Red Sings from Treetops by Joyce Sidman 🟊🟊🟊🟊

All the colors take on a different role as the author moves through the seasons. In spring “Yellow shouts with light!”, in summer it “smells like butter”, in fall “it grows wheels”, and in winter it has “gone home”. The poetry is easy to read but my granddaughter’s eyes started to glaze over with all the abstract narrative. The illustrations are what kept her sitting long enough to finish the book.

Published In: 2009
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Age Level: 2-6 years
AR Level: 3.2
Pages: 32
Stars: 4
Awards: 2010 Caldecott Medal

Locomotive by Brain Floca 🟊🟊🟊🟊🟊

If your child likes trains this is the book for them. A family is moving out West, the year is 1869, the transcontinental railroad has just been completed, and they will be traveling by train. The book gives insight into the passenger experience through the eyes of a young boy traveling with his mother and sister. It describes all the sights along the way as well as what it is like living on the train over the course of the multi-day trip. Details are given about the mechanics of the train and what it takes to keep it moving. The jobs of the men working on the great machine are told simply and accurately. Younger children will find the story about the family moving out West fascinating. Older children will appreciate the history of building the train and the details of how a steam engine works.

Published In: 2013
Publisher: Atheneum
Age Level: 2-8 years
AR Level: 4.7
Pages: 60
Stars: 5
Awards: 2014 Caldecott Medal

 

Belle Prater's Boy by Ruth White 🟊🟊🟊🟊🟊

“Belle Prater’s Boy” is a historical fiction novel set in the 1950’s. The story takes place in the Appalachian Mountains in the heart of coal county. Woodrow’s mother is missing, and his father can no longer take care of him, so he’s sent to town to live with his Grandparents. Gypsy, his cousin lives next door, and both sixth graders are keeping secrets. Woodrow secret is about his mother disappearance and Gypsy’s is about her father’s death. These two characters are well developed, and they draw the reader into the story. The book has enough humor that the very serious topics don’t overwhelm the reader. A wonderful book for any middle schooler.

Relevant Information	Content Review
Published In: 1996	Profanity: No
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers, Inc.	Violence: Yes
Age Level: 10-14 years	Sexual Content: No
AR Level: 4.4	Mature Themes: Domestic Abuse
Pages: 196	Suicide, Abandonment, Alcoholism
Stars: 5                                                        Series: 2 Books Awards: 1997 Newbery Honor

Pie in the Sky by Lois Ehlert 🟊🟊🟊🟊🟊

A family moves into a hew home that has a cherry tree in the yard. A father tells his child that “it’s a pie tree”. The child watches the tree over the course of the four seasons to see any signs of pies growing in the tree. Finaly summer arrives, and something is sprouting in the tree. It’s not pies, but cherries and the father and child make a pie together. The book has wonderful illustrations, with bold and vibrant colors. The story is simple, but the artwork is what keeps the toddlers coming back.

Published In: 2004
Publisher: Harcourt, Inc.
Age Level: 4-7 years
AR Level: 2.7
Pages: 36
Stars: 5

Bink & Gollie by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee 🟊🟊🟊🟊🟊

 

Bink and Gollie are two friends, Gollie likes pancakes, and Bink likes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The book is about the funny antics of these two friends and the compromises they make to stay friends. The plot is uncomplicated, and beginning readers will have no trouble following the story. It was simple enough that my 7-year-old granddaughter could read it on her own. A great series of books for elementary school children just starting to read chapter books.

 

Relevant Information	Content Review
Published In: 2010	Profanity: No
Publisher: Candlewick Press	Violence: No
Age Level: 5-8 years	Sexual Content: No
AR Level: 2.5	Mature Themes: None
Pages: 81
Stars: 5 Series: 3 Books

The Stray Dog by Marc Simont 🟊🟊🟊🟊

A family from the city has a picnic out in the country. While eating their lunch a “scruffy little dog” interrupts their picnic. The children spend the day playing with the dog. When it’s time to leave the kids want to take the dog home but Mom and Dad say no. The family spends all week thinking about the dog and by the time it’s the weekend they decide to go back and bring him home. Will they be able to find him before the dog catcher? The story is sweet and simple and animal lovers will appreciate the compassion given to the stray dog. My granddaughters were ok with the book but did not ask for it again. So, it gets only a 4-star rating from this family.


Published In: 2001
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers, Inc.
Age Level: 4-8 years
AR Level: 1.7
Pages: 30
Stars: 4
Awards: 2002 Caldecott Honor

Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear by Lindsay Mattick 🟊🟊🟊🟊🟊

"Finding Winnie” is a beautiful story and I learned so much about one of America’s most famous bears by reading this non-fiction picture book. Winnie was a real bear that was purchased by a Canadian veterinarian on his way to the front lines of WWI. While his Infantry Brigade was training on the Salisbury Plain in England, Winnie stayed with her veterinarian. But when the Brigade was called to France to fight, a hard decision had to be made about what to do with Winnie. Any child that has read the Winnie the Pooh books will find it fascinating to know the true story about the real bear. Both my grandchildren and my grown children loved this book.

Published In: 2015
Publisher: Little, Brown & Co.
Age Level: 4-8 years
AR Level: 3.4
Pages: 52
Stars: 5
Awards: 2016 Caldecott Medal

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead 🟊🟊🟊🟊🟊

Miranda is in sixth grade living in NYC and the year is 1978. Sal, Miranda’s best friend, has stopped talking to her and she doesn’t know why. When she starts to receive strange notes, her life gets even more complicated. These notes predict the future with accuracy and one of them has an alarming prediction that someone is going to die. This middle-school novel is a combination of genres, historical fiction, mystery, time travel and friendship. The mystery keeps your reading, the historical portrayal of the 1970’s is informative and the friendship among the characters is heartwarming. I will be recommending the book to my grandchildren.

Relevant Information	Content Review
Published In: 2009	Profanity: No
Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books	Violence: Mild
Age Level: 10-12 years	Sexual Content: No
AR Level: 4.5	Mature Themes: Homelessness,
Pages: 199	Bullying
Stars: 5 Awards: 2010 Newbery Medal

Paperboy by Vince Vawter 🟊🟊🟊🟊🟊

The year is 1959 and an eleven-year-old boy called Little Man is living in segregated Memphis. His best friend has asked him to take over his paper route for the month of July. Little Man agrees to the job but is worried about having to talk to the customers, when he collects the weekly payment. He has a stutter that makes it difficult to communicate with people. Little Man not only has to interact with the customers on the route but the adult bully in the neighborhood is stealing from him.

There are a lot of serious and complicated concepts in the book, domestic violence, bullying, segregation, and brutality. Even with all these difficulties the book is heartwarming, and the drama keeps the reader engaged. For those readers who want to know what it was like for their grandparents growing up in the 50’s this book is a great snapshot of that time in America.

 

Relevant Information	Content Review
Published In: 2013	Profanity: No
Publisher: Delacorte	Violence: Knife Fight
Age Level: 10-12 years	Sexual Content: Mild
AR Level: 5.1	Mature Themes: Racism,
Pages: 224	Domestic Violence, Bullying
Stars: 5 Awards: 2014 Newbery Honor Series: 3 Books

The Noisy Paint Box by Barb Rosenstock 🟊🟊🟊🟊

“The Noisy Paint Box” is the story of Vasya Kandinsky, one of the first painters of abstract art. Vasya was a very “proper Russian boy” but when his aunt gave him a paint box a whole new world opened up to him. When he painted, he heard noises, then the more he painted it turned into an orchestra. As an adult Vasya tried to conform to Russian society and he becomes a lawyer, but one night he goes to the opera, and again sees the music as art. Not able to stop himself from doing the one thing he truly loved, he quits his job and moves to Munich to paint. Buy this book for the artist in your family. They will appreciate Vasya’s nonconformist approach to art.

Published In: 2014
Publisher: Knopf
Age Level: 4-8 years
AR Level: 4.4
Pages: 36
Stars: 4
Awards: 2015 Caldecott Honor

Grandpa Green by Lane Smith 🟊🟊🟊🟊🟊

A beautiful picture book about a boy and his grandfather. The grandson describes the life of his grandfather by both words and by the shapes of topiary trees illustrated in the book. The grandfather was a horticulturist, and his memories are told through his garden. My granddaughter was OK with the book but did not ask for it again. I liked it more than she did, so it got a five-star rating from me and a four from her.

Published In: 2011
Publisher: Roaring Book Press
Age Level: 3-7 years
AR Level: 2.5
Pages: 36
Stars: 5
Awards: 2012 Caldecott Honor