Category Archives: Children’s Books

Downside of Drugs by Rosa Waters (series)

17 Friday Oct 2014

Posted by in Children's Books, Health, Non-Fiction, science

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Finding a way to engage children and teens in the understanding the dangers of drugs is always a challenge to parents and to teachers.  This series offers eye-catching information on a very necessary subject in an easy-to-read format.

Rosa Waters is the author of this series; but she worked with Dr. Joshua Borus, a pediatrician at the Harvard Medical School on the series.  The series is designed to attract younger readers and to help them understand quickly exactly what each drug can do to their bodies.

An answer to one pertinent question is found in each two-page spread. The author has included excellent color photographs, artwork, and charts to go along with the text.  Words that may need defining are underlined, and those definitions are found in the glossary at the end, as is a bibliography of other sources of information, both print and electronic, that the reader may find interesting or useful.

The introduction, which takes up two and one fourth pages of the 48 pages, is identical in each of the books in the series.  If the substance being discussed is able to be overdosed and become deadly, the author has included a paragraph about what to do if someone has overdosed on that particular drug.  This paragraph, which takes another page, is verbatim in all books.

Titles include: ADHD Medication Abuse, Alcohol & Tobacco;  Caffeine, Energy Drinks, Coffee, Soda and Pills;  Dangerous Depressants & Sedatives; Doping:Human Growth Hormone, Steroids, & Other Performance-Enhancing Drugs;  Hard Drugs: Cocaine, LSD, PCP & Heroin;  Marijuana Legal & Developmental Consequences;  Methamphetamine & Other Amphetamines; New Drugs, Bath Salts, Spice, Salvia & Designer Drugs;   Over the Counter Medications; and Prescription Painkillers: Oxycontin, Percocet, Vicodin, & Other Addictive Analgesics.

I imagine that some of these titles have the same information in them, and they could actually be verbatim; however, I still feel that the works are valuable resources. I would recommend the purchase of these books for upper elementary and middle to high school students.  It might even be worthwhile for pediatricians to put them in their office waiting rooms.

Although this reviewer saw only the paperback version of the books, they are available in hardback and in e-book formats.  While the books are not cheap, they are not cheaply made.  The covers are high quality paper. The glue in the paperback format is very strong. The paper that is used is of very high quality and is coated to help improve the sharpness of the print and reduce the degradation of the paper itself. It is a little easier to purchase an expensive paperback if it will not crack apart at the first use or easily curl from moisture.

The Castle Behind the Thorns by Merrie Haskell

12 Friday Sep 2014

Posted by in Children's Books, Fantasy

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The Castle Behind the Thorns

Although it is written for elementary to middle school readers, The Castle Behind the Thorns is a fantasy that will intrigue any reader right from the start. Sand, the young hero in the story, finds himself magically transported to the inside of a castle that he has known about all his life, but that no one could visit.

It had been impossible to get inside the castle from the outside world for twenty five years because it is covered by an impenetrable wall of thorns, yet Sand is definitely inside the castle.  He had always been told that an earthquake destroyed the castle and the inhabitants fled – never to return. Sand soon discovers that there has to be more to the story than an earthquake because EVERYTHING inside the castle is broken or ripped apart, and nothing is growing inside the walls.

As he tries to resolve his dilemma, he begins to repair things that he finds might be useful to him. After finding the dried body of a young girl that was thrown about in a crypt under the church, he straightens her body out and covers her with her clothing as best he can.  He tries to repair  the relics of two saints that were housed inside the church.  Later, Perrotte, the girl whom he had found in the crypt  comes to life and the two of them work to understand the mystery of the castle and why Sand was brought there.

Both begin to realize that whatever Sand tries to fix is repaired. The soil begins to grow things and birds begin to fly about, but Perrotte wants to get out of the castle to get revenge on the person who killed her.  Sand begins to worry that if he and Perrotte ever get out of the castle, a war would be started because Perrotte is set on revenge-  not on rebuilding.

I loved the story.  I think it has a definite message that we should always try to make things better than we found them and that family and loving relationship are what really matter.  I recommend its purchase for upper elementary and middle school libraries.

Evil Twins by J. Scott Savage

11 Thursday Sep 2014

Posted by in Children's Books, Fantasy

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evil twins Getting boys to read is sometimes tricky.  They want to feel that they can identify with the main characters, and many books, let’s face it, are written with female protagonists.  I think they will become intrigued by the action of these middle school boys.  While I would have to characterize this as a fantasy, it is not set in a fantastical world, but in every-day U.S.A. It does have elements of German mythology in it also.

Evil Twins is the third book of the Case File 13 Series by J. Scott Savage.  Nick and his buddies Carter and Angelo go on an ill-fated camping trip with Nick’s parents.  Nick’s father is always messing up their plans.  This time he forgets to check his reservation for the campground before leaving home.  This results in their being turned away and having to find another campsite.  The one they choose just happens to be home to a homunculus and  doppelgänger. The campers end up taking the homunculus home with them and in doing so, release the evil doppelgängers into the world.  How they resolve this is the main plot of the story.

This book is an exciting read for younger boys ages 9-12.  The boys do get into trouble, but they find out that doing wrong things brings dire consequences. I recommend it as an optional purchase for the upper elementary or middle school library.

National Geographic Kids Everything Series

07 Monday Jul 2014

Posted by in Children's Books, Children's Non-fiction, science

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I was only given two books in the series to review: Everything Mythology and Everything Dinosaurs. However there are others titles available: Everything Ancient Egypt, Everything Big Cats, Everything Sharks, Everything Castles, Everything Rocks and Minerals, Everything Dolphins and Everything Weather.

While Blake Hoena is the main author of the series, he works with National Geographic experts and/or authors to create the series. These books are colorful, full of information and well-bound.  Each book is packed with beautiful photographs and drawings. Each has a very good index, a list of videos, movies, books and other places where the reader may want to look at to learn more. Along with those learning aides is an interactive glossary (a type of quiz that allows the reader to check what he/she knows about the unusual terms used in the book).

Each book, or course, is only an introduction, but the author has taken great pains to pique the interest of the reader into learning more. I like the flaps both in the front and in the back of the paperback books.  They allow the reader to hold their place when interrupted, or when checking out something in the back of the book.  These flaps appear to be sturdy enough to take many readers handling them.

The books are also available in reinforced library binding. I did note that the word “reinforced” was misspelled in each book as “reinfored.” I did not notice misspellings in the texts, but I may just not have been aware that they were misspelled. It does bother me though, that something that obvious had slipped though the editing process. Still, this series definitely has a place in elementary libraries and public libraries. Those of you purchasing for Christian school libraries need to know that they take a secular view in the content, but you might use them for discussions of the differences of opinion.

At Home in Her Tomb by Christine Liu-Perkins

18 Wednesday Jun 2014

Posted by in Archeology, Children's Books, History

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China

Lui-Perkins has provided the young reader with a captivating book about archeology and Chinese burials of important people. The tomb of Lady Dai and other treasures of Mawangdui have amazed the archeologists who first uncovered them and those who still study the contents of Lady Dai’s tomb.

The most fascinating thing was that her body was so remarkably preserved.  Her skin and internal organs had not decayed; therefore, the doctors were even able to perform an autopsy on her.  i.e. The contents of her stomach indicated that she had been eating melon shortly before she died. Not only was the body in good condition for a 2,000 year-old-corpse, the tomb contained books and other written information that many had supposed to be destroyed by the Han dynasty. One of the later emperors of the Han dynasty had burned all the books on military, political and health that he could locate because he felt threatened by their contents.  To find these in Lady Dai’s tomb and so well-preserved was a miracle.

The text is nicely illustrated with color photographs and drawings.  The author has included a timeline, a glossary, a source list, a bibliography, and an index for the reader. Most pages have sidebars of information that help the reader understand more about China two thousand years ago.  The books will be useful to anyone who is interested in China or who is interested in archeology in general.  I highly recommend its purchase for the middle school through high school libraries.

Ambassador by William Alexander

12 Thursday Jun 2014

Posted by in Children's Books, Science Fiction

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I don’t have a picture for this book because I read a “prepub” edition, but I think it deserves to be looked at when it is published.  Here is the review I sent to the publisher:

Alexander has given us a whole new way of looking at aliens – both human and non-human. Gabe is an ordinary boy who thinks his summer will be the usual thing of playing with his friends and helping his parents care for his twin siblings.  His world is turned upside down when an alien named the Envoy invites him to be Earth’s ambassador to the Universe and thus to save the Earth.  This excites Gabe, yet he doesn’t understand how he, as a boy, can help save the world.

At the same time, his parents are arrested because they are illegal aliens and his parents are in danger of being deported. A neighbor offers to take care of Gabe and the twins because they are American citizens. His older sister has gone into hiding because she, also, is an illegal alien.  Gabe had no idea that his parents were not American citizens, and he also has no idea how to save his family.

As an ambassador, Gabe learns about conflict resolution, about talking of similarities of the inhabitants of the universe, and about trying to solve problems rather than fighting.   He still doesn’t know what he can do to save his family, but he knows that anger will not solve his problems.

This is an excellent book to help younger readers see that they are not alone with their conflicts.  It may help readers learn methods of communication, which are so very necessary in our world.  It would appear that there may be more stories of Gabe, the ambassador to come.  If that is true, I trust they will continue along the same line. I recommend this book for the elementary library.  The publisher is Simon and Schuster.

 

Dark Lord:School’s Out by Jamie Thompson

05 Thursday Jun 2014

Posted by in Children's Books, Fantasy

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The saga of the Dark Lord continues.  In this tale Sooz is in the Darklands, and Dark Lord (aka Dirk Lloyd) along with Chris is trying to get her back.  At the same time he is trying to get back to his realm and continue his reign as the terror of the Darklands.

Sooz is accepted by the Dark Lord’s minions as his fiancé.  They make her their queen, and she institutes some changes for good in the kingdom, but Sooz is captured by Lord Hasdruban who is intending to kill her.

Dirk and Chris get back to the Darklands and save Sooz, but Dirk changes back into the Dark Lord.  He begins to live the evil life he had lived before, but his minions refuse to go back to the evil they had to endure before.

Sooz manages to change him back to a boy and the three of them go back to the real world where they hope to be free of Lord Hasdruban – only to find that he has become their new principal. More to come, obviously.

This is a fun “read” for upper elementary students.  It teaches students that looks aren’t everything and that good can really conquer evil. I recommend it – especially if you already have the first of the series.

Into the Unknown by Stewart Ross

24 Thursday Apr 2014

Posted by in Children's Books, Children's Non-fiction

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I love to read historical books, both fiction and non fiction. This one is a delightful work of non-fiction designed for the elementary reader, but greatly appreciated by this adult. It is also a Boston-Globe-Horn Book Honor winner. This book first came out in 2011 as a hardback, but has recently been released as a paperback. Ross has given the reader a glimpse into the sort of lives that early explorers lived as they made discoveries that would change the world.

Ross introduces some explorers and explorations that I did not know about, such as Pytheas the Greek and the Treasure Fleet of Emporer Zheng He of China. Every chapter, even those about well-known explorers, has something in it that is not well-known.  These details make the book all the more fascinating.

For example, until I read this book, I did not know that the Chinese built their fleet inland and floated them out to the sea in man-made canals. I had never heard of Pytheas the Greek and his exploration of the North Atlantic. I also learned that the father and son team of Auguste and Jacques Piccard both soared into the stratosphere in a hydrogen balloon and descended into the deepest part of the Mariana Trench in a bathyscaphe (a feat the has never, yet, been repeated).

The illustrator, Steven Biesty, did an amazing job with the illustrations. Although all illustrations are drawings, they are so detailed that they come alive on the page. I was fascinated about how the explorers could tell by using the sun whether they were traveling north or south and how Viking knar boats were built so that they could twist in a storm. Biesty’s illustrations allowed me to visualize what they had seen.

The chapters are arranged in chronological order, which makes it easy for readers to find information about a particular time period. Ross also includes an excellent index, a glossary for unfamiliar terms, a list of sources and acknowledgement of direct use of information. These items make the book a good source for teaching research to young students.

Each chapter has at least one foldout page. This makes the book more interesting, but it could be a deal-breaker for those libraries with a small budget. (I would most certainly enforce the foldouts with hinge tape before allowing it to circulate.) However, the low cost of the paperback version at $9.99 is almost unbelievable for today’s market and would allow for replacement.

If at all possible, this book should be added to your collection. I do not often highly recommend books, especially paperbacks; but I highly recommend this book for elementary and middle school readers.

The Secret Box by Whitaker Ringwald

11 Friday Apr 2014

Posted by in Children's Books, Mystery and Suspense

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This is a cute story about a girl named Jax Malone who received a package on her twelfth birthday from a person she had never heard of.  Her mother snatches the package before she can open it and attempts to return it. Of course, Jax’s curiosity is piqued and she MUST find out what is in the box.

She needs the help of her two cousins, Ethan and Tyler. Ethan is not very excited about helping Jax, but he goes along with her ideas in order to keep Jax from trouble.  Tyler is a typical teenager who thinks his twelve-year-old brother and cousin are little pests.  Ethan and Jax manage to grab the package before it is returned.  After they find that the package contains a strange looking box, they try to open it only to discover that they have only ten tries to get in it. They waste three tries before they realize that they have to quit trying until they figured out a strategy. The box tells them how far away they are from the spot they must be in to open it, but nothing else.

Ethan and Jax then enlist Tyler to help them figure out where to go.  Tyler is none to happy about his little cousin and brother bothering him while he is trying to develop a video game. But, in order to get rid of them, he tells them what to do.

Tyler explains that the kids must use geometry to figure out where the secret place is in relation to where they are. They know that they need to travel 193 miles to the correct place.  Tyler shows them how to calculate where that might be drawing an arc of a circle on a map that equals 193 miles.

They start by guessing the direction to begin and going to the place where the package originated to see if they are closer. When they get there they discover that they are now 206 miles further away. Again using geometry, they draw another circle and notice that the two intersecting points meet in the middle of a lake and in Washington D.C.

The kids trick Tyler into taking them – with their parent’s approval – in his car to Washington. D.C. On the way there, the box is stolen by two elderly people, and all three children embark on an ever-escalating adventure. On their trip, Tyler tells them the legend of Pandora’s box, and they begin to wonder if this box contains trouble.  They discover a great-aunt that the two younger children didn’t know they had, and Jax finds out more about her father, whom she had never met. Ethan finds out that he is braver than he had believed himself to be, and Tyler discovers that there is life beyond computer games.

This fast-paced tale will satisfy those readers of adventure and mystery stories.  There are no scenes of drinking, smoking or of sex.  No unacceptable words appear on the pages. Although the kids do things they shouldn’t (such as breaking into a motel room), they are ever mindful of the consequences of their actions and of their parents’ reactions to those behaviors.  I especially liked the fact that they had to use math in order to solve the mystery, and that mythology was introduced to the reader.

I recommend this book for upper elementary and middle school readers. I believe that there may be more stories of Jax, Ethan, and Tyler yet to come.  Stay tuned!

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Cinderella Smith: The Super Secret Mystery

20 Thursday Feb 2014

Posted by in Children's Books, Mystery and Suspense, Uncategorized

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Stephanie Barden has written a cute little story about a young girl named Ella who needs to do a research report of endangered species, but all the books she needs to use have been checked out from her school library.  Although she can find material on her subject, she is required to use print materials in her report (I love that teacher). She goes back for them the day they are due, but finds out that the books were renewed. So, she must come back, AGAIN.  However, the librarian tells her that she will now put a hold on the books; so that when they are returned, they will be kept at her desk for Ella (Cinderella). When she gets a message from the librarian that the books are in, she goes to the library to pick them up only to discover that someone has stolen them from the librarian’s desk.

She begins to try to figure out who would want to sabotage her report, and several classmates pop to mind. But her immediate concern in not finding the culprit, but finishing her report. After a trip to the public library where she finds the books she needs, she gets a mysterious note saying, “Look behind J.” She tries to figure out the message, but no ideas come to mind. The due date for the report is looming, but she still wants to figure out what happened to the books and why her former best friend is acting so strangely.

This is a cute little mystery book and will serve to introduce young readers to the genre. This appears to be part of a series, although I am not familiar with it.  I do recommend this book for readers in third through fifth grade,

I love the library references and the way the story is used to teach students what librarians, both school and public, can do for them. The series has the possibility to become like the Nancy Drew mysteries for younger readers..