Books | Page 48 of 81

Our World Out of Balance ecologically nails climate change for kids

Just yesterday we reviewed a climate change book aimed at early elementary-aged readers. That book was the opposite of Our World Out of Balance, Understanding Climate Change and What We Can Do by Andrea Minoglio and Laura Fanelli. That’s a scary title, isn’t it? Our World Out of Balance sounds like it would be an alarmist, riot grrl, worst case, handbook for skipping school on Friday and blaming the environment for it. Instead, Our World Out of Balance is a STEM-focused, scientific-minded, cause and effect illustrated book that will make kids think and want to solve, instead of panic and freak out.

This is STEM-based, edu-taianment reading at its best

The Story of Climate Change, a first eco primer for Mother Jones kids

The Story of Climate Change, A First Book About How We Can Help Save the Planet is the fifth book in the series by Catherine Barr and Steve Williams. It’s an engaging book that introduces second through fourth graders to the history of climate change. The illustrations by Amy Husband and Mike Love are playful, have lots of movement, and certainly keep the eyes of those young readers busy in the best of all possible ways. Most of the target audience will enjoy the book and its approach to global warming is unique in its visual presentation.

The illustrations are great, the text casts a wide net with mixed results

Everything You Need to Know When You Are 10 is apt, effective and fun

What better place to ask kids about Everything You Need to Know When You Are 10 then to a fourth-grade-class? I looked over the book and enjoyed its approach towards dealing with this age. It balances a wide variety of topics and interests, some of which are quite silly, while others let themselves be known that it’s a serious subject. The book deftly weaves between them all in a manner that’s entertaining and educational. But is the book as on point with that elusive 10-year-old audience as I think it is?

Turning 10? This is a book you need to see

The Ramones rocks as an illustrated book for various ages

When is an illustrated book not an illustrated book? When it turns into a store, the old adage from bubble gum wrappers would tell us. Except, in this case, a book can’t walk and The Ramones, The Unauthorized Biography by Soledad Romero Marino with illustrations by Joe Padilla is an all-age look at a rock band that defined a generation. I know that calling them ‘rock’ and not ‘punk’ will raise the ire of some purists. Chill out my punk rock friends. This is a book that will satisfy longtime fans of The Ramones, kidlit lovers, mglit people who want to discover something new, and those parents who want to introduce their early readers to the group.

Hey Ho, let’s go read non-fiction kidlit that rocks

Breathe Deep, Little Sheep is calm down 101 for ages 3-8

Our youngest son can melt like butter on a hot day. It’s that zone where a child can become overwhelmed by the situation around them and any parent to a kid under 10 has seen it. They’ll hold their breath, lie on the floor, scream, become unresponsive, scratch themselves, or worse. There’s a really sweet video that’s making the viral rounds now showing an older brother demonstrating to his younger sibling how simply breathing deeply can calm you down. Breathe Deep, Little Sheep, A Calm-Down Book for Kids by Jessica Lee with illustrations by Lucia Wilkinson accomplishes the same thing for kids through second grade.

Relax young children, read this book you will

Wolfboy is clay-made magic in book form that kids want to see

Claymation scared the bejesus out of me when I was a kid. That and puppets. It’s ironic that as an adult I really enjoy both stop-motion/claymation, as well as, puppets. It’s the love and time that go into each that makes me enjoy it. To an extent, my thought process is that if they loved it this much to spend this much time creating it, then it must be great. I completely credit The Nightmare Before Christmas with part of this thinking. Wolfboy is another great example, but in this case, it’s somewhat of a combination of my old foibles.

Clay+ precision crafting + fun story = good times

Super Turbo Saves the Day! a true all-age graphic novel

I’m in a third-grade class right now. A mere ten minutes ago I was teaching the kids writing while some of the brighter kids started talking about the books they’re reading. Rick Riordan was the main author that those kids were talking about. Some of these nine-year-old students aren’t as advanced when it comes to reading. I heard some of the kids call their books ‘baby books’, so I had to jump in and clear things up.

This is not a ‘baby book’, nor is it actually the book that those kids were reading. It also may not be the first time that readers in your house have seen a Super Turbo book.

What we have here is Super Turbo Saves the Day!, an all-age graphic novel from Little Simon. This is truly for all ages. Those kids who are only five years old can pick up Super Turbo and make some sight words or at least really enjoy the pictures. Getting your pre-k or kindergarten-aged student to eagerly look forward to carrying around a book, even if they can’t read all of the words yet is half of the battle.

Fun graphic novels for ages five and up is what ye see here matey

Busy Spring, Nature Wakes Up is soft edutainment for 3-7 YO

Educational and entertaining illustrated books have a sweet spot in our hearts. Elementary school children want to be entertained, and they don’t mind learning. While parents or educators would prefer that the verbs in that previous sentence were flipped and that learning came first in the equation, it’s not. Busy Spring, Nature Wakes Up by Sean Taylor, Alex Morss with illustrations by Cinyee Chiu is an illustrated book that softly tells a story about a dad and his two daughters on an early spring day.

Fun, educational illustrated books for early elementary are possible