This Is How We Do It: One Day in the Lives of Seven Kids from Around the World

Lamothe, Matt. (2017). This Is How We Do It: One Day in the Lives of Seven Kids from Around the 
World. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books LLC. 52 Pages, Age 5-6, Picture/Biography, ISBN 978-1452150185.

Have you ever wondered what a day in the life looks like for someone in a different country? This book shows what a day looks like for 7 different kids around the world. The front and back covers have a map showing how far away each child lives and each page has colorful and fun illustrations showing how their day is different starting with where they live and ending with where they sleep. At the end of the book there is a picture of the night sky which shows that no matter where you are and how different your day may be, your night sky is always the same as everyone else’s. This book also offers a glossary and author’s note.

I really enjoyed reading this book and I believe that children of all ages would enjoy it as well. This book may be especially interesting for children in diverse areas. They can learn how those around them may have spent their day in a different country before they came to where they are. It is also a great book to teach about diversity, which may sometimes be hard for teachers to address. My favorite part of the book was at the end when it showed the real pictures of the kids with their families.

Reviewed by Hannah K.

Heroes Who Risked Everything for Freedom: Civil War (Secrets of American History)

Lakin, P. (2017). Heroes Who Risked Everything for Freedom: Civil War (Secrets of American History). New York: Simon Spotlight. 48 pages, Grades 1-3, Literature/ History/Fiction, ISBN 978-1481499729

The civil war was an important event in the United States of America. It was a war between the Northern and Southern part of America, it was a war to put an end to slavery in the United States. Patrica Lakin's book writes about the heroes that bravely done extraordinary acts to end slavery in the civil war. These heroes were brave and sneaky spies of different races and sexes. This book mentions about the heroic deeds they had done to inform what their enemies plan to execute to the Union. Many deaths had been avoided because of their bravery, and eventually When the civil rights act was enacted, it lead to the freedom of the African Americans in the United States.

This is a clear and well-written book. I love how it writes about the unmentioned heroes in the civil war and I like how it mentions what heroic acts they did and how significant was it for the Union. It also has additional information about the American flag in its earlier days. It mentions how it changed throughout the years. It also has some fun activities that kids can do at the end of the book. I enjoy reading it very much and I know that other children would enjoy this as well.

Reviewed by: Celestine K. Shek

Abraham

Keating,F. (2017). Abraham. New York: Simon & Schuster.
31 pages, Grade 1-3, Juvenile literature/ presidents/ United States/ Biography, ISBN 9781442493193

This book is about the sixteen president of the United Sates, Abraham Lincoln. He was born in a poor family and lived in a simple house in Kentucky. Growing up, he worked hard by clearing timber, burning brush, milking cows, and churning butter, etc. He loved reading and never stopped reading. He became a lawyer, honest lawyer. He was a peacemaker and believed freedom and union. As a president of the United States, he spoke and worked diligently to settle equality within the country.

I really like this book. Kids might need to learn some vocabulary written in the book, but all the vocabulary is educational and good for them to learn. They can generally learn about Abraham Lincoln by reading this book, who he was, why he has been admired by many people, and what he did. When you turn pages, you will see each left page has pictures that help readers to understand the meaning of the texts and also to keep it in memory.

Yuki Konno

Who wants to be a princess?: What it was really like to be a princess.

Heos, B. (2017). Who wants to be a princess?: What it was really like to be a princess. 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York: Henry Holt and Company. 28 pages, K-4, Picture/Fiction/Juvenile literature, ISBN 978-0805097696

This book used a fictional character named Beatrice to illustrate the contrasting ideas of a real-life medieval princess and a fairytale-like princess that are now very popular in movies and storybooks. The ideas in this book are to present comprehensible facts about how it is like to be a royalty or a princess in medieval times. The visualization of the book includes how a princess acts in daily life- for example, the kinds of food they eat, the clothes she wears, activities she does, and how she gets along with other people in the castle. All these to provide truths that being a princess, or a royalty is not always magical and fabulous as most people think. The book also shows fundamental facts about ancient history approximately 1000 years ago.

When I was reading the book, there was at some point a feeling of "Nah- I don't want to be a medieval princess- it's kind of gross." The reason why is because some of the ideas in the book are concepts that I never thought growing up thinking about royalty. For example, the thought expressed on page 10 of the book that as a royalty they seldom sweep the floor thus, the bones from their food, and the dirt piled up on the floor. It was unexpected for me! But of course, that was around 1000ish years ago and there have been several changes over time in the present world. However, in my opinion, the book presented an intelligent way to let young people know that being a princess, or a royalty is absolutely a duty rather than a love story fantasy and that there's more to just wearing gowns and tiaras.


Reviewed by: Farah E.

The Incredible Cabinet of Wonders

Kids, L.P., & Fullman, J. (2017). The Incredible Cabinet of Wonders. London: Lonely Planet Kids.
28 pages, Ages 9-12, Juvenile Nonfiction, ISBN 978-1787011045

Twelve specialists researched famous museums of the world to find weird and wonderful items to include in this curiously interactive book. Incredible and creative describe this book. It is organized into 12 cabinets containing 5-14 items of interest per category.  Each 2 pages open to a specific theme designed by one of the specialists.Themes include: Toy Maker’s Cabinet, Naturalist’s Cabinet, Miniaturist’s Cabinet, Musician’s Cabinet plus 8 others. Each page displays 2 to 14 flaps kids can open to view photographs of these weird and wonderful things.  Each picture has a description about the unusual item and information about where to find the museum they are located in.

This book is interesting to look at with its creative layout.  The physical aspects of the book make it best for older readers or adults to handle, because the flaps are delicate and may tear easily. Adults could guide a child in searching through this book.  The subject matter is a bit bizarre on some pages, so be prepared.  If you like anything weird and strange, you will probably enjoy this book. 

Reviewed by Angela C LeSuer

Pablo Pineda: Being different is a value

Bosch, A & Sala M, & Alvarez S, (2016). Pablo Pineda: Being different is a value China: Cuento de Luz. 32pp. K-4, Compassion/Picture Book, ISBN 978-84-16733-23-1

 This book is about a little boy name Pablo Pineda who was born with Down Syndrome. His parents wanted to raise him as a normal child they taught him at home before he started schooling. They send him to ordinary school. Pablo Pineda continue to High School and he graduated and receive a prize for being the best student of the year. He continues to University even though it was getting harder and harder for him but he never gives up. He graduates from University and become the first Down Syndrome person in history to graduate from University.

I like this book because it is a real story that shows real life situation. it has a great theme that the students of any age can learn from it. The moral of the story is applicable into the student’s lives because he was a student.  I like how the illustration is very colorful and in every page of the book has an image relate to the text. It helps the reader imagine the story as they read. This book is worthy to read by the students and even disabilities student because it can motivate them.

Review by Ola

Father's Road

Jang, J. (2017). Father’s Road. Michigan: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers. 36 pages, Grades 3-6, Fiction, ISBN 9780802854728.

This book is about a young boy named Wong Chung who is very excited to go on a business trip with his father. His father travels to sell and trade silk. For this trip, they traveled by camel and were heading to the markets in Constantinople. However, Wong Chung did not know how harsh the conditions for this trip would be. He had to travel through sandstorms, deal with bandits and learn some survival skills. Wong Chung became an important aspect of this trip when his willingness to help others came in to play.

Before beginning this book, when looking through the pictures, I was not sure if I would like it at all, however, it is a good book. This would not be my first choice of book to have in my classroom because of the difficult words in it, but it does have some good teachings aspects, especially for social studies. This book is all about buying and trading goods which is why it would be a good start to a lesson. In the back of the book it has teaching opportunities and guidance as well. It explains some vocabulary for the readers (economy, globalization, etc.), along with countries and their demand of goods. Due to the vocabulary and the lesson ideas, I would suggest it for the higher grades when they begin learning these concepts.

Review by: Jordyn R.