Review: Bumba Books, I See Ocean Animals by Tessa Kenan

9781512414226

$25.32

9781512414240

$25.32

Bumba Books is a newer brand from Lerner, offering nonfiction titles for the younger (PreK-1st) set that goes a bit beyond what we have been seeing. I think my love for Lerner's overall quality has been well established, and that is still here - the binding that stands up to library usage, bright photos, accessible fonts. Even at this level, the books contain a table of contents and index. In fact, I used a stack of them recently to teach younger kids about parts of a nonfiction book, and they mostly weren't listening to me because they were so excited to look at the books and trade them back and forth 😊

In Bumba Books, the glossary is a photo glossary, well suited to the younger readership. Another addition I like is the age-appropriate question bubbles: "How could having a small size be helpful?", or "Why might hunting in a group be better than hunting alone?" For parents beginning to share books with their children and not sure how to go about it, these are a nice way to prompt discussion. 

And, of course, you can't go wrong with the subject matter! Clown fish photos still elicit shouts of "Nemo!!", and who doesn't love a smiling dolphin or a toothy shark? Other animals in this series include the aforementioned sharks, as well as rays, jellyfish and starfish. Additional series currently include Community Helpers, Holidays, Machines That Go, Sports, Seasons and Pets (look for reviews of some of those next month!) If you are looking to bulk up your beginning readers, or address STEM needs in your classroom library, these sets are a pretty safe bet!

Review: Big Brands series from Lerner

I love Lerner's nonfiction, have I mentioned that a dozen or more times yet? Especially the junior readers - large, bright pictures, accurate text broken into eye-pleasing chunks, and sturdy binding that makes my librarian heart go pitter-pat. 

This series is for older kids (middle grades), but the visuals and binding are still pleasing.

9781512405880

$26.65 (or $19.99 from Lerner right now!)

9781512405903

$26.65 ($19.99)

Other titles so far include Minecraft and Samsung. All are names that many kids in this age group knew before they realized their mother had a name besides "Mom".

Lerner's web site only had cover photos, so bear with my amateur photography here:

As you can see, the publishers make the effort to keep even the table of contents from looking dry and boring. A seventh grader who needs to write a report, and who isn't incredibly enthused about the idea, might flip this open and decide it's a little more doable. 

Different fonts and 'chunking' of text help deliver a decent amount of information, without readers feeling like they are too bogged down.

Hey, I ate at that McDonald's in Mosccow! I still have a place mat from it!

 Pie graphs and side bars add to the visuals as well as to the information contained. And, of course, the photographs are both visually appealing and informative. I got a kick out of the servers from many years ago standing next to the line of cars, outside the building, to take orders. No talking into a static-filled metal box! I'm not so sure we have progressed in some areas...

Something extra for the middle school teachers; both of the titles I looked at include steps and examples for creating a marketing plan. Once you have an overview of how each company was founded, and learn how it found its niche and expanded, why not try your hand at it yourself? 

Who knows, you may ignite the fire of free enterprise in some of your students. Challenge them to come up with a marketing plan for something the school could do to raise money, or something they could do for extra funds for themselves. (Hmm...I remember a certain little brother selling slightly off-color t-shirts at my high school, then raising the price when the administration banned them. He is now a pretty successful adult working in marketing. But...er...you may not want to use that story as an example.)

At any rate, this looks like a solid series for a school library (middle or high school), and one that math or business teachers could have fun with in class! We will be watching to see if more titles are added to the series.

*These titles have not yet been nominated for Cybils, hint hint!

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!