Book Review: Little Pets Series from Lerner

Baby animals are so cuuuuute! When my mother adopted an orphaned baby pygmy goat, she got to come to story time, much to the children's delight.

Of course, she got bigger (and more obnoxious), as babies will do, but there is still no denying the attraction of tiny pets! Hence my assumption that this new series from Lerner will be very popular:

9781541510296

$26.65

Don't you just want to squish it up (gently) and rub it against your cheek?

9781512483031

$26.65

Hmm. Pixie was cuter, but you're sweet too I guess.

Cute tiny things make for impulse buys/adoptions sometimes, so it is important for kids (and adults) to understand it's not all Shopkins. The pygmy goat book reminds us that the adults can still be 50-85 pounds - heavier than many large breed dogs. They are master escape artists, climbers, and jumpers, and with or without horns they can knock you over with a good head-butt!

Dwarf rabbits may stay small, but the odor in their cage if you don't clean it regularly will not. Basic needs for housing, feeding, handling and exercise, as well as veterinary care, are given for each animal, to help potential young owners decide if this is really the pet for them. We get to see how each animal is born, and how its mother takes care of it as well.

As always with Lerner's early nonfiction, the illustrations (chiefly photographs) are large, bright and colorful. End pages include index, glossary, chart, and links for further information. Most important for librarians with a limited budget, I have never had a hardcover book from Lerner need its binding repaired. We will definitely be ordering the next two titles, Mini Horses and Mini Pigs!

Nonfiction Monday: Dinosaur Look-Alikes by Buffy Silverman

9781467713566

 

9781467713603

 

I don't have to tell anyone that dinosaur books are popular, right? When I run a weeding list, and there is anything at 567.9 that has not checked out in the last 6 months, I automatically know it's lost.We are continually buying dinosaur books to replace those that wear out, and while I know kids will pick up virtually anything on the subject, it's nice to find something with a little bit 'more'.

 

This series may be just as popular with the adults trying to keep up with the inquisitive little minds in their lives. After a certain point, you can't get away with calling them all "long-necks" or "three-horns"! Each of these six books starts off with a description of a particular group - raptors or sauropods, for example - and gives a few commonalities. From there, we get some simple ways to tell the two featured dinosaurs apart. What I really liked is that each detail includes a "why" - brachiosaurus's front legs were longer, and it held its head upwards, so it could eat plants that were much higher up. A comparison is drawn to giraffes, and how they eat. Lots of critical thinking skills, here!

 

I appreciated that Silverman was not afraid to say occasionally, "scientists do not know...but many think...". It is good for kids to realize that there are still discoveries to be made (perhaps by them!), and to have the chance to discuss the evidence one way or another.

 

The books are chock full of photographs (of skeletons, of course) and colorful drawings (with a little bit of blood and guts to keep certain young men happy). Side-by-side diagrams at the end help sum up the similarities and differences.

 

Overall, a solid addition to any library or home collection - and who couldn't use more dino books? Thank-you to Lerner for the review copies!

Review: How Do Hot Air Balloons Work? by Buffy Silverman

 

978-076-138-9699

 

As home to the White Sands Balloon Invitational every year, our area sees its share of the colorful creatures drifting overhead. Our family has spent several mornings enjoying a breakfast picnic on the front lawn (while the neighborhood dogs go berserkers defending hearth and home from the big noisy 'birds'). C.'s room was decorated in hot air balloons until about a year ago. Many area residents have slowed down on the way to work to avoid/watch a balloon landing. In short: this book will be checked out the minute I finish cataloguing it.

 

Parents and teachers will find this an excellent resource for explaining the basics of ballooning, from ascending and descending, to chase crews, to wind direction at different altitudes. Just enough technical information that children can get a grasp of the basics, without overwhelming them. A page at the back includes some historical tidbits, and another includes web sites and books for further exploration.

 

Of course, considering the subject matter, it is not hard to come up with plenty of bright, beautiful pictures for illustration. There are also close-ups of some of the equipment used - but no real shots of the view from above! That is the only thing I would have liked to see - otherwise, another excellent nonfiction choice for home or library.

 

Thank-you to Lerner for the review copy. For more great nonfiction books, head over to the Jean Little Library today.

Picture Books for Learning at Home

by Erin Cabatingan

978-159-643-6763

 

As I posted earlier, S. is learning the alphabet. We are on "A". The second I read this little gem, though, I became anxious for her to reach the end of the alphabet, because I got so excited about possible extensions.

 

When Musk Ox is caught eating Zebra's apple, he points out to the irate Zebra that EVERY alphabet book says "a is for apple". He then proceeds to show Zebra how every letter - almost - can be for "musk ox".

 

Besides teaching letter sounds and descriptive words, this lends itself to a fun story-writing extension: Have each of your kiddos choose an animal, or pick one collectively, and rewrite the book to fit. Or, you could use your child as the main character - A is for S., for example, because she is Amazing and Awesome and likes to do Art!



by Buffy Silverman
978-076-138-9415

   and

978-076-138-9385

 Also in this series: Body Parts, Facial Features, Unusual Traits, and Vision. Lerne is slowly but surely taking over our Junior Reader section. They have some fantastic nonfiction series that are at just the right reading levels, and their photographs and bright colors draw kids like magnets. We forget sometimes that young kids are fascinated with "what's really real", and feed them a limited diet of fiction (not that there's anything wrong with a heavy dose of Elephant and Piggie, mind you!)

All the books in this series begin with a brief explanation of genetics, using very simple vocabulary. In many households (mine included), not everyone is related by genes, so I was very pleased to see the blurb, "Birth parents are related to their kids. Adoptive parents take a child into their family and become his or her parents." Simple and straightforward, no platitudes or apologies. Perfect!

When S. is a little bigger, I plan to read through the whole series together, then do some graphing and charts with the whole family - what traits do we have that are the same? Where do we think some of those traits came from? We know that C. gets his height from his birth father, but Daddy is tall, too. His hair color matches Daddy's and M.'s, while S.'s fairy blonde hair is a complete mystery. Some children may not know anything about their birth families, but approached in the right way, this can still be a fun exercise in exploring how members of your family are alike or different. While the traits explored are all physical, it could easily turn into a discussion of things like hobbies, food preferences, etc., and who may have influenced those. Well done, Lerner!