Detector Dogs, Dynamite Dolphins, and More Animals With Super Sensory Powers

The thing about getting kids to enjoy subjects that they otherwise might shun is effectively baiting the hook. Those students are attracted to the graphics, photographs or obvious sense of humor that the book has and then start thumbing through it. After a couple of pages they realize that it’s not the death trap of fun that they thought it would be, and start accepting the fact that reading can be fun. Detector Dogs, Dynamite Dolphins, and More with Super Sensory Powers wants to be that book and firmly plants the idea for that on its cover, but is it?

Detector Dogs is a STEM book that’s heavy on knowledge and a deep dive into learned animal behavior for middle school science.
Middle school Stem or science kids c’mon in

Once There Was is mglit as good as it gets

World building is a concept that too many books start out in mind without fully looking down the path to see where the story is going. They create a half-baked world and then ask readers to remain hooked on a story that seems to exist only for a literary series or movie franchise. Once There Was builds a world. It’s a complete and detailed world that’s adorned with creatures who are capable of incredible beauty and violence. In my mind’s eye, I see Once There Was innocently taunting other books, in its best Crocodile Dundee attire, in bookstores or libraries across the land saying, “That’s not a book, that’s a book.”

Once There Was is perfect mglit, it builds worlds for those younger ages, is smart enough for any age north of that and creates something new.
Please tell me that the Dundee alliteration was understood….

Louise Bourgeois Made Giant Spiders and Wasn’t Sorry, art for the masses

Art is weird, in the eye of the beholder, and difficult to define. Children are weird, loved by their parents more than others and sometimes exhibit behavior that’s difficult to define. Louise Bourgeois was a French-American artist who was a gifted painter but is most famous for creating large-scale sculptures. These are the big sculptures that you see around major cities that define the area and are must-see spots when you visit them. Even if you don’t know her reputation you’ll glean some idea of her work from the book’s title, Louise Bourgeois Made Giant Spiders and Wasn’t Sorry. For some readers, all you’ll need to do is mention ‘giant spiders’ and show them the artwork in the book to bait their interest hook to high.

Louise Bourgeois Made Giant Spiders and Wasn’t Sorry is an illustrated book on an artist that most don’t know and makes them care about her and her work.
Art and Children, what do they have in common?

Ramen For Everyone, an illustrated book for any palette

Ramen used to have a horrible reputation. When I was in college the only option for ramen was those flavorless packets that you’d purchase at the dollar store. You’d talk, or kvetch about how many times a week you had to eat ramen because you didn’t have much money. Unbeknown to us, in Asia, ramen was a flavor-packed dish that could comprise an excellent meal that would leave people wanting more and create the word-of-mouth that restaurants strive for. Ramen For Everyone is an illustrated book that operates in today’s world of ramen. It works as well as a read-to-me or read-aloud book, as it does a story about persistence and doing your best. The book also receives some dad points for showing a healthy, normal relationship between a youth and his dad.

Ramen For Everyone is an illustrated book that uses cooking as a way to show resilience, overcoming frustration, as well as, family bonding.
Being yourself and confident, by any other name

Batter Royale, cooking up timeliness graphic novel goodness

Charming is such a nice and underused way to describe a graphic novel. A charming graphic novel is one that’s happy, might (or might not) teach a lesson, has a shareability factor, and is just fun to read. With that build-up, it’s no spoiler alert that Batter Royale is a very easygoing, affable, and charming graphic novel that’ll be in the sweet spot for ages eight and up.

Batter Royale is a graphic novel that’ll be all the rage at the fourth through sixth-grade water cooler with its romance, friendship and humor.
Embrace the graphic novel goodness

How Poop Can Save The World, STEM-minded mental martial arts with a laugh

Most fifth and fourth-grade boys have one thing on their minds. Well, video games certainly occupy a segment of their cranial space, but there’s always one portion of grey matter that is at the ready with some bathroom humor. A fart noise, poop metaphor, bathroom memory, or something else wasteful is the currency for boys at a certain stage of their life. It’s disgusting, yes. However, Dog Man and Captain Underpants are successful at hitting those ages for a reason. They embrace that baseness and run with it. How Poop Can Save The World is a chapter book that’s geared for those ages, and slightly higher, that makes no apologies for its pictures of flying poop, stool-powered puns, or any other way to make readers smile about number two.

How Poop Can Save The World is a STEM chapter book that entertainingly hits those potty humor kids right where they need it.
I’m number one, you’re number two

Atom: The Building Block of the Universe is compact STEM happiness

If Andy Warhol designed a STEM book centered around small things he would’ve created Atom The Building Block of the Universe. Atom is a compact illustrated book that makes the complex seem simple but also acknowledges that it certainly can be confusing. It does this with absurd graphics, by comparing odd things and layering it all against a sea of dots that would make Nancy envious. *

Atom: The Building Block of the Universe is an illustrated book who compact size belies its intelligence and approachable nature.
The Atom is boring you say

We The People and The President gets kids learning by curiosity

Well, color me surprised when I found We The People And the President. It was in my office, tucked away in a corner where the graphic novels usually hang out. It’s a mystery how it ended up there that I attribute to my youngest son cleaning the office that I should’ve tidied before this time. I say this as a sense of surprise because this is an engaging, easy-to-read reference book that offers up tidbits of government information on every page.

We The People And The President grabs kids by their infographic collars and dares them not to be entertained, or educated by this fun book.
Make government intersting. This book “Hold my soda.”
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