Daddy Mojo

In my office, I’ve got a very small shelf that I affectionately call the best books that I never reviewed. Why didn’t I review them? Sometimes my schedule just got too busy, the new release got to be not so new or I just completely forgot. The Constitution Decoded: A Guide to the Document That Shapes Our Nation by Katie Kennedy is one of the books on that shelf. This is a reference book that presents the Constitution of the United States of America in a way that makes it entertaining and teachable, without diluting the content or presenting it in an intimidating manner. The Presidents Decoded: A Guide to the Leaders Who Shaped Our Nation is cut from the same cloth and delivers similar, but not an identical level of enjoyment.

When learning another language, full immersion is the absolute best way to do so, if that’s an option. Depending on your age it certainly can be more confusing, but the results will happen quicker, once your brain stops trying to fight the process. This is where children’s books in a second language can be a very important learning tool. El Dia Del Agua is an illustrated book that exemplifies that fact. It’s 100% in Spanish and provides Spanish language learners the opportunity to practice their pronunciation, inferential clues, and grammar.

I taught fifth-grade science for a bit one year and the content in What’s Wild Outside Your Door? is cut from the same cloth as many of those lessons. There’s a paragraph about the food web. That particular paragraph is exactly on the level as to what fifth-graders will learn about it. When you, or your young student are looking at What’s Wild Outside Your Door? the 500-pound gorilla that you might be subconsciously thinking about is Nat Geo Kids. All of those books, as well as, this book are non-fiction books that also have their circular feet in the vein diagram of reference books. This book is by Peter Wohlleben, who has written several other children’s non-fiction, reference books that operate on a different plane than their more well-known counterparts. So what is the difference?