Review: ANNA'S BEST FRIENDS (A Disney Frozen book)

3.85 STARS from 123 GoodReaders

Anna's Best Friends is an adorable little practice reader with short sentences and the large text that is perfect for First Grade level readers.

The book recaptures moments of the movie and relates them back to friendship and how friends help each other.  It mentions, for example, that sometimes sisters disagree, while at other times they are nice.  And Olaf, Sven, and Kristoff are shown helping Anna.

Here are the first two pages so you can get an idea of what this book is like.

At under $4 dollars this book is very affordable and it would be a great addition to the classroom or home shelves if there are Anna and Elsa fans about.

Pam~

Anna's Best Friends
(Step into Reading)
by Christy Webster

Reading Information:

Word Count: 98
Page Count: 24
Accelerated Reader: 1.1 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 163902
--library book
--amazon 

Review: DINOSAUR BONES by Aliki

 

3.69 STAR from 29 GoodReaders

DINOSAUR BONES focuses on the discovery of dinosaurs. How people found 'strange bones' that they couldn't classify, and how this lead to the discovery of the ancient world of dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures.

One of the really useful aspects of the book is that it shows the Scientific Method in action. Aliki walks children through the history of Dinosaur Discovery. They will see how scientists made mistakes and how theories were disproved and then replaced with better theories.

When talking about the Scientific Method there's not always a good example available to show children. The story in this book is very clear and accessible.

There are a number of other topics that are touched up. DINOSAUR BONES talks about how dinosaurs first appeared in the late Triassic period, and how they grew larger as the centuries passed. The Triassic Cretaceous, and Jurassic periods are introduced. And Aliki includes the topics of Continental drift and sediment deposits that lead to rock stratification.

AND FINALLY, what I liked quite a bit was that the book ends with the mysterious WHY of dinosaur extinction. I think too often children get the impression that we know all the answers. Aliki leaves with the knowledge that that's not true. And I would hope this would leave young dino enthusiasts with the idea that there is scientific work left to be done and that they could be great discoverers when they grow up.

Pam~


DINOSAUR BONES
(Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2)
by Aliki L. Brandenberg 

Reading Information:
Word Count: 827
Page Count: 32
Accelerated Reader: 3.7 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 13804
Lexile: 460L
--sample pages available
--other reviews available

To See Other Books in Aliki's Dinosaur Series Click Here 

Review: DIGGING UP DINOSAURS by Aliki

3.57 STARS from 174 GoodReaders

DIGGING UP DINOSAURS covers a lot of ground, but most of the focus is on how dinosaur fossils get out of the earth and into the museum.

The book touches upon dinosaur diversity. How they could be small and large, etc. It then briefly tells children about the history of discovery. How people found strange bones that they couldn't classify, and how this lead to theories and finally the discovery of dinosaurs.  Teachers and parents can use this part of the book to teach how scientist develop theories.

DIGGING UP DINOSAURS also introduces, very briefly, how sedimentary fossils happen.

What young readers will probably find most interesting are the pages which describe and show paleontologists in the field. How they dig up fossils, prepare them for shipment to the museum, and how at the museum the bones are classified and then stored after molds are made.

SUMMARY

Chock-a-block full of snippets and introductory material. This book gives children a good overview to how people 'discovered' dinosaurs, and how dinosaur fossils make their way from the ground to the displays they see in museums.

Pam~


DIGGING UP DINOSAURS
(Let's Read and Find Out Science 2)
by Aliki Liacouras Brandenberg 

Reading Information:
Word Count: 854
Page Count: 32
Accelerated Reader: 3.6 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 9763
Lexile: 490L
--sample pages available
--other reviews available


To See Other Books in Aliki's Dinosaur Series Click Here 

Review: FOSSILS TELL OF LONG AGO by Aliki

3.77 STARS from 65 GoodReaders

The focus of FOSSILS TELL OF LONG AGO is how fossils are made and what classifies as a fossil.

Children will learn how animals bodies and plants can be deposited in silt and end up as fossils. Also how creatures can leave fossil footprints, as well as be captured in amber or snow.

Here are some sample pages. The first excerpt shows sedimentation, but you should know that there is more emphasis in the drawing on the process than there is in the text on how this works and what it looks like. 

The book also discusses how the climate has changed over time for some places.  How areas that are cool and cold now, used to be tropical. And how sometimes the land has risen so that so places that were at sea level in dinosaur days are now at the top of mountains.

SUMMARY:
The artwork in FOSSILS TELL OF LONG AGO is child friendly and has some humor thrown in.  I love that there's a good deal of diversity shown--different genders and colors, and even a child in a wheelchair.

Generally speaking, there is some good introductory information here, and I like the idea of 'creating your own fossil' by making a print of your hand; but honestly, too much of the end of the book is wasted, in my opinion, by non-educational content.  Two children, for example, hide the fossils they made and then talk about what they are going to do in the future.  Senseless but not harmful.

FOSSILS TELL OF LONG AGO would be a good book for a classroom or one to share with children at home.  To get the absolute most from the book will take some supplementary emphasis from adults. But it's excellent for introducing ideas without getting too complicated.

Pam~


FOSSILS TELL OF LONG AGO 
(Let's Read and Find Out Science 2)
by Aliki

Reading Information:
Word Count: 813
Page Count: 32
Accelerated Reader: 3.6 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 13815
Lexile: 480L
--sample pages available
--other reviews available
--available in Spanish!

Los fosiles nos hablan del pasado 

To See Other Books in Aliki's Dinosaur Series Click Here 

DINOSAURS ARE DIFFERENT by Aliki

3.35 STARS from 20 GoodReaders

DINOSAURS ARE DIFFERENT may be the easiest book out the ones listed here; but it has the most sophisticated and complex information.

The book begins with this text:

I like to visit the dinosaurs.
I like to study their skeletons.
I have found out a lot about dinosaurs
by looking at their bones.

And it's structure and corresponding function that is the emphasis on this book. So much so that I think this book should be targeted only to your more serious dinosaur fans. Here are some sample pages to give you an idea of what's inside.

In Firefox clicking on image will ENLARGE it

SUMMARY

The focus of DINOSAURS ARE DIFFERENT is form and function.  Children will be introduced to the notion that carnivores have different heads, teeth, and jaw designs than herbivores. Plus they will learn that you need a different sort of hip for walking upright than walking on all fours.

A good book, but rather technical. This is the last book in this series that I would give to a child; and even then only if he/she is interested in this level of information.  Good supplementary book to science units.


DINOSAURS ARE DIFFERENT

(Let's Read and Find Out Science 2)
by Aliki

Reading Information:
Word Count: 539
Page Count: 32
Accelerated Reader: 3.0 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 13805
Lexile: 530L
--sample pages available
--other reviews available
--available in Spanish!

Dinosaurios Son Diferentes 
(Dinosaurs Are Different)

To See Other Books in Aliki's Dinosaur Series Click Here

ALIKI'S DINOSAUR books & their reading information INDEX

Dinosaurs are popular and Aliki is popular so I thought I would take a look at her dinosaur series.  I initially thought that I'd put the reviews and comments for all the books in one post but it soon became apparent that that would be a very long post indeed, with all the images I wished to include for you.

So each book will get it's own post, and what you'll find here is an index.  [The posts will, of course, have all the usual information that this site includes: number of pages, Lexile reading level and AR Quiz number]

Here are the covers and AR numbers. Click to go to the review.

DINOSAURS ARE DIFFERENT

Focus is on form and function.

Accelerated Reader: 3.0

GoTo Post

MY VISIT TO THE DINOSAURS

Touches upon a museum visit and what paleontologist do.  Some kid pleasing pages on different dinosaurs.

Accelerated Reader: 3.2 

Post will be up soon

FOSSILS TELL OF LONG AGO 

How fossils are made and the forms fossils take.

Accelerated Reader: 3.6

GoTo Post

DIGGING UP DINOSAURS

Touches upon a little of everything. Dinosaur evolution, the history of dino discovery, and jobs. Main focus is on how dinosaur remains get from the field to museums.

Accelerated Reader: 3.6

GoTo Post

DINOSAUR BONES

History the discovery of dinosaurs. Also touches up Pangaea and how scientist divide time into eras and periods.

Accelerated Reader: 3.7

GoTo Post

compiled by Pam

 

Review: GAME DAY by Cari Meister

GAME DAY by Cari Meister is a super short Rookie Reader book. There isn't any Accelerated Reading information for it, and the Lexile folks merely mention that it's BR, but this is a very easy, boy friendly book that shouldn't be overlooked.

One of things that's good about it is that the text isn't intimidating --at all. But let me give you some samples.

Two teams.
A ball.
A bat.

or

The throw.
The catch.

And altogether there are only 23 words.

a	hat	teams
ball	he's	the
bat	hit	throw
catch	miss	tied
day	run	two
game	safe	we
game's	shirt	won
glove	slide

So this is a book that the earliest beginning readers are going to do well reading.

The artwork is simple and shows girls and boys and not everyone is white.  Could be a useful practice reader.

Pam~


Game Day
by Cari Meister
illustrated by Mark A. Hicks

Reading Information:
Page Count: 22
no Accelerated Reader information available
Reading Counts: 1.2 / points:1.0
Lexile: BR
--available in Spanish for an arm and a leg 

Review: SMOKELESS TOBACCO: NOT A SAFE ALTERNATIVE by Katie John Sharp

SMOKELESS TOBACCO is a book from the YA section of my local library and I have to think that it's mostly meant for book reports--although it would hopefully be used by young adults to educate themselves before they decide to pick up an expensive habit.

The font in this book is fairly large, but there is no getting around the fact that the content is dense, with lots of facts and factoids.

CONTENTS
Introduction
A Closer Look At Smokeless Tobacco
Why Chewers Choose To Chew
Chew On This: The Health Effects Of Smokeless Tobacco
Smokeless Tobacco And Sports
Advertise Smokeless Tobacco
Time To Quit

Further Reading
For More Information
Bibliography
Index
Picture Credits
Author/Consultant Biographies

note that each chapter starts with a glossary of terms teens might not be familiar with

What you'll find in this book is a brief history of tobacco usage which leads into current statistics.  This is followed by explanations of why tobacco is so additive and what effects --short term and long term-- it has on the human body.

Did you know it effects how your body utilizes sugar?  Many smokers are hypoglycemic and end up being diabetic.

All of this information is presented with a strong anti-smoking bent. To drive home the fact that there are real world consequences to smoking there are images of men with lip cancer, and there are stories about tumors and cancers in sports figures and regular teens.

The book also discusses addiction. Not just that it happens, but why. The changes to the body that makes nicotine additive, the reasons it is hard to quit.

The most recent statistic I remember reading was from 2005. Despite that this is good, comprehensive book, and students can cherry pick the information they want; updating the statistics using government data.

Pam~
 
SMOKELESS TOBACCO: 
NOT A SAFE ALTERNATIVE  
by Katie John Sharp
Series Consultant: Wade Berrettini, MD, PhD
Mr. Berrettini is Director, Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, U of Penn.

Reading Information:
Page Count:  119
no Accelerated Reader reading information available
Lexile Measure: 1110L

Review: PAT THE CAT by Colin and Jacqui Hawkins

PAT THE CAT is all about the -at.  Cat, fat, mat, hat, bat, rat, sat, Nat, Pat.

What I like about the book --besides the big orange cat-- is the format.  All of the story pages are shorter except the last which has an a big -AT on it. (The -at is part of the word Pat). Which means that when the pages are turned that children see the first letters change and the --at remain the same.  I think that helps to set in their mind how words are formed.

Sorry about the scanning quality. This is an old, well-loved library book.

one mom objected to making fun of fat cat Pat

Surprisingly this book has no Lexile or Accelerated Reader numbers.  But it can certainly be shared with little ones who are beginning to read. Adults can read the text if the child cannot, and the child can shout out the Big Words.  In the above sample pages that would be CAT and FAT.

sample sentence - one of the longest
Pat is too fat to get Nat out of his hat.

I am still a HUGE fan of the LeapFrog Letter Factory and the the Talking Word Factory videos. To me and thousands of other adults they provide the best foundation for reading --basically effortlessly.  (That's why they have Star Ratings of 4.9 and 4.8 respectively.)  But little fun books like this are great for providing some laptime support.

See if your library has this one.

Pam~


PAT THE CAT
by Colin and Jacqui Hawkins

Reading Information:
Page Count: 20
no reading information currently available
--sample pages and reviews available

Review: SILLY LILLY AND THE FOUR SEASONS by Agnes Rosenstiehl

SILLY LILLY AND THE FOUR SEASONS is a cute little book that follows Lilly through the seasons.

The book begins with Spring and Lilly going to the park where she plays with her teddy bear. The text talks about how she likes to dance, jump, nap and play.

Summer has Lilly at the beach. She's standing in the water and noting the creatures around her. As you can see from the sample pages below there's some humor in the story.  In this case, one of the little shells proves to be inhabited.

Fall finds Lilly appreciating a basket of apples. She points out that they come in different colors, and then she eats one.

And children will find Lilly busy in Winter snow. Her teddy bear  is back and the target of snowballs. And it's actually pretty humorous as the bear's expression changes from one scene to another.  First happy. Then sort of annoyed.

To complete the cycle, Lilly is back at Spring, swinging at the park. I think this helps children to grasp the cyclical rotation of the seasons.

SILLY LILLY AND THE FOUR SEASONS is a very nice practice reader for young children. The text is still large, but the format is different --like a comic-- which I think is a nice change of pace for kids. Besides practicing reading, children will get some reinforcement of what they know about the four seasons. There's no heavy science, but Lilly is shown in season appropriate garb doing seasonally appropriate activities. So that is nice.

Pam~
 

Silly Lilly And The Four Seasons
(Toon Books)
by Agnes Rosenstiehl

**Starred Review** PublishersWeekly   
3.14 avg rating — 116 ratings

Reading Information:
Word Count: 223
Page Count:  36
Accelerated Reader: 0.8 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 121606
Lexile: BR
--sample pages available

You can find more sample pages for SILLY LILLY AND THE FOUR SEASONS and other books about Spring at the Kindergarten reading level here.

Review: BABY PANDAS by Bethany Olson

The BABY PANDAS book is a part of the Super Cute! series which features baby animals.  My library carries three of the titles, and out of the three this one is my favorite.

Besides having super cute pictures of pandas! BABY PANDAS actually has some words many children won't visually recognize, like groom, bond, bleat, and nurse.  And each of these really good vocabulary words gives adults like us a chance to discuss what they mean. 

all together now... ahhhhh :)

A Large font. Super simple sentences and pictures of pandas makes BABY PANDAS a book worth sharing.

The cub nurses
when it is young.
Later it eats
bamboo.

Pam~


BABY PANDAS
(Blastoff Readers: Super Cute)
by Bethany Olson

Reading Information:
Word Count: 104
Page Count:  24
Accelerated Reader: 1.2 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 162350
Lexile: 330L

The BABY CATS and BABY DOGS post has the reading levels for the entire series.  Find it here.

Review: NEST by Jorey Hurley

4.11 STARS from 56 GoodReaders

NEST is a wonderful book to share with younger children. With only one word for every set of pages, a year in the life of a pair of robins is told through the art.

The book begins with with one of the parents flying with a twig.  (This page is facing the Title Page.) The next image is of mom and dad and a single blue egg.  From there we get to see rain falling on a protective parent sitting on Junior, and then Junior having hatched, being fed, and then discovering the wide world around him/her.

click on the image - most browsers will make it BIG

I really enjoyed the clean, easy lines of Jorey's artwork.  And the story is easy for adults or children to understand and tell to other.  You can find additional sample images here.

Pam~


NEST
by Jorey Hurley

Reading Information:
Page Count:
no reading information currently available

Review: BIRDIE'S BIG-GIRL HAIR by Sujean Rim

BIRDIE'S BIG-GIRL HAIR is the 3rd book in the Birdie series by Sujean Rim. Like it's predecessors it is going to appeal to fashion forward youngsters. Children who love the idea of dressing up like mom and dad– or in my case, like someone else's more stylish mom.

In BIRDIE'S BIG-GIRL HAIR mom has decided that Birdie needs a haircut. And so an appointment has been made at a glamorous salon. Birdie asks if she can do some research using mom's fashion magazines, and off she goes to imagine how she might exit the salon.

The images of her with Farrah Fawcett flippy hair, and a sleek chignon like Audrey Hepburn made me smile.  Here though are some sample pages.

The story ends at the playground with a 'wilted' look, but Birdie's mom says that's okay, because no matter what her hair looks like, she's Birdie and that is special enough.

BIRDIES BIG-GIRL HAIR is a cute book that should appeal to fans of the FANCY NANCY and the PINKALICIOUS series.  

I thought the message was a little muddy, but I would definitely consider using this book to begin a discussion of what a visit to a salon is like.  And also, to subtly indicate that research isn't out of place for anything, and hair styles is just the beginning of possibilities.

Thanks to the good folks at Hachette for introducing me to this series. 

Pam~


BIRDIE'S BIG-GIRL HAIR
by Sujean Rim

Reading Information:
Word Count: 508
Page Count: 40
Accelerated Reader: 3.4 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 166150
--sample pages and reviews available

Check out the Other BIRDIE'S books (with reading info/AR test numbers) here

Review: BABY DOGS and BABY CATS by Kari Schuetz

THE SUPER CUTE! series features books at the First Grade Reading level.  There are 13 books in the series and each focuses on a baby animal -- Bears, Cats, Cows, Deer, Dogs, Goats, Horses, Monkeys, Pandas, Penguins, Rabbits, Sloths,and Wolves.

The books range from AR 1.0 to AR 1.7 , and have 99 to 121 words.  So not too much text.

One thing you should know is that this series is most likely meant for Libraries and Classrooms.  At least that's what the price and binding suggests.  But let me give you some information on the two books that my library has.

Review: BABY DOGS

BABY DOGS is one of the easiest practice readers in this series.

WHAT I LIKED about BABY DOGS were the simple sentences and the large font. I also liked that the pages are color saturated with cheerful photographs of puppies, their moms and human friends.

Here's the text from the first page:

Young dogs are

called puppies.

Dogs can be

puppies until

age 2.

In the photo below you can see that color runs from page edge to page edge.  And that the text is presented in a happy and non-threatening format.

It would have been nice if more types of puppies were shown, but Labs are certainly beautiful dogs, and ones that children are likely to be familiar with.

This book introduces a few terms --like bond -- that children might not be familiar with. And the glossary at the end gives adults a chance to show children how definitions can be looked up.  Contents address topics like what the definition of a puppy is, litters, cleaning, drinking milk and playing.  Also when a puppy can be adopted, and the fact that puppies 'bond' and learn 'commands'.


BABY DOGS would make a nice practice reader for young children. The large font and simple sentences were well chosen.  And Puppies certainly have a broad appeal.

Pam~


BABY DOGS
by Kari Schuetz

Reading Information:
Word Count: 106
Page Count: 24
Accelerated Reader:  1.1 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 162347
Lexile: 360L

Review: BABY CATS

BABY CATS is one of the books in this new BLASTOFF READERS series. It's at the mid-1st Grade level.

WHAT I LIKED about BABY CATS were the same things I liked about BABY DOGS.  The sentences were simple, the font was appropriately large, and photographs were large and cheerful.

Is this adorable or what?!?  So cute.

WHAT I DIDN'T particularly like was that some of the pictures were fuzzy. They might have done that for the cover, to give the beautiful little kitten a warm glow; but other pictures later in the book were also fuzzed.

In addition, I thought some of the content was 'a waste of time'. Whereas just about every text block in the BABY DOGS book provided information, this book pointed out that "kittens stretch out to relax. Big yawn!". And twice it talked about how cats/kittens snuggle for warmth, and twice it pointed out that kittens are cleaned with a tongue.


SO, BABY CATS is not quite as nice as the BABY DOGS book, but probably worth borrowing from the library, as the kitten photos --fuzzy or not-- are absolutely adorable. And this will certainly help motivate young readers.

Pam~


BABY CATS
by Bethany Olson

Word Count: 106
Accelerated Reader: 1.4 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 162344 
Lexile: 420L

OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES

BABY GOATS
Word Count: 94
Accelerated Reading level: 1.0 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 162378
Lexile: 300L

BABY HORSES
Word Count: 99
Accelerated Reader:  1.1 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 162348
Lexile: 430L

BABY PENGUINS
Word Count: 116
Accelerated Reading level: 1.2 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 162379
Lexile: 330L

BABY PANDAS   -  This book now has it's own review. Find it here.
Word Count: 104
Accelerated Reading level: 1.2 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 162350
Lexile: 330L

BABY MONKEYS

Word Count: 104

Accelerated Reading level: 1.2 / points: 0.5

AR quiz: 162349

Lexile: 360L

BABY DEER
Word Count: 107
Accelerated Reading level: 1.2 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 162346 
Lexile: 320L

BABY WOLVES
Word Count: 121
Accelerated Reader:  1.3 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 162623
Lexile: 390L

BABY COWS
Word Count: 108
Accelerated Reader:  1.3 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 162345 
Lexile: 500L

BABY BEARS
Word Count: 112
Accelerated Reader:  1.3 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 162377
Lexile: 460L

BABY RABBITS
Word Count: 107
Accelerated Reading level: 1.4 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 162351 
Lexile: 440L

BABY SLOTHS
Word Count: 120
Accelerated Reading level: 1.7 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 162352 
Lexile: 570L