Dinosaur Pick: Everything Awesome About Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Beasts!

Everything Awesome About Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Beasts!
by Mike Lowry
Illustrations by the author
Orchard Books
128 pages
ISBN: 9781338359725

Available October 15, 2019


New York Times bestselling illustrator Mike Lowery tackles the most entertaining non-fiction topic and most popular subject for elementary to middle school non-fiction fans: dinosaurs!

Easy and fun to read, this book is accessible and hilarious and fans of Dav Pilkey will cheer! Dinosaurs come to life in funny comic fashion. True to the cover factoid, "a gazillion true facts!" this beauty delivers hours of entertainment. A section on how to draw dinosaurs offers would be artists and cartoonists a how-to guide.

Give this to any dinosaur fan and expect them to do a happy dance! This may be the most checked-out book at elementary libraries. For those librarians who purchase this one, you should invest in more than one copy as I see this being checked out again and again.

A MUST READ! Highly, highly recommended for every dinosaur fan and every library grade 1-high school. Even teen readers will find this an appealing read. Reluctant readers will be enthralled.

FTC Required reading: I received this ARC from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Picture Book Pick: Life With My Family

Life With My Family
by Renee Hooker & Karl Jones
Illustrated by Kathryn Durst
Penguin Workshop/Penguin Random House
2018
32 pages
ISBN: 9781524789374

Funny and heartfelt art captures a chaotic family scene where the sister wonders what else could we be? She imagines her family as: a pod of pelicans, a swarm of bees, a school of fish, a herd of buffalo, a pride of lions, a pandemonium of parrots and lesser known animals like wombats and jelly fish. The girl realizes that even though her family is loud and messy, there is no place she'd rather be.

Each animal sports human accessories so that young readers can tell which member of the family is portrayed: Mama wears earrings, Papa wears glasses, the brother with red hair sports a tuft of red hair, and the baby has a pacifier, and this makes it fun for the youngest readers.

Highly recommended ages 1-up. Cute family interaction and fun artwork make this a keeper of a book! Included is a list of terms for collective nouns, or terms of venery, for each group of animals.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Picture Book Pick: Tomorrow I'll Be Brave

Tomorrow I'll Be Brave
by Jessica Hische
Penguin Workshop/Penguin Random House
2018
40 pages
ISBN: 9781524787011

Insightful and positive, this quick read is a bedtime story sure to teach and instill qualities of confidence, having fun whether you win or not, learning new things, asking questions, creating things and being brave.

Colorful illustrations by the author are gender neural and sure to appeal to young readers. The words: adventurous, strong, brave, creative, smart, confident, and  curious  come alive in an illustration near the end, and readers learn that even if they didn't do all those things today, there is always tomorrow to try again.

Powerful and appealing, give this little beauty to every child in your life!

Highly, highly recommended age two and up.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Picture Book Pick: How Do Dinosaurs Learn To Read?

How Do Dinosaurs Learn To Read?
by Jane Yolen
Illustrations by Mark Teague
The Blue Sky Press/Scholastic
2018
32 pages
ISBN: 978133233018

Available: Jane 26, 2018

The beloved Teague dinosaurs are back and they are amusing and captivating as they learn to read and treat their books with care. Every parent and librarian will love this book for teaching young ones how to turn pages carefully and how to keep their books away from water.

Fans of the dream team Yolen & Teague will love this latest addition to the series. As expected, each dinosaur makes its appearance on the end papers with their names. Reading tips are included.

Highly, highly recommended for every child's personal library. A great addition to any picture book collection.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the ARC from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Dinosaur Pick: How Dinosaurs Really Work

How Dinosaurs Really Work!
by Alan Snow
Illustrations by the author
Antheneum Books for Young Readers
2013
32 pages
ISBN: 9781442482944

Visit the author's awesome website Here Be Monsters

Terrific illustrations and taut, fun text will captivate young readers and dinosaur lovers. Readers will  learn about the different periods of dinosaurs, the types of terrible lizards (except that they weren't really terrible and that they are not lizards; dinosaurs, in fact, are related to birds!) and more fascinating facts from winsome author/illustrator Alan Snow.

Many dinosaurs weren't  even meat eaters; they ate plants! How terrible is that? Readers learn that some dinosaurs are 3 tons or more but their brain size was  only as big as a rabbit's brain. Poor T. Rex--he was not smart either. He probably only had simple thoughts like: I need to eat or go around that tree.

Some animals living today are as old as the dinosaurs and have managed to survive. Crocodiles and sharks lived back in the days of the dinosaurs, and sea urchins pre-date the first dinosaurs!

No one knows why the dinosaurs became extinct. There are different ideas: a change in the weather or climate could have caused them to go extinct or perhaps a new disease was introduced, killing them off.

Colorful, zany pen and ink  illustrations will draw young readers to this treasure of a book. It is sure to become a favorite bedtime read. Dinosaur lovers will likely memorize statistics of each dinosaur.

Highly, highly recommended ages 4-up and for all dino lovers.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Graphic Novel Pick :Chickenhare

Chickenhare
Author and Illustrator Chris Grine
Graphix (Scholastic)
2013
160 pages

Available February 1, 2013

Two friends—a bearded turtle and a chickenhare—are captured by a bounty hunter and taken to Mr. Klaus who pays big money for rare pets. Since his favorite pet goat Buttons deserted him years ago, Klaus has been stuffing all his animals so that they will never be able to leave him again.

Chickenhare and Abe (the turtle) are thrown in the dungeon with two others—Meg and a monkey named Banjo. The four form a friendship and agree to help each other escape. They defeat Klaus’s guard and butler and take off into the snow.

When they happen upon a cave, they explore. Chickenhare falls into a crevice and is greeted by the ghost of Buttons who explains that he’s happy to see Chickenhare. Buttons remains as a ghost because he had unfinished business and must save other creatures from Klaus’s evil taxidermy.

Spunky and funny dialog will captivate readers and good graphic detail with full color illustrations throughout the text make this a stunning book. I would also recommend this title for reluctant readers.

Highly, highly recommended for all graphic collections grade 6-up. Any graphic novel fan will want to read this one.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.