Schnozzer & Tatertoes: Shoot the Moon!, is a new elementary tentpole

When does a book beget a series? Sometimes a book series is forced upon readers. It’s part of a bigger story to tell with the promise of multiple books to leisurely tell the tale that didn’t mandate so many books in the end. And other times it’s a genuine story, the evolution of characters who readers want to spend time with. The latter is important and one of those things that have the ‘it’ factor for elementary-aged readers. Schnozzer & Tatertoes: Shoot the Moon! is the second book in this graphic novel/comic book series and it has the ‘it’ factor.

Schnozzer & Tatertoes: Shoot the Moon! establishes itself as one of the big dogs in elementary school graphic novels.
Easy to read

Monsters Never Get Haircuts, say hello to a new classic

Monsters Never Get Haircuts is a fabulously strange book that looks like it’s from another dimension. In this universe, children’s drawings are the currency of the wealthy and each illustration is handled twice by two masters who manage to make it freakier, yet more accessible. It’s a series of one-upmanship where the first artist dares the second one to improve upon it, and they do. All of this could be true about Monsters Never Get Haircuts except there’s only one artist in play, although they might have multiple personalities, I don’t know, and the text is refreshingly brief. Pre-K and early elementary school audiences will love this book for those reasons and the fact that it’s utterly original, yet familiar to their young souls.

Monsters Never Get Haircuts has the potential to be your pre-k kid’s favorite book. The art is awesome, text is brief and the story is very funny.
This book will be on your forever book shelf

10 Dogs adds up to a clever sibling that’s more than a counting book

Dogs are the Rodney Dangerfield of the internet. If your local human society is holding a newspaper collection drive they might say, we need your old newspapers to line the dog’s cages and the cats need something to read. * Having said that, dogs are awesome and although their meme appeal isn’t as high as cats online, their real-life presence is just as strong. 10 Dogs is the sibling to 10 Cats, one of the best counting books we’ve seen recently. When I saw 10 Dogs I did squint just a little bit because I feared that the clever premise would be used once too often. Instead, 10 Dogs goes in an entirely different direction that takes inspiration from cats but is its own funny, clever creation.

10 Dogs is a counting book in that it adds to 10 in a variety of ways that will make kids laugh, smile, grin, notice small details, with dogs.
Count, and count in a funny way with dogs and sausages

The Fall of the House of Tatterly, mglit that almost nails it

I saw a football game the other day that reminded me of The Fall of the House of Tatterly, but more about that in a moment. The Fall of the House of Tatterly is an mglit book about ghosts, mediums, exorcisms, family tradition, teen angst and the low country in South Carolina. That’s a place that we vacation yearly and this book jams the aesthetics to that area so well you’ll be checking the spine of the book for Spanish Moss. As a book, it does so many things right that it’s reminiscent of a football game where most of it is so one-sided, with such a dominant level of play that it’s unbelievable how far it fell when the final page is turned.

The Fall of the House of Tatterly is mglit that effectively lives in the ghostly low country, but aspires for greater cultural ambitions.
A strong 85%

Sick!, an eye-catching, appropriate name for a gateway STEM graphic novel

If elementary school-age students latched onto the disgusting elements of science I’m convinced that more people would follow the STEM path. I also fully believe that in 2034, many actively working scientists will cite Phineas and Ferb as a main influence. Sick! The Twists and Turns Behind Animal Germs is a STEM book that’s disgusting in all of the right ways.

Sick! The Twists and Turns Behind Animal Germs is an engaging chapter graphic novel on how little things are a big deal to animals.
A smart chapter graphic novel, yeah that’s a thing

Big Ideas from History: A History of the World For You, critical think 101

The problem with history textbooks is that they don’t put things into a conversational tone that makes kids curious. They do have photographs and illustrations but the text blurbs are usually quite short and just like Jack Webb or J. Jonah Jameson, they list just the facts. Sometimes they follow up every other page with a thinking activity or series of questions that students will leave blank or fill out with incomplete sentences when asked to answer them by the teacher. Big Ideas from History is an intelligent reference book that looks at integral chapters in history, like evolution, the start of religion, the ends of civilizations, science, and many more big concept issues.

Big Ideas from History: A History of the World for You examines world history from the perspective of facts, opinions, and curiosity.
Don’t fear books that make you think or ask big questions

City Spies: Mission Manhattan, almost measures up to its predecessors

The great thing about a franchise is that it’s dependable. City Spies by New York Times Bestselling author James Ponti is one of the go-to mglit book series for upper-elementary through middle school readers who know. The first four books, and about half of Mission Manhattan, read like a screenplay that is primed and ready to become the next movie franchise that you didn’t know you needed. They’re loaded with enough action, teen-centric humor, and intrigue to keep ages 8-12 entertained and invested in the group’s progress. The group goes on supervised missions where adult spies would look too out of place and each spy is named after the mega city from which they’re from, like Rio, London, Cairo, etc. City Spies: Mission Manhattan finds the group of teenage spies-in-training in Italy and New York embroiled in a plot to save a fellow teenager from danger within her camp.

City Spies: Mission Manhattan is the fifth book in this go-to mglit book series and almost hits the same league as its predecessors
City Spies 5 aims for the same highs, but falls just a bit short

Hooray for She, He, Ze, and They!, too much for too young

I was teaching a fifth-grade class the other year and one of the smarter (see: clever) kids asked me, “Mr. Trey, did you just misgender me?” The kid then followed it up with, “Mr. Trey, what are your pronouns?” Without missing a beat, I said, “Dude, my pronouns are Shut and Up, now be quiet and do your work.” It was obvious that this student was not curious about today’s social morays or furthering the cause of gender identity. He was mocking it, knew that I would get his quip and suspected that the rest of the class would be oblivious to his verbal prank, and he was correct.

I mention that story to say that Hooray for She, He, Ze, and They!: What Are Your Pronouns Today? is an illustrated book geared for early elementary-aged students. It’s an illustrated book that makes The Sublime Ms. Stacks come across as wholesome as The Waltons or as a needed introduction for today’s youth who need a pronoun that they change according to their mood, depending on your view.  

Hooray for She, He, Ze and They! What Are Your Pronouns Today? Is a noble book whose target audience is too young for the social message.
Zes is zthe book on pronounz for ze children
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