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Non-fiction: The Octopus Scientists by Sy Montgomery

Montgomery, Sy. The Octopus Scientists: Exploring the Mind of a Mollusk. Photographs by Keith Ellenbogen, New York, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2015.

This book is an in depth exploration of a group of scientists who are researching octopuses in Polynesia. While talking about the groups research and its complications and successes, the book also talks about the biology and environment of the octopus. The book is most appropriate for readers 10 to 12 years old. This is mostly because of the in depth descriptions of the research process and the science involved. There may be young readers who are very interested in marine biology who may enjoy this book, but for younger readers the descriptions and the writing may be a little dull. The pictures are colorful and show the world of the octopus well, but they do not necessarily add new information to the book. A strength of the book is the information which came from the Montgomery’s own experience seeing the research of the scientists first hand like when Montgomery talks about how octopuses stack the remains of their prey. Montgomery has seen this first hand and is thus able to describe it so clearly. Also the blending of the research narrative with octopus facts at the end of each chapter makes for a nice blend of focus on the scientific process and the biological or cultural information. A good example of this is when Montgomery talks about how the octopuses have impacted the culture of Polynesia which is super fascinating and provides a break from the science. The narrative of the researchers though can be a little repetitive which for readers who are not super fascinated by marine research can make the book a harder read. The book has not won any major awards. This book could be used as a resource in a scavenger hunt activity. So much of the book is about the octopuses being hard to find because they hide away in their dens. Parts of stuffed octopuses could be hidden around the library with clues for each location. Once all the pieces are found the participants would get to sew the octopus together, and they would get to take home a stuffed octopus.

Read-a-likes:

Turner, Pamela S. The Dolphins of Shark Bay. Photographs by Scott Tuason, New York, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2013.

Pamela Turner takes on a research adventure as she follows a group of dolphins. This book looks at the incredible intelligent nature of dolphins in their natural environment. Like The Octopus Scientists this book combines a research narrative with fun facts and information about the dolphins themselves.

Mattern, Joanne. Hawai’i (A True Book: My United States). New York, Children’s Press, 2017.

This book looks at the beautiful state of Hawai’i, from the gorgeous scenery to the culture. This informational book shows all the interesting aspects of this group of islands with fun infographics and descriptive text. So much of The Octopus Scientists is the environment the researchers are exploring. This book is an excellent read-a-like for readers who got wrapped up in the setting of the book.

Macy, Sue. Sally Ride: Life on a Mission. New York, Aladdin, 2016.

This book explores the life of Sally Ride who was the first woman in space. Her incredible life and her scientific accomplishments are told in such an incredible way in this biography that captures the fullness of her life along with her groundbreaking work. If readers enjoyed Dr. Jennifer Mather in The Octopus Scientists then they will love the story of this other enthusiastic scientist.

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Magazine: Muse

Muse. Vol. 21, Issue 9, Cricket Media, Chicago, 2017.

Muse is a children’s magazine that focuses on science, arts, and culture. It includes articles, comics, letters from readers, activities, and contests. This issue in particular looked at robots and AI. The target audience for this magazine is 9 to 12 year olds. The art style of a lot of the magazine is realistic and the articles explore the main theme of the issue in realistic ways. The letters to the magazine from readers also shows the writing skills of these readers is that of older readers because they are adept at explaining complex thought. The activities included in the magazine are simpler, but the bulk of the magazine is the articles which would not be as engaging for younger readers. The strengths of the magazine is how the writers are able to distill complex scientific thought into accessible explorations or activities. An example of this is the logic gate activity. Not only does the article teach the readers about coding, but also shows the purpose behind logic gates. The contests are also a strength, because it encourages the readers to connect with the magazine. It helps develop a sense of community among the readers of the magazine. The theme of each issue can seem limiting, but the editors include so many different outlooks on the singular topic making the theme feel exploratory rather than limiting. The magazine won a Parent’s Choice award in 2019.

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Database: Kid InfoBits

Kid InfoBits. https://go-gale-com.proxy.lib.utk.edu/ps/browsePortals?p=ITKE&u=tel_a_utl

This database collects and organizes articles, book chapters, photos, and videos for kids to use and access for both their own use and for academic success. The appropriate audience is school age children 8 to 12. The database is well organized, the subject headings are clearly displayed with pictures, the large subjects break down into narrower subject clearly with more visual aids, and the database shows what format the resource is. These qualities make the database accessible for this age range. It may be possible for younger school age children to use the database with supervision or assistance, but it is best suited for the 8 to 12 age range. The organization already mentioned is a clear strength of the database. This organization circumvents the need for the kids to know in depth search techniques and how to use Boolean operators. The database’s homepage also has inquiry prompts like “how do rainbows work”. This feature is nice for fulfilling the curiosity of the kids. The in-depth nature of the subjects also is a great boon, because it allows the kids to be as broad or narrow in their searches as they want to be. There is also an alphabetical index that can be used. One weakness is that the database has an advanced search feature, but there is no tutorial or explanation for how it works. This may be ok for an adult database. For a database designed for children whose only other experience with a search engines may be google a tutorial of how to use the advance search feature would be necessary. 

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Blog: K the Librarian

K the Librarian. https://kthelibrarian.com/

This blog reviews books, provides outlines for story times, and STEAM activities. The target audience for this blog is fellow librarians specifically new librarians. K says that when they were a new librarian they found other librarian blogs so useful. Once they felt confident enough they decided to create their own blog to help other librarians. The way K breaks down story times by early literacy skills also shows that the blog is directed to new librarians who need to put a focus on developmental needs as the cornerstone of library programming. The blog is well organized. The blog clearly labels the different programming sections i.e. story times, pre-school STEAM, and K-5 programs. The book review section is also well constructed. K reviews books based on month, so readers get a package of reviews. The reviews also have clear quality ratings and age ranges. One downside to the blog is that it has been a year since K has updated, so it may be the end of the blog. The blog has not won any awards.

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Picture book: A Different Pond by Bao Phi

Phi, Bao. A Different Pond. Illustrated by Thi Bui, North Mankato, Picture Window Books, 2017.

A Different Pond is about a young boy who goes on an early morning fishing trip with his dad where they catch dinner for their family. Throughout the story the young boy also reflects on his dad’s past and about his family. The appropriate age for this book is 7 to 9 year olds. The book is very emotional and reflects on the emotions of being an immigrant. These are concepts that younger readers may be able to comprehend, but the topics are more appropriate for older school age children. Also the illustrations point to this older audience, because a lot of the illustrations are uneasy or uncomfortable which these older school age children would be able to handle. The book blends a tone of unease with a tone of peace and comfort both in the text, but also in the illustrations that shows the family as a light in the darker illustrations. Most of the book the backgrounds are dark blue, but the moments of peace always have the characters often with a soft light around them. Another incredible strength is Phi’s writing which makes the complexity of the father’s life accessible to children. An example of this is when the father explains that the reason he has two work to jobs is because it is expensive to live in America. It is simple and explanatory without going into all the nuanced details of why living in America is so expensive. The book was a 2018 Caldecott Honor Book. This book could be used as a super charged story time where after the reading participants make stuffed paper fish that are filled with tissue paper or cotton balls and then stapled up. The kids would then decorate the fish with drawings of their home, caregivers, siblings, or things they like to do with those people. 

Read-a-likes:

Larson, Debrah Jo. One Frozen Lake. Illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher, St. Paul, Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2012.

The book tells the story of a grandson and a grandfather ice fishing together. While the book is about their relationship, it also is a great exploration of the process of ice fishing. This book connects to A Different Pond because they are both about a relationship between a child and one of their family members but both also show the process of the activity that the two bond over.

Zia, F. Hot, Hot Roti for Dada-ji. Illustrated by Ken Min, New York, Lee and Low Books, 2011.

Aneel loves to hear his Dada-ji’s stories of growing up in India. Aneel wants to know if his Dada-ji is still as strong as a tiger, but to find that out Aneel must make Dada-ji the dish that gave him strength as a kid: roti with pickled mango. This book will be loved by lovers of A Different Pond because it explores family through the lens of cooking and food.

Negley, Keith. My Dad Used to be So Cool. London, Eagle Eye Books, 2016.

This book has the main character talking about how he thinks his dad used to be cool and a rock star. He questions why his dad would go from being on stage to his normal life now. While this book is an easier read than A Different Pond, it similarly explores the life of a parent outside being a parent and has the kid thinking about everything that changed in their parents life when they became a parent.

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Fiction: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

Lin, Grace. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. New York, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2009.

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is about a ten year old girl named Minli who leaves her village on adventure to bring fortune to it. In her journey she befriends a dragon who joins her on her journey while trying to find answers about his own history. The audience for the book is 8 to 10. The perspective of the book is omniscient and the tone is mythical, so emotionally the book is very accessible for kids. The illustrations are also colorful and not realistic which increases the mythical feeling of the book. The book is about both Minli and her parents who are trying to find where she went. The sections with her parents are more emotional and complex, so there are 11 and 12 year olds who might be find those sections emotionally fulfilling. For the most part though these older readers might not engage with Minli’s story as much as younger readers would. The strength of the book is the connected narrative. It really builds on the connected relationships and journeys of the characters. There are so many subplots in the book that end up being connected in the end like how Dragon’s red string and the text Minli gets from the king are both needed to reach the Old Man of the Moon. This works well for the concept of the book which is about how interconnected the world is. Because it is very mythological in nature it may not be the most interesting book for readers who enjoy more thrills in their fantasy stories. The book was a 2010 Newbery Honor winner, and it won the 2010 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature. The mythical journey nature of the book would make it an excellent book to create a multi-week telling of the book or possibly use a chapter to create an acting program for tweens. There is a way that these two programs could possibly be combined to where the tweens are performing for school age children. 

Read-a-likes:

Funke, Cornelia. Dragon Rider. Translated by Anetha Bell, New York, Scholastic Inc., 2004.

Firedrake is a young dragon who is in search of a dragon safe haven. When he saves a human orphan named Ben. They team up together to find this safe haven while also trying to stay safe from a fearsome enemy called the Golden One. Like Where the Mountain Meets the Moon this book has a great friendship between a human and a dragon, a main character who is trying to help their home, and a world filled with mythology and legend.

Clearly, Beverly. Ribsy. New York, Harper Trophy, 2007.

Ribsy the Hugginses dog gets separated from the family at the mall. After that Ribsy bounces around town running into many different adventures and mishaps. Through it all Ribsy wants to be reunited with his owner Henry Huggins. This book like Where the Mountain Meets the Moon deals with many smaller adventures with in the greater story and also deals with families that have been separated. 

Mass, Wendy and Stead, Rebecca. Bob. Illustrated by Nicholas Gannon, Harrisonburg, Feiwel and Friends, 2018.

Livy is visiting her grandmothers house for the first time in five years and is reunited with a strange creature she met there named Bob. Livy promised Bob to answer the questions of who he is, and now it is time to fulfill that promise. Like Dragon in Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, Bob does not know what his history is. This story is also a story of a girl who helps a creature figure out the answers that they so desperately are seeking out. 

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Audiobook: Trombone Shorty by Troy Andrews

Andrews, Troy. Trombone Shorty. Narrated by Dion Graham, Live Oak Media, 2017.

Trombone Shorty is the audiobook version of the picture book of the same name that explore Troy Andrews childhood. It explores his home neighborhood Treme and how he fell in love with music. The audiobook is best suited for younger school age children between 6 and 8. The audiobook story is simple and the length of the audiobook is short which would not be enough for older readers, but the lack of illustrations to show Treme and the community would not be enough for those younger than 6. What replaces the illustrations though is the beautiful use of music and sounds scape that let the listeners hear the sounds Troy fell in love with. It is not just trombone and trumpet sounds, it is also the chop of vegetables and people talking in the background that fills out the world of this story. It would be great for children to be able to read the book while also listening to the audiobook, so they get the benefit of both the sounds of the audiobook and the beauty and visual information from the illustrations. The book was a 2018 Odyssey Award Honors Book. 

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Graphic Novel: Ghost by Raina Telgemeier

Telgemeier, Raina. Ghosts. New York, Graphix, 2016.

Ghosts is about two sisters named Catrina and Maya who have to move to a new town because of Maya’s cystic fibrosis. From the start Catrina does not like this new town, but she becomes more and more uncomfortable when she realizes the town is haunted by ghosts with which the other members of the town happily welcome. The target audience for this graphic novel is 8 to 12 year olds. The graphic novel deals with some serious topics like death and chronic illness. The drawings, character reactions, and onomatopoeia though help soften the graphic novel when it gets too serious which is why the graphic novel is appropriate for some readers younger than 10. Catrina’s age is never said, but she seems to be a tween. This points to the intended audience being more in the range of 10 to 12 year olds, but again Telgemeier includes so much humor and softness that makes the book appropriate and enjoyable for older school age children. The strength of this graphic novel lie in the illustrations and the characters which really cannot be separated. Telgemeier fills her characters with so much expression and personality through her illustrations. It creates a wonderful sense of empathy for all of the characters. The characters are well rounded and dynamic. It deserved the 2017 Eisner Award for Best Publication for Kids. The book would be a great resource in a program that explores ghosts around the world and then has tweens write their own short ghost stories that they can share with each other. The graphic novel is great for this because it shows that ghosts do not need to be scary. 

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Early Reader Book: Stop! Bot! by James Yang

Yang, James. Stop! Bot!. New York, Viking, 2019.

Stop! Bot! is an early reader book about a doorman who races up an apartment building to rescue a kids runaway bot. The book has the doorman helped on each floor by a different person who tries to help stop the bot. The intended audience are pre-school age child. There is a wide range of vocab words and some of them younger children may not recognize like trombone, but the illustrations help show what the vocab words mean. The range of vocab words is a benefit for early readers language development. Another great aspect of this book is that it combines those language developmental aspects with a narrative. The narrative of the book is very simple, but it is starting to introduce early readers to narrative structure while they are also working on their early reading skills. The only weakness could be the busyness of the illustrations, but these illustrations are purposeful since they foreshadow what is going to happen on the next page. It is clear why the book won the 2020 Geisel Award. The book would make a great resource for a flannel board story time program because the way the story goes up the apartment building could be reflected in a flannel board where each tool to help get the bot gets put on the flannel board on top of each other like the apartment tower in the book.