Review of Gross as a Snot Otter, by Jess Keating

Children's Nonfiction Review, Science, Starred Review 0

Gross as a Snot Otter

Discovering the World’s Most Disgusting Animals

by Jess Keating
with illustrations by David DeGrand

Alfred A. Knopf, 2019. 44 pages.
Review written April 10, 2020, from a library book
Starred Review

Jess Keating’s books from The World of Weird Animals series are the easiest books in the world to book talk! I used Pink Is for Blobfish back in 2016. I’d ordered Gross as a Snot Otter to booktalk this year, but didn’t actually get around to reading it until the library closed for the coronavirus. I was right! It will be perfect for booktalking. I hope I get the chance to do so at least next year! (Spoiler alert: this didn’t happen.)

All you have to do to intrigue kids with this book is open to a random page and read off the facts about the disgusting animal featured there. In some cases, the animals themselves aren’t as gross as a snot otter, but in those cases, they have some kind of disgusting habit.

Take herring, for example, who communicate with each other by farting. Or Siberian chipmunks, which gnaw on the flesh of dead snakes and rub it onto their bodies so they smell like the predator. Or Surinam toads, whose mothers incubate their eggs on their backs – growing skin over them. Later, up to 100 toadlets at a time come popping out of her back.

Each spread has a photograph of the gross animal on one side, then facts about the animal with a silly cartoon on the other, with more of an explanation of what’s gross about them. This book is a sure kid-pleaser and will arm them with a plethora of weird scientific facts about a wide variety of animals.

JessKeating.com
DeGrandLand.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Nonfiction/gross_as_a_snot_otter.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?

Review of Look for the Math Around You, by Alice Aspinall

Children's Nonfiction Review, Mathematical, Starred Review 0

Look for the Math Around You

Arrays
Estimation
Fractions
Geometry
Math Chats
Patterns

by Alice Aspinall

Code Breaker, 2020. Each volume 56 pages.
Review written December 13, 2022, from library books.
Starred Review

I’m reviewing a series of six books with this post. I’m super proud that I found these for the library and just got a chance to read them myself. They’re even better than I’d hoped!

What these books present is a wonderful opportunity for mathematical conversations for adults to have with kids as young as Kindergarten through 4th or 5th grades. They’ve got questions that made me think, and they model mathematical thinking.

Every book begins with a page that says this:

This book features photos taken from everyday, real-life moments. Use the photos as prompts to start a math conversation with children. Each photo is accompanied by optional question prompts. In some cases, there are many correct answers. The thinking process and mathematical discussion are more important than the correct answers. Have fun!

I read that in the first book, and right away my heart responded with a “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

I’ll include some example questions from the different books:

From Arrays, next to a photo of a garage door:

How many rectangles are in this photo? Look closely.
Explain how you counted them.

From Estimation, next to a photo of popcorn in a bowl:

There are two kinds of popcorn in the bowl. How would you describe how much of each kind is in the bowl? Think about using:
–Numbers
–Fractions
–Percentages
–Words

From Fractions, next to a photo of an uncut pan of brownies:

The brownie needs to be shared with 8 people.
Show the different ways you can cut the brownie so that all 8 people get the same amount of brownie to eat.

From Geometry, next to a photo of an orange slice, first in a circle and then pulled into a line:

The orange slice shows the parts of a circle. The circumference is the peel, wrapping all the way around the outside of the circle. The area is the flesh of the orange. Point to each part of the circle.

When we pull apart the orange slice, we can see the parts of the circle in a different way. How many segments can you count?

What do you think is the length of the circumference of this orange slice? How do you know?

From Math Chats, next to a photo of a fire pit with marshmallows toasting:

How far away should the marshmallow be from the fire for the best roast?
In what direction do you rotate your skewer to toast the marshmallow?
How much of the marshmallow do you like covered in char?
What ratio of cracker to chocolate to marshmallow makes the best s’more?
How many pieces of chocolate do you like in a s’more?
What pattern do you use to assemble a s’more?

From Patterns, next to a photo of a pie with a lattice top:

How is the pie crust arranged? Use words to explain how all the pieces are weaved together.
What other patterns can you find on the pie? Look for shapes.

That should give you the idea. The books are loaded with interesting photographs accompanied by open-ended questions that encourage mathematical thinking. And because the questions are open-ended, your child may surprise you!

You can find all these books in the Fairfax County Public Library catalog if you search for “Look for the Math Around You.”

everyonecanlearnmath.com
codebreakeredu.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Arrays
Estimation
Fractions
Geometry
Math Chats
Patterns

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Nonfiction/look_for_the_math_around_you.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?

Review of Kapaemahu, by Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer, and Joe Wilson, illustrated by Daniel Sousa

Children's Nonfiction Review, Folk Tales, Starred Review 0

Kapaemahu

by Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer, and Joe Wilson
illustrated by Daniel Sousa

Kokila (Penguin Random House), 2022. 40 pages.
Review written October 24, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

This hauntingly beautiful picture book tells an indigenous story from Hawaii, with text in both Olelo Niihau, the language it may have originally been told in, and English.

The story tells how long ago four spiritual healers came from Tahiti to Hawaii

The visitors were tall and deep in voice yet gentle and soft-spoken.

They were not male;
they were not female.

They were mahu —
a mixture of both in mind, heart, and spirit.

The four visitors each had a separate special healing gift, and they bequeathed their healing wisdom to the people of Hawaii.

The people moved four large boulders to the beach as a monument to the healers, and the healers transferred their healing power to the stones to keep it safe for Hawaii before they left.

As the story finishes up, we learn that the stones were considered sacred for centuries, but as Waikiki got built up, for a time they were buried under a bowling alley.

The stones have since been recovered. But their history is still being suppressed, and the fact that the healers were mahu has been erased.

But now readers know the story, and we can honor it.

penguin.com/kids

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Nonfiction/kapaemahu.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?

Review of Jack Knight’s Brave Flight, by Jill Esbaum, illustrated by Stacy Innerst

Children's Nonfiction Review, History, Starred Review 0

Jack Knight’s Brave Flight

How One Gutsy Pilot Saved the U.S. Air Mail Service

by Jill Esbaum
illustrated by Stacy Innerst

Calkins Creek (Astra Books for Young Readers), 2022. 44 pages.
Review written August 15, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

Thanks to Betsy Bird and her blog for pointing out this book of true adventure hidden behind a brown cover.

This picture book tells the story of Jack Knight, who flew in an open cockpit through a blizzard on little sleep to single-handedly win the approval of Congress to give the post office the funds to continue air mail service.

Here’s the set-up. It’s February 22, 1921. First we’re told that Jack recently survived a crash into a snowy mountainside and has a broken nose to show for it.

Those crashes are why America’s lawmakers want to end air mail. Flying is too dangerous, they say, and replacing planes costs too much. Moving mail by train is safer and cheaper.

But air mail officials — and pilots — know planes can move mail faster than trains. Today and tonight will prove it. Pilots are taking turns short-hopping four planes across the country, two flying east, two flying west. At least one must get through, or air mail is doomed.

Well, it was supposed to be four planes, two east and two west — but it ends up being all up to Jack. With blizzard conditions and little sleep and needing to do an additional leg of the trip — one he’d never flown before.

It’s all made dramatic and exciting for the reader, with pictures filling every inch of the pages.

An Author’s Note at the back includes a photograph of Jack Knight and a timeline of the history of the U. S. Mail. Who knew that history was so interesting?

picturebookbuilders.com
stacyinnerst.com
calkinscreekbooks.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?

*Note* To try to catch up on posting reviews, I’m posting the oldest reviews I’ve written on my blog without making a page on my main website. They’re still good books.

Review of Manhattan: Mapping the Story of an Island, by Jennifer Thermes

Children's Nonfiction Review, History, Starred Review 0

Manhattan

Mapping the Story of an Island

by Jennifer Thermes

Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2019. 64 pages.
Review written January 28, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

This book is fascinating! I’m sorry that I didn’t discover it until I was pulling it from the library shelves to take off the New sticker. Usually I do that task rather mindlessly, but this book called out to me to open it, and then I couldn’t put it away until I’d pored over the fascinating details.

It’s a large-format book that uses maps to tell the history of the island of Manhattan. It talks about how it was formed and then about the Lenape living on Mannahatta for thousands of years.

Then it tells about the history of the island (with maps) through time periods. The Dutch put a town on the island, followed by the British, who occupied the city during the American Revolution. The commissioners planned the grid of streets in 1811. Further events resulted in changes, including the Great Fire of 1835, which led to the development of Central Park, and the Great Blizzard of 1888, which led to the development of the subway. It also mentions the importance of the slave trade to the city and slave labor to build the city. Free African Americans eventually moved outside the city to Seneca Village — and that land was taken from them for a low price to build Central Park.

We read about the importance of immigration to the island and the Gilded Age of 1870 to 1900, where millionaires lived on Fifth Avenue, while immigrants lived in poverty in tenements downtown. We learn about the building of subways and bridges and skyscrapers, which all changed the look of the city. And of course, it finishes up with Manhattan today — though I was surprised by a page before that mentioning Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and how the subways were flooded. The new threat to Manhattan is rising sea levels. As the author states, “Protecting it from water will be this century’s greatest challenge.”

And after all these big, fascinating pages of details, there’s a complete timeline in the back, next to a page of select sources.

I’ve been to New York City a few times, which helped give me context. If I ever get the chance to go again, rereading this book would be a wonderful way to prepare.

jenniferthermes.com
abramsyoungreaders.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Nonfiction/manhattan.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?

Review of Out of the Shadows, by Fiona Robinson

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

Out of the Shadows

How Lotte Reiniger Made the First Animated Fairytale Movie

by Fiona Robinson

Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2022. 44 pages.
Review written May 4, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

This exquisitely illustrated book tells a story I’d known nothing about and fascinated me all along the way. It’s a picture book biography of the young woman who pioneered techniques in animation and made the first full length animated movie.

The book starts with Lotte’s love for fairy tales and her discovery of Chinese puppets, jointed puppets controlled with sticks. Next, Lotte learned at school the traditional craft of Scherenschnitte, cutting paper to make intricate character outlines. Then she combined the two techniques, making characters from paper and turning them into jointed puppets. All while she was still a child.

As an older teen, Lotte got to go to acting school where she met a German moviemaker. Movies were still silent in those days, with intertitles between scenes to give dialog and live orchestras playing while the movies played.

I love the spread that describes why she got a chance to try her puppet techniques in animating movies. It was for a movie about the Pied Piper of Hamelin. They brought rats to the street where they were filming and set them loose.

The rats didn’t magically follow Wegener. They disappeared into the town, plaguing the townsfolk.

Next, the crew tried guinea pigs, painted gray with tails attached. A gunshot was fired into the air. The camera whirred. The guinea pigs were released. Wegener turned to see the little creatures in the middle of the street, chewing their fake tales off.

So Lotte got the chance to create her first animation. She used stop motion animation, giving the crew big baskets of wooden rats. They moved them little by little and photographed each step. It took all day, but when they combined the pictures of the rats with the pied piper, it worked perfectly. The movie was a hit!

The book talks more about how Lotte did her work, using a special table to film animations done with cut paper, and then the new improved table she invented herself to give more depth to the animation. It all builds up to a full-length movie they weren’t sure people would be able to sit through — and then had to have police manage the crowds. I like the story included that Lotte noticed smoke that the audience thought was a special effect and successfully stopped a fire by discovering the source.

The Adventures of Prince Achmed took its place in film history as the first full-length fairytale movie. It is also considered the oldest surviving full-length animation. For a young woman in 1926, this is a remarkable, almost unbelievable achievement. But all of this is true, and absolutely not a fairy story!

And if Lotte’s story weren’t fascinating enough, the wonderful illustrations accompany the text in perfect harmony. There’s generous use of silhouettes, mimicking the cut-paper characters from her work, but there’s plenty of variety. Sometimes words show as if on a reel of film and titles between sections look like the intertitles from silent movies. The back matter tells the reader more about Lotte’s amazing life.

This is a truly stellar picture book biography that I didn’t even know I needed.

abramsbooks.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?

*Note* To try to catch up on posting reviews, I’m posting the oldest reviews I’ve written on my blog without making a page on my main website. They’re still good books.

Review of Why Longfellow Lied, by Jeff Lantos

Children's Nonfiction Review, History, Starred Review 0

Why Longfellow Lied

The Truth About Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride

by Jeff Lantos

Charlesbridge, 2021. 134 pages.
Review written January 7, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

My plan was to read this book a little bit at a time, but once I started, it was hard to stop! It takes Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s famous poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride” stanza by stanza and tells us what really happened on that fateful night that the Revolutionary War began.

But Longfellow made it a poem about one hero, Paul Revere, when actually a long list of people were involved in warning the colonists. So the author also looks at the question of why Longfellow took so much poetic license? What was he trying to accomplish with this poem? (Hint: It was written just before the Civil War began.)

Now, kids today may not be familiar with the famous poem. The author takes care of that by printing it at the front of the book. And the words do have a ring to them. Then he takes the poem a little at a time and tells us what actually happened that night, from revealing the actual mastermind behind the mission to telling us about Paul Revere’s capture before he ever got to Concord.

It turns out that was a momentous and exciting night in American history. The book is filled with plenty of paintings, maps, sidebars, engravings, photographs, and other artefacts. I now have a much better understanding of April 18-19, 1775, than I ever got in History class. Super interesting and informative. And it will help kids think critically about history.

charlesbridge.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Nonfiction/why_longfellow_lied.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?

Review of Small Shoes, Great Strides, by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, illustrated by Alex Bostic

Children's Nonfiction Review, History, Starred Review 0

Small Shoes, Great Strides

How Three Brave Girls Opened Doors to School Equality

by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
illustrated by Alex Bostic

Carolrhoda Books, 2024. 44 pages.
Review written June 5, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review

You’ve probably heard of Ruby Bridges. It turns out that first graders Leona Tate, Tessie Prevost, and Gail Etienne, were ten minutes ahead of Ruby integrating a previously all-white school in a different part of New Orleans.

This lovely book tells their story. It’s in picture book format, with large artwork on each spread, but there’s also a lot of text on each spread, so the target audience is upper elementary school kids who can handle that much reading. There are ten pages of back matter, giving more to the story.

This book leads off with telling how the girls were taught in a classroom with paper over the windows and had to have recess and lunch indoors. Federal marshals escorted them to school and even to the bathroom.

The book also covers the threats they faced even at home and the constant police presence. We can all be so thankful that they and their families saw it through. Already the next year, they were able to take the paper down from the windows.

I have to admit, though, that I was saddened by the pages in the back matter describing what school was like for them from third grade on in an integrated school. No longer protected by federal marshals, students and even teachers were often cruel. But it still doesn’t diminish the powerful thing they accomplished as first graders and the lasting effects.

vaundamicheauxnelson.com
alexbostic.com
lernerbooks.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Childrens_Nonfiction/small_shoes_great_strides.html

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?

Review of Bei Bei Goes Home, by Cheryl Bardoe

Children's Nonfiction Review, Science, Stand-outs 0

Bei Bei Goes Home

A Panda Story

by Cheryl Bardoe

Smithsonian Kids (Candlewick Entertainment), 2021. 44 pages.
Review written March 5, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

The only thing cuter than a book full of photographs of pandas is one full of photos of a baby panda. Bei Bei Goes Home tells the story of the giant panda born at the National Zoo in Washington, DC, in August 2015.

Who knew that a giant pandas are minuscule at birth? The pictures of mother Mei Xiang cradling the tiny baby emphasize how tiny Bei Bei was as a cub. The reader gets the whole story of his birth, keeping him healthy (had to wait until Mei Xiang put him down for a minute), choosing his name, getting vaccinated, learning to get around and play.

At one year old, they had a traditional Chinese ceremony and Bei Bei chose luck and friendship to represent his future. In multiple photographs on every spread, we see Bei Bei exploring his habitat, playing with toys, and growing quickly.

Then, as referred to in the title, at four years old, we see Bei Bei shipped to China.

Where Bei Bei lives now is part of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda. Researchers there hope to raise panda cubs who can succeed in the wild. Bei Bei cannot do this himself because he is too comfortable around humans. Keepers in China have begun donning panda costumes to help raise cubs who will be released into the wild. After Bei Bei is fully mature, around six or seven years, he may become the father to such a cub.

This is a book to enjoy looking at, and you’ll pick up plenty of information about giant pandas along the way.

candlewick.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?

Review of Stamped (for Kids), by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi, adapted by Sonja Cherry-Paul

Audiobooks, Children's Nonfiction Review, Current Issues, History 0

Stamped

(For Kids)

Racism, Antiracism, and You

by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
adapted by Sonja Cherry-Paul
read by Pe’Tehn Raighn-Kem Jackson

Hachette Audio, 2021. 2 hours, 22 minutes on 2 CDs.
Review written April 13, 2022, from a library audiobook
Starred Review

This is now the third iteration of this book, and the third I’ve read or listened to. First, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi wrote a big and long and scholarly book for adults called Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. Then Jason Reynolds “remixed” that content into a book for teens, called Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You. That was the first version I listened to. It was accessible and easy to understand, but had some powerful and thought-provoking content.

Now they’ve gone another step, and Sonja Cherry-Paul has adapted the content from Jason Reynolds’ book into an even shorter version that is easy for kids to understand. I like the kid narrator who reads the audiobook, making it feel like a kid talking with his friends.

I was happy to refresh my memory of these ideas. The authors give the history of racist ideas in America. They explain segregationalists, who believe Black people are inferior, assimilationists, who believe Black people can be good people if they work at it, and antiracists who believe that Black people are human and valuable and just as worthy as anyone else.

I also appreciate the explanation that most people aren’t just one thing all the time. They explain why ideas like the “Talented Tenth” are assimilationist, even when those putting forward the ideas are trying to be helpful. Even in this short and simple adaptation, we’ve got complex concepts clearly explained.

And make no mistake about it — this is a book about fairness and caring and seeing past discrimination. Kids who listen to this audiobook or read this book will be able to spot policies that treat any one class of people as inferior to others. Here’s to a new generation of antiracists!

jasonwritesbooks.com
ibramxkendi.com
Downpour.com

Buy from Amazon.com

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?