Archive for 2015

Growing Up Pedro

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Written and Illustrated by Matt Tavares

More than Pedro’s story, this is the story of two brothers and how they helped each other become two of the best pitchers in the major leagues. As a child, Pedro always looked up to his older brother, Ramón. Pedro wanted to play baseball with Ramón and his friends, but Ramón didn’t want Pedro to get hurt. Instead, the older brother instructed the younger brother to throw rocks at the ripe mangoes on the trees. A scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers spots sixteen-year-old Ramón on the Dominican national team and watches him at training camp. At seventeen, Ramón paves the way by reporting to the Dodgers. At every turn, he shares what he learns with Pedro, who takes his advice to heart. Pedro works on English as well as his fast ball. In 1990, Pedro is also drafted to the Dodgers. Ramón is still the pitching star of the family. The brothers work together on the major league team for little more than a season before Pedro is traded to Montreal in 1994. By 1996, Pedro has proven himself and starts pitching for the Boston Red Sox. He leads Boston to many great seasons. Meanwhile, he helps his family back in the Dominican Republic and also helps build up the village where he grew up. The illustrations are lively and realistic, with a definite feel for being at the ballpark.

All third graders will find the story heart-warming, helping them to work on literacy skills and comprehension. They will also learn something of recent history and about math with baseball statistics. This book is well-researched and well-told.

As a Baltimore Orioles fan, this almost made me like Pedro.

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  • Growing Up PedroTitle: Growing Up Pedro
  • Author/Illustrator: Matt Tavares
  • Publisher: Candlewick, 2015
  • Reviewer: Sue Poduska
  • Format: Hardcover, 40 pages
  • Grade Level: 3 to 7
  • Genre: Nonfiction, biography, sports
  • ISBN: 978-0-7636-6824-2
  • Extras: Author’s Note, Pedro Martinez’ major league statistics, Bibliography
Posted in 2015, Biography, Nonfiction, Sports tagged with , ,

Here’s Hank: Fake Snakes and Weird Wizards

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Written by Henry Winkler & Lin Oliver

In Hank’s fourth book, we find him being a wonderful big brother to Emily. What she really, really wants for her birthday party is to have Ralph’s Reptile Show come to perform at her birthday party. Trouble is, Dad says Ralph is expensive. Besides, Ralph’s schedule is already booked full.

When Emily slams her bedroom door shut to go inside and cry, Hank has to think of something. So he hollers in that he could have the Westside Wizard come do a show at her party instead of Ralph. Trouble is, there is no such thing as the Westside Wizard. Hank calls an emergency meeting at the clubhouse with Frankie and Ashley. Together they work out a plan for Hank to dress in disguise and perform magic tricks. Because Emily’s very favorite animals are snakes, he even works a rubber snake into his act.

Throughout the story, Hank and his friends work very hard to make Emily’s birthday special. Readers will pick up on the importance of taking care of younger siblings and planning surprises for them.  Third grade readers will also watch Hank struggle as he practices over and over again to get the tricks to work out just right. It is very rewarding to see how hard he works to make the party special. Children will understand many skills take lots of practice to succeed.

Humor continues to play a large role in this Hank book, especially as the family dog is the first one to suspect who is inside the wizard costume.

As with all of the Hank books, this one is printed using the Dyslexie font which makes it easier for kids with reading disabilities to distinguish the letters. However, it is not in any way intended only for children with dyslexia. This font makes it easier and faster for all children to read. They will particularly enjoy the lists Hank makes for himself, like the one about the four things that happened to him when Frankie tried to teach him magic tricks.

Teachers, librarians and parents can enjoy this as a fun read aloud to share with their children and/or as a book club book to open discussions about what can or has been done to help make holidays special for siblings.

After reading this book, readers will want to go to the library and read the first three Hank books, if they haven’t read them yet.

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  • Heres HankTitle: Here’s Hank: Fake Snakes and Weird Wizards
  • Authors:  Henry Winkler & Lin Oliver
  • Illustrator: Scott Garrett
  • Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap, 2015
  • Reviewer: Elizabeth Swartz
  • Format: Paperback, 128 pages
  • ISBN:  978-0-448-48252-1
  • Genre: realistic fiction
  • Grade level: 1 to 3
Posted in 2015, Dsylexia, Family, Fiction, Humor tagged with ,

Explore the Cosmos like Neil deGrasse Tyson: A Space Science Journey

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Written by CAP Saucier

From the first night he could see the stars from the roof of his Bronx apartment building, science has attracted Neil deGrasse Tyson. In this new book – part biography and part astronomy – Saucier follows Tyson from that early fascination to his status as one of the most respected scientists in the world. The result is a good representation of Tyson’s view of the universe. The author starts with a wide view of the universe and the Big Bang. The reader then learns about constellations, galaxies and how they were formed, black holes, stars, comets, different types of planets, moons, and asteroids. Along the way, the reader also hears about dark matter, dark energy, and space dust. Saucier includes Tyson’s hopes for the future of space travel and exploration and about the importance of all this knowledge to the human condition. The writer also incorporates enough details of Tyson’s life to give a sense of the man behind the science.

Most two-page spreads are highlighted by wonderful photographs of nebulae, galaxies, and planets. Kids will be drawn in by the colorful layout.

This is a very good beginning introduction for third grade and above. There is enough explanation to give kids a sense of the topics, but it leaves the reader to dig deeper. And it creates enough excitement to ensure that will happen.

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  • Explore the CosmosTitle: Explore the Cosmos like Neil deGrasse Tyson: A Space Science Journey
  • Author: CAP Saucier
  • Publisher: Prometheus Books, March 3, 2015
  • Reviewer: Sue Poduska
  • Format: Paperback, 177 pages
  • Grade Level: 3 to 7
  • Genre: Nonfiction, biography, astronomy
  • ISBN: 978-1-63388-014-6
  • Extras: Table of contents, notes, glossary, bibliography, index, many full-color photographs and illustrations
Posted in 2015, Biography, History, Nonfiction tagged with

Over On A Mountain

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Written by  Marianne Berkes
Illustrated by Jill Dubin

Marianne Berkes continues her great series with this book that introduces 20 different animals that live on ten different mountain ranges on seven different continents of the world. This book will make teaching geography fun and easily fulfills the core curriculum standards for elementary literacy skills, math, and geography. It will be a wonderful addition to your school, classroom or home library.

Readers can count the animal babies, and read the numeral on the page, or vice versa. Likewise, they will enjoy the natural rhymes of the story and sing a song they already know with different words. Besides all that, they can identify the continents and animals that live on each. The cut paper illustrations are realistic enough to jump right into. Readers of all ages will be tempted to make their own cut paper illustrations.

This is a book that just keeps on giving.  The end pages have tips from the author as well as tips from the illustrator so readers can try out the techniques on their own. That is on top of all the added detailed information about the animals included in the book.

A particularly helpful section in the end pages deals with what parts of the book are facts and which fiction. These are decisions always difficult for young readers to distinguish on their own.

Facts about mountains and suggestions about how to compare and contrast are added benefits as well as suggestions for further reading.

While the youngest readers might not grasp everything in the end pages, older students will soak up everything this book has to offer.

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  • Over on a mountainTitle: Over On A Mountain
  • Author:  Marianne Berkes
  • Illustrator: Jill Dubin
  • Publisher: Dawn Publications, March 1, 2015
  • Reviewer: Elizabeth Swartz
  • Format: paperback/32pgs
  • ISBN:  978-1584695196
  • Genre: picture book
  • Grade level: Preschool to 4
  • Extras: Tips from the author, tips from the illustrator, fact or fiction, mountain facts, compare and contrast. More books related
Posted in 2015, Animals, Geography, Math, Nature tagged with ,
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