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Chasma Knights, written by Kate Reed Petty and illustrated by Boya Sun (First Second, 2018)

Chasma Knights is a candy colored celebration of chemistry and engineering. The main character, Beryl is a Neon Knight who cannot use the special toys that most knights use. She finds the toys that have been broken and discarded by other knights and fixes them up or combines them into new and inventive alloys.  Each knight represents an element and, depending on the element of the toy they interact with, there are different effects.  

Beryl bemoans the consumerist nature of the Knights and takes the discarded toys to her workshop to repair and care for them. She meets an Oxygen Knight who follows her back to her lab of misfit toys. There is a clear difference between the two since the Oxygen Knight, Coro doesn’t understand why Beryl would want to keep such useless and boring toys. Together they learn about the discarded toys and work together to try something new.

The graphic novel introduces a lot of new vocabulary that the reader may have to look up. For instance, when a Coro the Oxygen Knight, demonstrates a new toy, she chants, “’OXYGEN, CHROME, RECOGNIZE!! MEET, MERGE, CATALYZE!’” (Petty, 22) This activates the toy. A younger elementary student interested in science or would enjoy the book, but it’s appeal may be more with middle-grade readers.

The panels are bordered with thick black lines with a clean white gutter between. There are a few one or two page spreads showing the rolling, squishy landscape with sparkling gumdrop hills and domed houses. The illustrations themselves are soft with curved lines and round faces and eyes. There are very few straight lines beyond the panel boarders, and even then, the corners are rounded. The colors are bright and sweet, but never fully saturated giving the entire book a comfortable feeling. There are sections in the back with information about the characters and Chasma Knights in general. It also encourages the reader to make their own Chasma Knight and gives examples of elements.

The book would pair well with a makerspace activity such as a toy-take-apart, where old or broken toys with speaker boxes or electronic parts are donated and the kids encouraged to don their safety glasses and use screwdrivers to open them up and see how they tick. The book could also be paired with a science experiment where the elements used in the book are discussed or possibly used in an experiment, such as elephant toothpaste (hydrogen and oxygen.)

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Babybug Magazine (Cricket Media http://shop.cricketmedia.com/)

Babybug is an award winning magazine for six months through three years. The magazine is a small square format with rounded corners and has thicker, tear-resistant paper that is perfect for little hands. The printers have exploration in mind since the magazine is printed in non-toxic soy-based inks and has no staples or sharp edges to poke tiny fingers. The magazine has fun, bright colored illustrations and feature short poems and rhymes, traditional nursery rhymes, and activities and action rhymes for adults to participate in with their child. The magazine also features songs with links to online audio for full listening enjoyment.

The stories often feature rhymes and cadences that are fun to read aloud, and the illustrations are clear and bright. The magazine gives babies and toddlers the chance to look and find elements from stories in the illustrations and by including small matching games. There is a section in the back of the magazine for parents giving tips for reading out loud and information on child development. One section is dedicated to photographs of actual places and children. This allows children to see other children that make look different from themselves and spark conversation.

Babybug comes in a print format or as a digital subscription. There are nine issues a year. Ordering a print subscription also give the reader access to the digital subscription at no extra cost.

Babybug would be a good choice for libraries to include in their board book section or to set out during baby storytimes. Libraries could also incorporate some of the short stories and rhymes into their own storytimes. It would also make a suitable gift for parents of young children.

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http://blogs.slj.com/heavymedal/

Heavy Medal is a mock Newbery blog from School Library Journal. The blog is run by three current librarians who have served on various committees, including Newberry selections committees, the ALSC board, Caldecott selection committees and the Odyssey Award Committees. Blog posts run primarily September through January as they discuss the Newberry award, possible contenders, and criteria for selections.

One of the biggest draws of the blog are the mock Newbery selections. Readers of the blog are able to chime into discussions and hold votes on books they feel should be contenders for the Newbery award. Each month bloggers solicit books for their list from readers, discuss the merits of each submission and decide whether it should be added to the list.

The blog is typically updated three or four times a week. Some weeks have almost daily posts. There is a list of recent posts on the side bar and the footer of the page has Twitter feed embedded and information about the blog contributors. It is the same as the information on the about page. Recent comments are also listed in the sidebar. Categories and tags are used inconsistently which makes it somewhat difficult to look through older posts without scrolling through them by date of publication. The comments section is open to any posters so long as they enter an email.  

This is a good resource for collections development that highlights notable books from the last year even if they are not one of the treasured few to win an award.

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Birthday On Mars!, Sara Schonfeld, illustrated by Andrew J. Ross (Penguin Workshop, 2019)

Curiosity is a lonely rover, roaming the Red Planet. In this book it has been anthropomorphized as a friendly little robot who is excited to do its job and talk with its friends on Earth. Curiosity is depicted as a series of white rectangles with large expressive red camera lens for an eye. It’s one crane arm is used to take selfies and wave at the viewer. The little robot zooms around Mar’s surface kicking up dust clouds and looking under rocks in a clever imitation of the actual Mars rover. The illustrations are flat shapes with a wash of paint for texture. Light is used to good effect to lighten the edges of rocks and cast dynamic shadows over the terrain. Most shots of Mars are reds and oranges, deepening into red violet and purple as night sets in. The warm reds of Mars contrast very sharply with the deeper blues and violets of the NASA control room shown when Curiosity talks to its friends. At the end of the book a video feed of Curiosity is inside a museum, where the blues and reds mingle and mix and show how the two worlds have come together.

Curiosity its most excited about its special day. Today is Curiosity’s birthday. It celebrates by taking a selfie and singing the Happy Birthday song to itself while the picture transmits to Earth. The idea of celebrating one’s birthday all alone far from home can easily be depressing, but Birthday On Mars! presents the idea as an opportunity for exploration. Curiosity urges the reader to always stay curious and learn and try new things. Curiosity knows that even if it is lonely, it has billions of friends back on earth to learn and be curious with.

Curiosity may be a robot on a planet millions of miles away, but this book transforms the rover into an idea that can be held close to home. It is also based on true events. Every August 5, the rovers ‘birthday’, it plays the birthday song to itself. This book can easily be paired with space exploration, robots, or birthdays. It would work well with a Makerspace activity about robot-making or geology.  

Read-Alikes:

Ada Twist, Scientist, by Andrea Beaty, illustrations by David Roberts (Harry N. Abrams, 2016)

Ada is an observant toddler who doesn’t speak until she turns three, but once she starts speaking the questions never stop. She wants to know why? Then what? Who? When? Ada isn’t afraid to ask questions or to find out answers on her own. When she smells, a toe-curlingly awful smell, she experiments to find the source and causes an even bigger stink.

Rocket Says Look Up! Nathan Bryon, illustrated by Dapo Adeola (Random House Books for Young Readers, 2019)

Rocket is a young girl of color who dreams of being an astronaut. When a meteor shower is set to start, she invites the entire neighborhood out to the park to view it. The book harps a bit heavy on phone usage, but in the end, everyone notices something new.  

The Most Magnificent Thing, written and illustrated by Ashley Spires (Kids Can Press, 2014)

A young girl decides she’s going to make the most magnificent thing! She knows how she wants it to look and what it should do, but things are not working out well. She becomes frustrated, then angry, and wants to quit, but her canine best friend convinces her to take a walk and come back to her project with new eyes and a renewed spirit.

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The Octopus Scientists Exploring the Mind of a Mollusk, by Sy Montgomery, photographs by Keith Ellenbogen, (HMH Books for Young Readers, 2015) 

Sy Montgomery, along with a small group of researchers, head to Polynesia to study the natural wonder known as the octopus. Montgomery gives plenty of details about the trip without bogging down the narrative. Keith Ellenbogen’s photographs are rich and clear with amazing colors. The descriptions of the locations, even without the photos is enticing and begs the reader to visit. The researchers love what they do and have fun doing it, but Montgomery shows the reality of the hard work and dedication it takes to study one of nature’s most interesting creatures. The octopuses themselves are described, not only as a research objects, but as individuals with personalities and traits of their own. They show intelligence and curiosity. Some are shy and withdrawn while others show something akin to affection with the individual researchers. The researchers themselves show nothing but care and interest in the well-being of the shelless mollusk.

The layout is clean, with white pages and a sequential narrative. Expanded information is interspersed in pages and sections clearly delineated with an illustrated blue border. Special attention is given to each researcher, giving their background and how they came to be interested in the octopus. The backmatter includes a selected bibliography and index, as well as information on the author and photographer.

At eighty pages, the book my run long for lower elementary, but it should appeal to middle grade readers up into middle and high school. New vocabulary in the text is introduced with the definition following. The book could benefit from a glossary, however, in case a reader wanted to check the meaning of a word after its initial introduction. This book would pair well with any study of ocean animals, coral reefs, or, of course, octopuses. A great book to pair with this is The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness, Sy Montgomery (Atria Books, 2015.)

The information from the book is enough to convert even the most reluctant into an octo-fan.

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The Screaming Staircase (Lockwood and Co.), Jonathan Stroud, Disney-Hyperion, 2014

The Screaming Staircase introduces Lucy Carlise, a young paranormal investigator, to Anthony Lockwood and George Cubbins, two teen ghost hunters running their own business. The three most definitely do not form the perfect team, but after a series of property-destroying mishaps they are offered a job they can’t refuse.

The modern London in Stroud’s book feels more like the industrial revolution. Tall chimneys in the heart of the city send out plumes of smog and ash as the ironworks chug away. Children are pulled from school if they display an inkling of psychic talent so they can watch over adults who work the night shift or trained to fight as paranormal investigators. This is all due to the Problem. Fifty years prior ghosts started to appear. They icy touch is cold enough to stop a person’s heart and kill instantly. To combat the growing threat of ghosts, denizens of London ring baby-cribs in iron and carry tokens of silver to ward off misfortune. Armies of children are given incendiary devices filled with magnesium and salt and spend all night chasing ghosts while adults, who have since lost their psychic talent, ‘lead’ them from the sidelines. The child-labor inequality is not lost on the children in the book, but to not participate in the system leaves vulnerable people to die. Adults who have since lost their psychic abilities and become supervisors quickly grow callus and are happy to watch from the sidelines, feeling as though they have already put in their time. London has regressed to a superstitious oligarchy, run by the ironworks and the twin-giant paranormal agencies who train children to fight back the Problem. The rest of the world shuns England in hopes of containing the problem there.  

The setting is eerie but with enough modern quirks to draw a middle grade reader in. There is never a mention of a cell phone in the entire book, but readers will be comforted to know that reality-TV still exists. The writing is fast-paced and plot driven, and the reader is eager to be pulled along to see what happens next. The book falls very squarely in horror, but there are elements of dystopia. All three characters are competent and skilled in their own ways. Lucy has a psychic talent for listening and empathy, Lockwood has the ability of psychic sight, and George is an ace researcher. But the book avoids the typical pitfall of middle grade readers by giving the characters realistic negative traits. They make mistakes and the quarrel over small annoyances. They miss their parents, or at least, being parented and there are times where they could definitely benefit from some adult supervision.

It is easy to devour this series opener quickly and the ending is satisfying but whets the appetite for the next book. It is worth a re-read to catch some of the subtler bits of world building and character development that feed into later books in the series.

Read-Alikes:

Watch Hollow, Gregory Funaro, Harper 2019

A brother-sister team are uprooted from their normal life at their father’s clock shop after their father is offered an incredible amount of money to repair a mysterious clock in a spooky mansion. The eerie setting and emphasis on empathy make this good pair with the Screaming Staircase. The plot is face-paced and will appeal to middle-grade readers looking for a spooky book with a male and female protagonist that deal with the paranormal.

Nightbooks, J.A. White, Harpercollins Childrens Books 2018.

Nightbooks follows Alex, a horror enthusiast who follows the sounds of his favorite zombie movie late one night and finds himself trapped in a witch's apartment. The only thing that keeps him alive are the secret stories he reads to the witch from his Nightbooks, but he is running out of pages. This book will appeal to readers who like horror with the tiniest smattering of gore. The book coopts the idea of Arabian nights, where Alex reads the witch one of his original stories each night to forestall his impending doom. Alex makes a friend in reluctant, long-time prisoner Yasmin and together they plot a way to escape. Nightbooks will appeal to middle grade readers while like spooky settings and want a book with a male and female protagonist.  

The Night Gardener, Jonathan Auxier, New York: Amulet Books, 2014

Molly finds her and her brother, Kip, work as servants at a creepy old mansion after the untimely death of their parents. Together they unravel the mysteries of the haunted house. This book will appeal to readers wanting a good, old-fashioned ghost story. The Victorian setting and poetic language are icing on a spooky cake.

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The Detective’s Assistant, written by Kate Hannigan, narrated by Christine Laken, Hachette Audio, 2015

Christine Laken breathes fun and life into the character of Nell. She is believable a boundlessly energetic 11-year-old girl who has lived through more sorrow than most adults. She keeps her optimism however, and challenges each setback with humor and pluck. Her Aunt Kate is equally distinct, clipped and no-nonsense. She is refined, but with a hint of country girl come to the big city. As each new character is introduced, Laken gives them a distinct voice and attitude. The story flows in lyrical language. Nell hides her history of sorrows behind optimism, but Laken’s voice draws out the depth and determination of her words. The famous detective Pinkerton has a jolly voice that belies his canny nature. Each character is taken through a roller coaster of emotions from surprise, fear, and elation and Laken never misses a beat. A few subtle sound effects are peppered in, but do not detract from the story.

The book is historical fiction set in the United States in the 1860s. Kate Warne was the first female detective in the US, though her niece, Nell, is pure fiction. The book is a wonderful way to learn about the Pinkerton Detective agency and a real-to-life hero, albeit in a fictional way. Nell follows her aunt, whether she likes it or not, into the fray, helping with cases in unexpected ways, from dressing as a young boy and overhearing conversations, to simply being in the right place at the right time. Nell’s cleverness, kindness, and insatiable need to help eventually overcomes her Aunt’s coldness and they form something resembling a familial bond.

This book is a great introduction of real events of the time: the Pinkerton Detective agency, Kate Warne, the brewing of the Civil War and an assassination attempt on Abraham Lincoln. Though they are not included in the audiobook verson, the book includes bibliographic references for further reading. A book that would pair well is Kate Warne, Pinkerton Detective by Marissa Moss and illustrated by April Chu (Creston Books, 2017)

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Pete the Cat and the Perfect Pizza Party (Kimberly and James Dean, illustrated by James Dean, Harper, 2019) is a wonderfully alliterative new addition to the Pete the Cat family of books. Pete wants to throw a pizza party so he and his friends can make the most perfect pizza, but Pete’s idea of a perfect pizza differs from his friends. Each friend comes with a new suggestion for a pizza topping until the pizza is so tall, they must stop adding new ingredients.

The book is arranged as an easy reader with one to three sentences per page. As each new pizza ingredient is introduced it builds upon a list of prior ingredients and each is repeated on every other page reinforcing the new vocabulary.  “’It’s a party, a party, a PEPPERONI PRETZEL PISTACHIO PICKLE POPCORN PAPAYA pizza party!’”  Each new topping idea starts with a ‘P’. As each new item is named the pizza is shown with the newly added topping. Familiar foods are mixed with new or unfamiliar foods to make a very bizarre pizza but a fun party. The book is about sharing things that each character likes and trying new things. As the party progresses the attendees play pin-the-tail-on-the-unicorn and pull out their instruments for a jam band. Each spread introduces a new fun activity that Pete and his friends engage in. The illustrations are painterly and energetic with the color occasionally seeping out of the strong black outlines. As a new word is introduced it is written in all caps in a color that contrasts from the background, then later in lowercase black text, making it easy to pick off the page for new readers.

Pete the Cat and the Perfect Pizza Party would work well as a read aloud. The text flows with rhyme and repetition. It gives kids a chance to interact with the story by chanting the chorus of “’It’s a party, a party...’” and to suggest their own pizza toppings. It is also an excellent book for practicing plosive ‘P’ sounds. Pete and his friends are kind and open-minded and encourage the reader to be the same way. Making tiny pizzas with egg muffins or tortillas would be a great activity to pair with the book. It would also offer a good opportunity to get kids to try a new food such as papaya or pistachios.

Pete, as always, stays groovy and encourages kids to be the same.