Written by Michael Hearst
Illustrated by Arjen Noordeman, Christie Wright,
and Jelmer Noordeman
Published by Chronicle Books, 2012
ISBN 9781452104676

Have you ever heard of a barking spider or a yeti crab? Which is tougher: a honey badger or a tardigrade? Is a blobfish uglier than a hagfish? These are just a few of the 50 unusual creatures that Hearst includes in Unusual Creatures. Mammals, reptiles, birds, fish, insects, arachnids, even microbes are included.  The book does not pretend to provide encyclopedic coverage of any of its creatures, but it does give the reader enough of an introduction to each to invite further inquiry.

I think Unusual Creatures will lure reluctant readers into its pages, as well as provide more committed readers with a lightly amusing informative treat. The author starts out by explaining the system of biological classification from kingdom through family and down to species, and gives the formal Latinate classification for each of his creatures, but this is not at all off-putting, since he presents the information simply, clearly, and quickly. Besides, it only takes up two pages which you (or your reluctant friend) could easily skip. He then dives into the axolotl for his first creature, and the fun begins. For some of the entries, he provides a brief poem to supplement the facts, for others he provides amusing true-false or multiple-choice quizzes, and sly bits of humor are scattered throughout the book.

Each creature illustration is nearly full-page with a ruler alongside to get a sense of the animal’s actual size (from hundredths of an inch to feet). The creature’s territory/distribution is also shown, and usually some other odd fact or two is illustrated.

The author gets perhaps a little preachy in two pages at the end, where he addresses the environmental issues inherent in discussion of rare and unusual animals. Again, this is a section that could be skipped or emphasized depending on the interests of the reader.

My initial reaction to this book was ambivalence, but the more I think about Unusual Creatures, the more I like it. It is a smorgasbord, where reluctant readers can pick and choose the weirdest or cutest or most disgusting creatures to read about, and more advanced or eager readers can enjoy the whole book and perhaps use it as a jumping-off point for further zoological investigations.

If you have or if you are an upper-elementary student or older, give Unusual Creatures a try. You will undoubtedly make a few new friends in the animal kingdom.

—Steve Mudd, author

Written by Georgia Bragg
Illustrated by Kevin O’Malley
Published by Walker & Company, 2011
ISBN 9780802798176

“I don’t like to read—it’s boring.”  “I hate history—it’s boring.”  “Science and lots of facts and details are boring.”

If the preceding statements apply to you, your children, your students, or anyone else you care about, boy do I have the book for you! How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous is perhaps the most entertaining book I have ever read that is all about history, biography, and a little bit of science and medical information. Amazon says it is for ages 10 and up, and I can personally attest that readers many decades older than 10 can not only enjoy this book immensely, but also learn a thing or two.

The subject makes this book especially attractive to reluctant boy readers, since the subject matter is death in all its icky, gory details—it’s the literary equivalent of catching crayfish in your bare hands or dropping a frog down someone’s shirt (but in a good, educational way).  Croaked describes the lives and especially the deaths of 19 famous personages, from King Tut to Albert Einstein, and in each case includes a couple of extra pages of related facts about the manner of death, medicine at the time, the society of the time, and just plain interesting trivia. The chapters average only around 8 pages in length, so the reluctant reader gets plenty of chances to catch his (or her) breath before moving on.

The book’s tone is engaging—a bit snarky at times, a little tongue-in-cheek, slightly irreverent—just the sort of thing to make reading it more fun than work. It’s not stuffy enough to scare readers away! The illustrations reinforce that tone, as epitomized by the skeleton doctor on the book’s cover.

I’ve stressed the “reluctant reader” appeal of Croaked, but I also urge anyone who enjoys a good read and a plethora of fascinating facts to pick up this book—it’s to die for! You won’t be sorry.

—Steve Mudd, author

So that’s it!  The end of two reading challenges for 2011, though there are lots of books still in my to-read stack that will spill into 2012.  It’s been really informative to focus my reading in this way.  I still deeply love historical fiction and have great respect for the good work of debut authors—many who wrote historical—twice as good for me.  A number of books are on both lists.  Here is how the two challenges shake out:

Historical Fiction—Needed 15, Recommended 15
Crossing the Tracks, by Barbara Stuber
Forge, by Laurie Halse Anderson
Between Shades of Gray, by Ruta Sepetys
The Trouble with May Amelia, by Jennifer Holm
The Year We Were Famous, by Carole Estby Dagg
Okay for Now, by Gary D. Schmidt
Sylvia & Aki, by Winifred Conkling
The Lost Crown, by Sarah Miller
Queen of Hearts, by Martha Brooks
In Trouble, by Ellen Levine
My Name is Not Easy, by Debby Dahl Edwardson
Inside Out & Back Again, by Thanhha Lai
With a Name Like Love, by Tess Hilmo
Anya’s War, by Andrea Alban
City of Orphans, by Avi

Debut—Needed 12, Recommended 13
Crossing the Tracks, by Barbara Stuber
Between Shades of Gray, by Ruta Sepetys
Warped, by Maurissa Guibord
Words in the Dust, by Trent Reedy
Sylvia & Aki, by Winifred Conkling
The Mostly True Story of Jack, by Kelly Barnhill
Wildwood: The Wildwood Chronicles, Book 1, by Colin Meloy with illustrations by Carson Ellis
Frost, by Marianna Baer
Inside Out & Back Again, by Thanhha Lai
The Faerie Ring, by Kiki Hamilton
With a Name Like Love, by Tess Hilmo
The Pull of Gravity, by Gae Polisner
Anya’s War, by Andrea Alban

Editor’s note: These titles can all be found in the alphabetical list on the right.

—Kari Baumbach, children’s literature enthusiast

Written and Illustrated by Steve Jenkins
Published by Houghton Mifflin, 2005
ISBN 9780618535781

According to Amazon.com, Prehistoric Actual Size is a book written for children from ages 4 to 8. As a reader who is considerably older than that, I can say that I enjoyed the book quite a lot, too.

This book shows life-size collage renditions of numerous prehistoric creatures, or parts thereof, with a very brief description of each creature, including its size. The artwork is, though not photorealistic, nevertheless convincing and interesting. The creatures chosen range from a bacterium (really a few dots best seen with the help of a magnifying glass) to a giant carnivorous dinosaur represented by a part of its jaw and a bunch of huge teeth. Also included are some insects too large to fit on a single page and an early mammal that looks like the inspiration for the character Skrat in the Ice Age movies.

The back matter contains several pages providing more detailed information on each of the creatures pictured in the book.

While the book is easily accessible to younger readers, I think it has enough information to serve as a good springboard for a unit on prehistoric life for older students as well.

Prehistoric Actual Size catches the eye with its dramatic visuals and engages the imagination with interesting facts about creatures most children find fascinating.

—Steve Mudd, author

I’m participating in two reading challenges out in the kidlitosphere this year:

The 2011 Debut Author Challenge, hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. The challenge is to read at least twelve novels from Young Adult or Middle Grade debut authors.  Anyone can join.  Here are some titles I’m considering:

Warped, by Maurissa Guibord
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, by Michelle Hodkin
Luminous, by Dawn Metcalf
Shattered Souls, by Mary Lindsey
Moonglass, by Jessi Kirby
Blood Red Road, by Moira Young
Dogsled Dreams, by Terry Lynn Johnson
Frost, by Marianna Baer

The 2011 YA Historical Fiction Challenge is hosted by Sabrina at YA Bliss.  My goal is Level 3, which is to read 15 historical fiction, young adult or middle grade books this year.  Some titles I’m considering:

The Luck of the Buttons, by Anne Ylvisaker
 In The Shadow of the Lamp, by Susanne Dunlap
Strings Attached, by Judy Blundell
Chime, by Franny Billingsley
Ashes (Seeds of America #3) by Laurie Halse Anderson
Belle’s Song, by K.M. Grant
The Lost Crown, by Sarah Miller
The Year We Were Famous, by Carole Estby Dagg
The Trouble with May Amelia, by Jennifer L. Holm
Sparrow Road, by Sheila O’Connor
Daughter of Xanadu, by Dori Jones Yang
Forgiven, by Janet Fox
Cleopatra Confesses, by Carolyn Meyer
The Vespertine, by Saundra Mitchell
Between Shades of Gray, by Ruta Sepetys (Debut Author)
Crusade, by Linda Press Wulf
Sylvia & Aki, by Winifred Conklin

Join a challenge yourself or follow along.  It’s sure to be a fun ride.

—Kari Baumbach, children’s literature enthusiast

Written by Robin Nelson
Published by Lerner, 2008
ISBN 9780761340713

Which country in the world do you think grows the most apples? (The answer is China). Through vivid colorful photographs and simple text, beginning readers learn about apples, apple trees and everything that happens to them in Life Cycles: Apple Trees.
 
Did you know that it takes five to seven years for an apple seed to grow into a tree and produce its first apples? Readers follow a seed as it germinates, becomes a sapling and then a budding tree. They learn how buds form and flowers turn into fruit. A diagram on page 18 outlines the lifecycle of both fruit and tree, and more in-depth details about apples and apple facts are provided at the end of the book, which also includes a simple glossary (with words and pictures) and an index.

Other books in this series include Dandelions, Pumpkins, Strawberries, Sunflowers, and Tomatoes.

—Heidi Grosch, educator and children’s literature enthusiast

written by J. Patrick Lewis
illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz
Sandpiper, 2007
ISBN 9780152058494

The creators of Arthime-tickle: An Even Number of Odd Rhymes have once again compiled a collection of kid-friendly poems. In Scien-Trickery: Riddles in Science, complex subjects like gravity, germs and electricity (reminiscent of the format of School House Rock) become readily accessible to a younger reader.

Each poem is a riddle with the answer written upside down on the page; “my father’s the arc—my mother’s the spark—without them you would—be left in the dark.” (What am I? Electricity).

Playful illustrations rally around equally whimsical text and the red cover pops the book off the library shelf saying “Attention, Read me!” Each poem is written on notebook paper nestled into an illustration of the topic or theme. Notes at the back provide the reader with more information on each scientific term introduced in the poems.

Either read alone or out loud, Scien-Trickery: Riddles in Science is a great way to introduce both science topics and poetry in a fun and non-threatening way.

— Heidi Grosch

written by H.A. Rey
published by Houghton Mifflin, 2008
ISBN 9780547132792

I checked this book out of the library so often in grade school, wishing it could stay on my bookshelf. I traced the constellations, drew star charts, and taped the colored charts on my walls. Reading the names of the stars and constellations, I marveled at the strangeness of them: Procyon, Rigel, Aldebaran, Betelgeuse (a professor in my college astronomy class finally modeled the pronunciation of this star’s name … I’m not sure I believe him, though). When I read about Castor and Pollux, Perseus, Andromeda, and Hercules, I was inspired to hunt down books of myths to learn the legends behind these names.

Far more than the stars are present in the second edition of Mr. Rey’s book, which was first published in 1952 and updated in 2008. The sun and the planets are here, without Pluto, and the concise definitions for a major planet and minor planet are understandable. History is represented, for we learn how the constellations have been studied and regarded over time. We learn about the death of stars and the passing of seasons. Latitude can be determined by observing the stars. The magnitude and color stars, critical for astronomers, is explained in a way that fifth graders can grasp. In short, the book examines every aspect of the night sky, helping the reader contemplate the mysteries overhead.

Most memorable are the simple lines Mr. Rey uses to create drawings of the constellations that help us understand how they received their names and to find them in the night sky. And tell me, how many people can say they received a book endorsement from Albert Einstein?

With star charts and a delightful poster that doubles as the book’s cover (so you really must get your own copy and not check it out of the library), this is a scientific imagination sparker and a way to find magic in the stars.

— Vicki Palmquist