March 2006

37 New Reviews

Thanks to The Parents' Choice Foundation for permission to post these reviews. Additional reviews by SDSU faculty and students can be found at this outstanding national site for evaluation of children's culture: parents-choice.org.

Entries this month: ABC's || Picturebooks- Fiction and Non-Fiction  || Beginning Readers Fiction ||Middle Grades Fiction and Non-Fiction|| Humor || Fantasy/ Fairy Tale ||Adolescent/ YA- Fiction || Teacher/Parent Resources

Book Reviewers: Alida Allison, Mark Janssen and Shelley Moreno

ABC's

• Marino, Gianna. Zoopa: An Animal Alphabet. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2005. $14.95

Picturebooks- Fiction 

• Cuyler, Margery. Groundhog Stays up Late. Illus. Jean Cassels. New York: Walker & Company, 2005. $16.95

• Deak, Gloria. The Kissing Skunks. Illus. Cheryl Nathan. NY: Star Bright, 2006. $16.95. ISBN 1-932065-46-6.

• Diehl, Jean Heilprin. Loon Chase. Illus. Kathryn Freeman. Mt. Pleasant, SC: 2006. $15.95. ISBN 0-9764943-8-8. 16 pp.

• Frenkel, Yetti. The Big, Blue Lump. Peabody, MA : Snow Tree Books, 2004. ISBN 0-9749006-0-5. $16.95

• Johnson, D.B. Eddie's Kingdom. Boston : Houghton Mifflin, 2005. $16.00

• Laxman, Kamala. The Thama Stories. Illus. R.K. Laxman. India: Penguin Books, 2005. 0-14-333514-6. Indian Rupees 150. 124 pp. Ages 8+

• Mora, Pat. Doña Flor: A Tall Tale about a Giant Woman with a Great Big Heart. Illus. Raul Colón. New York: Knopf, 2005. $15.95

• O'Connor, Crystal Ball. Jake and the Migration of the Monarch. Illus. Valerie Bunch Hollinger. Greenville, SC Monarch Publishers, 2006. $18.95 with musical CD included. ISBN 0-9774038-3-1.

• Rockliff, Mara. Pieces of Another World. Illus. Salima Alikhan. Mt. Plesant, SC: SylvanDell, 2005.

• Thompson, Colin. The Great Montefiasco. Illus. Ben Redlich. New York: Star Bright Books, 2005. $16.95

• Vlahakis, Andrea. Christmas Eve Blizzard. Illus. Emanuel Schongut. Mt. Pleasant, SC: SylvanDell, 2005. ISBN 0-9764943-3-7. $15.95.

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Picturebooks- Non-Fiction 

• Alda, Arlene. Did You Say Pears? Toronto: Tundra, 2006. ISBN 0887767397. $16.95. 32 pp.

• Jurmain, Suzanne Tripp. George Did It. Illus. Larry Day. New York: Dutton, 2005. $16.99

• Karwoski, Gail Langer. Water Beds: Sleeping in the Ocean. Illus. Connie McLennan. Mt. Pleasant SC: SylvanDell, 2005. ISBN 0-9764943-1-0. $ 15.95. 32 pp.

• Rosen, Michael. Balls! Illus. John Margeson. Plain City, OH: Darby Creek, 2006. ISBN 1-58196-030-1. $18.95.

• Seeger, Pete and Paul DuBois Jacobs. Some Friends to Feed: The Story of Stone Soup. Illus. Michael Hays. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2005. $16.99

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Beginning Readers- Fiction 

• Johansen, Hanna. The Duck and the Owl. Illus. Kathi Bhend. Originally published in Switzerland. NY: David Godine, 2006. $17.95. ISBN 1-56792-285-6. Ages 5+

• Lubar, David. Punished! Plain City, OH: Darby Creek , 2006. ISBN 1-58196-042-5. $15.95.

• Milord, Susan. Three about Thurston. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2005. $15.00

• Wersba, Barbara. Walter: the Story of a Rat. Illus. Donna Diamond. Asheville : Front Street , 2005. $16.95

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Middle Grades- Fiction 

• Couloumbis, Audrey. The Misadventures of Maude March: Or Trouble Rides a Fast Horse. New York: Random House, 2005. $15.95

• Winner, Cherie. Life on the Edge. Minneapolis: Lerner Books, 2006. $25.26

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Humor

• Silverstein, Shel. Runny Babbit. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. $17.99

Fantasy/ Fairy Tale

• Allen, Judy. Fantasy Encyclopedia: A Guide to Fabulous Beasts and Magical Beings-From Elves and Dragons to Vampires and Wizards. Boston : Kingfisher, 2005. $24.95

• Levin, Betty. Thorn. Asheville: Front Street Books, 2005. $16.95

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Adolescent/ YA- Fiction 

• Alvarez, Julia. Before We Were Free. New York: Dell Laurel-Leaf, 2002. Paperback.

• Cooper, Susan. Green Boy. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks, 2003.

• Sachar, Louis. Small Steps. NY: Delacorte, 2006. ISBN 0-385-73314-3. $16.95.

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Teacher/ Parent Resources

I highly recommend all of the titles below, which represent just a small part of Gryphon House's substantial, well-designed, and very useful resource books for parents and teachers. Parents will find carefully-developed activities for children from infants to kindergarteners. For teachers, seasoned and new alike, the many (hundreds) of classroom-tested activities provide real content for planning literacy, math, inclusion (for disabled students), vocabulary, and many more kinds of lessons. These are big books, notebook-sized, and besides the recommended activities, contain introductions to the readers, additional resource links, and volumes of practical advice.

- A. Allison

• Isbell, Christy and Rebecca Isbell. The Inclusive Learning Center Book for Preschool Children with Special Needs. Beltsville, MD : Gryphon House, 2005. ISBN 0-87659-294-9. $29.95. 336 pp.

• Kohl, MaryAnn F. Primary Art: It's the Process, Not the Product. Beltsville, MD: Gryphon House, 2005. ISBN 0-87659-283-3. $19.95. 191 pp.

• Miller, Karen. Simple Transitions for Infants and Toddlers. Beltsville, MD Gryphon House, 2005. ISBN 0-87659-298-1. $19.95. 168 pp.

• Mueller, Stephanie. Everyday Literacy: Environmental Print Activities for Children 3 to 8. Beltsville, MD : Gryphon House, 2005. ISBN 0-87659-286-8. $19.95. 256 pp.

• Schiller, Pam. The Complete Resource Book for Infants: Over 700 Experiences for Children from Birth to 18 Months. Beltsville, MD: Gryphon House, 2005. ISBN 0-87659-295-7. $24.95. 272 pp.

• Silberg, Jackie. Reading Games for Young Children. Beltsville, MD: Gryphon House, 2005. ISBN 0-87659-243-4. $14.95. 160 pp.

• Sprung, Barbara and Merle Froschl with Dr. Blythe Hinitz. The Anti-Bullying and Teasing Book for Preschool Classroom. Beltsville, MD: Gryphon House,2005. ISBN 0-87659-242-6. $14.95. 128 pp.

• Williams, Bob, Debra Cunningham, and Joy Lubawy. Preschool Math. Beltsville, MD: Greyphon House, 2005. ISBN o-87659-000-8. $19.95. 240 pp.

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