michelleschaub.com/dream-big.

Additionally, doing a visual analysis of each spread as a connection to science would be such an interesting activity!

Discussion Questions: 

  • Which page excites you the most? Which branch of science is depicted on that page? Why did the page interest you?
  • Which scientist intrigues you? Why?
  • How did the author creatively organize this book? How does this increase your interest, as a reader?
  • How does each room reflect the branch of science the child likes?

We Flagged: 

Read This If You Love: Books about Science; Bedtime Books

Recommended For: 

and

**Thank you to Barbara at Blue Slip Media for providing a copies for review**

Educators’ Guide for Prairie Boy: Frank Lloyd Wright Turns the Heartland Into a Home by Barb Rosenstock

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Prairie Boy: Frank Lloyd Wright Turns the Heartland Into a Home
Author: Barb Rosenstock
Illustrator: Christopher Silas Neal
Published: September 10th, 2019 by Calkins Creek

Summary: The early life and creative genius of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, as a maker of American buildings—highlighting his passion, imagination and creativity.

Frank Lloyd Wright loved the Wisconsin prairie where he was born, with its wide-open sky and waves of tall grass. As his family moved across the United States, young Frank found his own home in shapes: rectangles, triangles, half-moons, and circles. So, Frank pursued a career in architecture. Unlike everyone else, he didn’t think the Victorian homes fit the beauty of the land. Using his love of shapes, Frank redesigned the American home inside and out, developing a unique architecture, the Prairie House.

Author Barb Rosenstock and artist Christopher Silas Neal explore the early life and creative genius of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, highlighting his passion, imagination, and ingenuity.

Backmatter includes historical photos, author’s note, quotations, sources, source notes, architectural plans and a photo gallery of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings across America.

About the Creators: 

Author Barb Rosenstock is the author of many picture book biographies, including Otis and Will Discover the Deep, Secret Kingdom, Dorothea’s Eyes, Ben Franklin’s Big Splash, and The Streak: How Joe DiMaggio Became America’s Hero. Her picture book about Kandinsky, The Noisy Paint Box, won the 2015 Caldecott Medal.

Illustrator Christopher Silas Neal is the author and illustrator of multiple picture books, including I Won’t Eat That and Everyone. He is also the illustrator of Kate Messner’s Over and Under the Pond, Over and Under the Snow, and Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt.

Book Trailer: 

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation and Discussion Questions: 

Please view and enjoy the teachers’ and discussion guide I created for Prairie Boy: 

You can also access the teaching guide here.

You can learn more about the book on Barb Rosenstock’s Prairie Boy page.

Recommended For: 

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