America's Founding Myths ... and What Really Happened by Christy Mihaly, illustrated by Marta Sevilla, - ADVISABLE

America's Founding Myths ... and What Really Happened by Christy Mihaly, illustrated by Marta Sevilla, 40 pages. INTERACTIVE, NON-FICTION Barefoot Books, 2026. $20 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE 

APPEALS TO: SOME 

How much of the history we learn in school is really a myth? Apparently a lot of it. Mihaly looks at 15 myths surrounding the founding of the United States - from the people who lived here before Columbus arrived to the Revolutionary War. Includes the story of Pocahontas and John Smith, the First Thanksgiving, Plymouth Rock and who really warned that "The British are Coming". 

Mihaly's introduction is excellent. She tell how written history is just one perspective, and different points of view make the whole thing messy and complicated. It's interactive; you see the well-known myth, then open a flap to "uncover" the truth (ingenious). There are also some opportunities to lift the flaps for other things. There are also interesting "think about this yourself" questions. A brilliant book that doesn't feel political - it explains why many of our stories turned into myths and shows witnesses' statements of the events. Kids who love history will eat this up. Back matter includes ideas to know or discover if something is true, encouragement to write your own perception of events you witness, a glossary and resources for finding out more. Includes a QR Code to access the bibliography. 

Lisa Librarian 

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (Story Fold Classics) - ADVISABLE

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (Story Fold Classics), 263 pages. Design Eye (Quarto), 2024. $15. 9781836001423

BUYING ADVISORY: GIFT - ADVISABLE

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL

Design Eye has taken the classic Christmas story and published it in a very beautiful cover, with illustrated and colored pages.  What makes this version really special, and best suited as a gift, is that as you read the book you fold each page (lines provided), so that by the time you finish the book you now also have a Christmas display piece.  

I haven’t finished the book, so I haven’t seen the final product, but I have my suspicions.  As someone who is book-folding-challenged, I appreciate the guiding lines. This seems to be the first in what I hope is going to be a series of collectable foldables. It would be fun to read this aloud at bedtime together and mark your progress with the folds.

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS

Life Log by Lea Redmond and Andrea Tsurumi - OPTIONAL

Life Log by Lea Redmond, illustrated by Andrea Tsurumi, 96 pages. NON-FICTION. Chronicle Books, 2022. $15. 9781452166247

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - GIFT - OPTIONAL

APPEALS TO: SOME

This is an interactive book meant to be personalized by writing and coloring in it, so it would NOT be a recommended purchase for a library. It teaches ways to collect data and log observations, patterns and details using different infographic techniques. The first ten pages are very wordy in describing various infographics. Once you make it through the text-heavy intro pages, the book is filled with about a dozen fun data-collecting activities like "Bubble Gum Contest - which brand blows bigger bubbles?" and "The Life of a Pencil - how long does my pencil last?"

I think the data-collecting activities in this book are a fun way to encourage non-digital activity and could be enjoyed by a child on their own or with family or friends. Some of the activities require documenting over time, while others can be done in one afternoon. I think the book does a good job of showing that observation and collecting data can be interesting and fun, and some of the activities are things I'd enjoy doing with my own kids.

Angie Campbell - EL Librarian https://www.kingsenglish.com/book/9781452166247

Your Time Has Come by Magnus Myst, - OPTIONAL

Your Time Has Come (The Bad Little Book 3) by Magnus Myst, 171 pages. INTERACTIVE Delacorte (Random House), 2023. $11 

Language: G (0 swears);  Mature Content: G; Violence: G 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - OPTIONAL 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

The Little Bad Book is back again and needs a reader who is gutsy enough to travel through time with him and possibly face down the Time Wolf. 

 The art really is stunning; it's vibrant and well laid out. As an interactive book, it is nonlinear and jumps around a lot. There are puzzles to solve that lead the reader to different pages. It's not an in-depth read, but it can be fun to solve the puzzles with the story. 

Michelle in the Middle

Choose Your Own Adventure: The Dregg Disaster-An Algebra 1 Game Book Chris Matthews - ADVISABLE

Choose Your Own Adventure: The Dregg Disaster-An Algebra 1 Game Book Chris Matthews, 288 pages. INTERACTIVE Chooseco. 2022. $20 

Language: G (0 swears 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG (if you choose poorly, you may die).

BUYING ADVISORY: MS - ADVISABLE 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

"As you walk home from soccer practice, you find a wallet. Inside is an access card to the Dregg Corporation. The card isn't the ordinary employee ID because your mom used to work there. It's heavier and has a holographic picture on the back of a woman in a trench coat named Doctor Donda LaBella. What catches your eye though are the words, ""If found please return to the Dregg Corporation. $1,000 reward." You want that money!

The Dregg Disaster is a choose your own adventure with a math twist. To choose which direction your character should go, you need to solve the math equations at the bottom of each page. This actually made math engaging for me. Plus, if you get a problem wrong, the page you thought you should go to will tell you if you did it right. If you forgot how to solve a particular problem, there are directions for solving each problem at the end of each of the four chapters. My math geek friend loved it. If you want to get your math lover to read or your reading ace to do math, this is a great tool. The story was engaging and the problems didn't take long to do. Cover has a white teen 

Michelle in the Middle 

Diary Svetlana Chmakova - GIFT

Diary Svetlana Chmakova, 90 pages. INTERACTIVE Jy (Yen Press). 2019. $13 

Content: G. 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - GIFT 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

13yo Jaime Thompson is a scientist/engineer, and he hates that the kids in the middle school Science Club tease him because he is friends with a girl. Peppi gets teased, too, by the kids in Art Club. They are working together on a Time Capsule project, to be opened in 100 years. But when Jaime sees some artwork of Peppi's (hearts around the name Jesse) his friends tell him she must like someone. Now Jaime's afraid he will lose his friend. Maribella is living temporarily with her grandmother while her parents work out some things. So she's left Berrybrook Middle and is living in an old-fashioned town and going to a new school. She has trouble making friends on her first day but gets invited to a sleepover. It doesn't go well. 

Diary is just that. A Diary. Includes an 18-month calendar/scheduler, stickers, 2- 26 page graphic stories; a drawing lesson and 68 "sketch a day" entries, some with ideas; a cartooning tutorial, blank diary pages, and several spots for recorded stuff about your favorite people. A great gift for a fan of the Berrybrook Series, but not recommended as a library purchase (which is unfortunate, as the series is alphabetical - Awkward, Brave, Crush, Diary, Enemies) The characters, as always are multicultural and diverse. 

Lisa Librarian

Prehistoric Pets by Dr. Dean Lomax, Illustrated by Mike Love - ESSENTIAL

 

Prehistoric Pets by Dr. Dean Lomax, Illustrated by Mike Love NON-FICTION, INTERACTIVE PICTURE BOOK Templar Books (Candlewick Press), 2021. $18. 9781536217148 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3), EL, MS - ESSENTIAL 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH 

Did you know your pet has animal ancestors? Dr. Dean Lomax (a paleontologist) tells about the pet, i.e guinea pig, gold fish, parakeet, cat or dog; the kind of animal - rodent, bird, fish; and then, when you open the fold out page, the prehistoric animal ancestor pops up and you learn all about them! So full of great facts, and colorfully illustrated. Dr. Lomax shows what their fossil looks like, where they lived, even what they ate. 

Ok, pop-up books are usually for the little kids, but I was thoroughly surprised and engaged when I opened the flap and there was a huge snake! (or saber tooth cat or Velociraptor). The informational pieces are in text boxes which are also fully illustrated, and I've gone back to re-read several times because it's just so cool. Putting this copy in my middle school library, but taking it up to show the Natural History Museum so they can get copies in their gift shop.

Lisa Librarian

The Ultimate Micro-RPG Book edited by James D’Amato - HIGH

The Ultimate Micro-RPG Book edited by James D’Amato. 102 pages. NON-FICTION. Simon and Schuster, 2020. $17 (paperback). 9781507212868 

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS – ADVISABLE 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH 

Whether as a great longer activity for an afterschool group. Or just a handy resource for library checkout, I would invest in this interesting book. The only flaw for libraries is that it does include some characters sheets and blank graph paper in the back, which should probably be removed before circulation. I would contact the publisher about getting permission to separate the pages and laminate them for individual use! If you already have a group at your school who are big fans of table-top role playing games, they should be very excited to see this. I, on the other hand, would need those same kids to teach me how to play any of the games. Most of few take at least an hour, though a couple can possibly be finished in about 30 minutes. 

Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS 

Meet the Architect! Frank Lloyd Wright by Patricia Geis - OPTIONAL

Meet the Architect! Frank Lloyd Wright by Patricia Geis.  NON-FICTION/ PICTURE BOOK Princeton Architectural Press, 2019.  $28.  9781616895938  

BUYING ADVISORY:  GIFT, EL, MS – OPTIONAL  

AUDIENCE APPEAL: LOW  

Frank Lloyd Wright was born into a family who appreciated nature and his mother encouraged his love of architecture.  Wright spent seventy years constructing beautiful buildings that he strived to make clients happy, use good materials and stay in harmony with nature around the building.  Different projects are explained and explored throughout the book.  

Lift the flap, pop-up pieces, manipulative paper projects and a folder with postcards are some of the different ways this book is interactive.  The bright red cover is appealing, and the information is a good introduction to Wright and his influence on architecture.  This book would work better as a gift, but I can’t imagine it would survive long in a library and it has a hefty price tag.  

Reviewer, C. Peterson.

Star Wars: Millenium Falcon Book and Mega Model - OPTIONAL

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Star Wars: Millenium Falcon Book and Mega Model.  Studio Fun International, 2018.  $18.  9780794442071

BUYING ADVISORY:  GIFT (EL to ADULT) - OPTIONAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

Do you know someone who loves Star Wars? Especially fans of  Han Solo and the Millennium Falcon? Can’t afford the $800 Lego model version?  Then here is a great option for you for a holiday gift!  The accompanying 32 page book has some Falcon facts and some activity pages along with the directions for building the model.  The pieces are sturdy paperboard and the directions seem fairly easy to follow.  I would build it all once and the rebuild it using some glue for added strength and holding power.  A good shared activity or alone. 

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS

Zombie Cross-Stitch by Kristy Kizzee and Erika Kern - ADVISABLE

Zombie Cross-Stitch by Kristy Kizzee and Erika Kern, 63 pages.  Thunder Bay Press, 2018.  $20. 9781684124121

BUYING ADVISORY:  GIFT - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

All the materials you need for 12 zombie-related projects (Except I don’t think there is enough canvas)! I would have rated this an ESSENTIAL gift, but the booklet is teeny – In order to really use it, you will have to blow the cross-stitch pages up larger.  I love the touch of not only including the patterns, but also a “one step further” for each craft, with a suggestion of where to use the completed piece (baby bid, pillow, coffee cozy, etc.)

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS

Flip Flap Ocean by Axel Scheffler - ADVISABLE

Flip Flap Ocean by Axel Scheffler.  INTERACTIVE BOARD BOOK.  Nosy Crow (Candlewick), 2018.  $12. 9780763699420

BUYING ADVISORY:  Pre-K – ADVISABLE

KID APPEAL: AVERAGE

Scheffler has taken 11 ocean creatures and made a clever flap book that allows the reader to mix and match different tops and bottoms.  Each remix brings a new “name” for the combined creature and also an 8-line poem. As a parent, I would get quicklt tired of re-reading the new poems, so hopefully the youngsters would want to know the creature names and not want me to read the poem every time.

Cindy, Middle School Librarian

Follow Finn by Peter Goes - ADVISABLE

Goes, Peter Follow Finn, A Search-and Find Maze Book, Illustrated by Peter Goes. PICTURE BOOK.  26 pages. Gecko Press, 2017. $17. Language: G (no swears); Mature Content: G; Violence G. 

Finn has woken up to discover that goblins have left everything in chaos.  He needs to find his clothes and then his dog, Sep.  In this search and find maze book, Finn follows after his dog in search of the goblins.  This search takes him through garden mazes, underground caves, a castle that is very M.C. Escher, and the sky and water.  Readers will need to find two little soldiers, a present, a platypus pair and goblins as they also try and figure out the beginning and end of each maze. 

The art is fabulous and each page is a different monochromatic color, which can be a plus or a minus, depending on how you feel about that.  The art feels classic yet ground breaking at the same time.   My only grievance is that the text is so small.  Finding all of the hidden objects is a challenge and at times I wasn’t sure if I’d found all of the objects. This will keep searchers busy!

PRE-K, EL (K-3) – ADVISABLE. Michelle in the Middle

Ten Horse Farm by Robert Sabuda - ADVISABLE

Sabuda, Robert  Ten Horse Farm PICTURE BOOK Candlewick Press, 2018. $30  9780763663988

10 different horses and what they are doing on the farm. Running, jumping, bucking, drinking, grazing, pulling, playing, sharing, resting.  

In this spectacular pop-up book, each horse is large and literally jumps off the page.  There are other farm animals on many of the pages, so it makes a great "can you find it  game.  Because of the nature of the book, it may not last long in a public or school library.

Pre-K ADVISABLE  Lisa Librarian

All Aboard the Discovery Express by Emily Hawkins - ADVISABLE

Hawkins, Emily and Tom Adams All Aboard the Discovery Express, illustrated by Tom Clohosy Cole.  PICTURE BOOK/INTERACTIVE.  Quarto Kids, 2017.  $28.  9781847809902.

Welcome to Paris, France, 1937.  Climb aboard the Discovery Express to take a trip around the world and explore the wonders of transportation as it evolved from Da Vinci’s fanciful musings and on to modern (for 1937) flight.  Led by Nancy Delaney, you will follow information and clues left behind by Professor Pendleton, who disappeared just before departure.

A great “coffee table” book for an upper elementary child who likes learning about transportation.  Lots of flaps to lift, historical information, and clues to solve to find the professor.  It is rather text dense, but the illustrations help make it accessible.  

EL (K-3), EL – ADVISABLE.  Cindy, Library Teacher

Open the Suitcase by Ruth Wielockx - OPTIONAL

Wielockx, Ruth Open the Suitcase.  PICTURE BOOK.  Clavis, 2017.  $18.  9781605374017.

A series of suitcases and a series of animals.  Which ones belong together?  Lift the open to open each case and solve the puzzle and see the animals at work. 

Such a  cute idea and great illustrations, but … I have a couple of qualms.  One – the flaps are regular book page – not very sturdy.  Two – each page asks you to find the items on the page that were in the suitcase, but you have to flip back and forth to do the matching.  If they were side by side it would be so much easier.  A little advance product testing would have highlighted these flaws quickly.

Pre-K – OPTIONAL.  Cindy, Library Teacher