Digital Commons @ ACU (Abilene Christian University)

Fine, Jewell

Lorgnette v.36 no.1
Book Review: NIGHT OF THE NINJAS
Author
Laird, Jenny, adapter
Illustrator
Illustrated by Kelly and Nichole
Matthews
Reviewer
Fine, Jewell
Pages
153p
Price
$16.99
ISBN
978-0-593-48879-9
Publisher & Date
Random House, 2023
Classification
Nonfiction (741.5)
Grade level
2 and up
Book Review:
NIGHT OF THE NINJAS
The magic tree house whisks Jack and Annie away to Japan. Their mission is
to save their friend Morgan. First, they must learn the way of the ninjas to
save Morgan. The graphic novel format helps bring the story to life. Readers
who enjoy the Magic Tree House series will enjoy the graphic format.


English

Night of the Ninjas

Martinez, Shan

Lorgnette v.36 no.1
Book Review: PUSH AND PULL: A SESAME STREET SCIENCE BOOK
Author
Katz, Susan B
Illustrator
Reviewer
Martinez, Shan
Pages
32p
Price
$27.99
ISBN
978-1-7284-7578-3
Publisher & Date
Lerner, 2023
Classification
Nonfiction (531)
Grade level
K-2
Book Review:
PUSH AND PULL: A
SESAME STREET
SCIENCE BOOK
This early science book explores the actions of push and pull along with
force. This author carefully selected actions and environments that are
familiar to young children. Activities such as pushing a friend on a swing or
pulling a wagon are understandable and familiar. The illustrations include
photographs of the activities as well as photographs of various Muppet
characters commenting on or demonstrating the concepts. Young children
will love this book about pushing and pulling with characters from Sesame
Street. It’s appropriate, it’s fun, and it’s a winner!


Push and Pull: A Sesame Street Science Book

Waggoner, Jan

Lorgnette v.36 no.1
Book Review: STINK, SUPERHERO SUPERFAN
Author
McDonald, Megan
Illustrator
Illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds
Reviewer
Waggoner, Jan
Pages
148p
Price
$14.99
ISBN
978-1-5362-1507-6
Publisher & Date
Candlewick, 2023
Classification
Fiction
Grade level
2
Book Review:
STINK, SUPERHERO
SUPERFAN
Stink Moody is learning about different things at Saturday Science Club such
as crime fighter science (forensic science), superhero science, and others.
The teacher, Mrs. Rottenberger, tells the class that next week they will be
studying superhero science.
When Stink gets home from Saturday Science Club, he finds his sister and
parents getting ready for a yard sale. Stink gets excited and starts looking for
things that he can sell to get some money. After finding a few things in his
room, he starts looking in the garage for his origami creations that he thinks
he can sell.
While looking for the origami, he discovers a box of old comics about a
superhero he has never heard of: Super Gecko! Someone offers to buy the
comics for $20, but Stick decides they might be worth more.
Stink and his friends begin looking for geckos in the neighborhood with no
success, but he does begin to find notes from Super Gecko. Stink tries to use
skills developed from Saturday Science Club to determine the identity of
Lorgnette v.36 no.1
Book Review: STINK, SUPERHERO SUPERFAN
Super Gecko. Again, no success. The last note he gets contains enough
money to purchase the new comic. When Stink, his sister Judy, and
Grandma go to the Doctor Octopus bookstore, the Pink Hair Girl tells them
about the first comic book of the brand-new Super Gecko series coming the
following Saturday. Stink has to determine a way to get enough money to
buy the new comic.
When Saturday arrives, Stink has a problem. Saturday Science Club is at the
same time as the opening of the bookstore and the sale of the comic. Stink
doesn't want to miss Science Club and is afraid that the comics will sell out
before he gets there. Mrs. Rottenberger says that they will be making a
beeline for the bookstore as soon as the club is over, and Stink is welcome to
go with them. When Stink gets in line to purchase his comic, he discovers
who Super Gecko is! His friends have gone together and pooled their special
coins and had his sister put them in his bank. When he starts counting the
money, he sees the coins and knows who the Super Geckos are.
This story has a good message about friends helping friends. It will be a
good purchase for libraries that have fans of the series.


Stink, Superhero Superfan

Lorgnette v.36 no.1
Book Review: REAL HISTORY OF THE GOLD RUSH, THE
Author
Butler-Ngugi, Anitra
Illustrator
Reviewer
Martinez, Shan
Pages
32p
Price
$29.32
ISBN
978-1-7284-7585-1
Publisher & Date
Lerner, 2023
Classification
Nonfiction (979.4)
Grade level
4-6
Book Review:
REAL HISTORY OF THE
GOLD RUSH, THE
This book attempts to expose lesser known and perhaps negative details of
the Gold Rush event in California history. The author repeatedly points out
that Native Americans lived in the areas where gold was discovered, and that
the large migration that occurred displaced many of them. In addition, some
were enslaved, and others were killed. One chapter focuses on how people
from other countries were treated differently than American citizens.
Foreign miners were required to pay a tax in order to mine for gold. This
generally applied to Asian and Hispanic people and was less likely to be
enforced for Europeans. Another issue revealed was that even though
California entered the union as a free state, California lawmakers passed a
law that forced enslaved people who had been freed to return to slavery.
After each chapter, there are reflection questions designed to focus the
reader's thoughts on injustice and personal identification with injustice. The
series, Left Out of History is part of the Read Woke Books brand. The goal of
these books according to The Lerner Blog is to “amplify voices, challenge
social norms, share perspectives of people who are underrepresented or
oppressed, and encourage readers to take action in their community.”


The Real History of the Gold Rush

Barrington, Susannah

Lorgnette v.36 no.2
Book Review: STONE IS A STORY, A
Author
Booth, Leslie Barnard
Illustrator
Illustrated by Marc Martin
Reviewer
Barrington, Susannah
Pages
Unpaged
Price
$18.99
ISBN
978-1-5344-9694-1
Publisher & Date
McElderry Books, 2023
Classification
Nonfiction (552)
Grade Level
2-3
Book Review:
STONE IS A STORY, A
Leslie Barnard Booth describes the story of stone and the many possible
paths that a stone may take over the millennia. She places her story against
a backdrop of fluid impressionistic illustrations by Marc Martin. From
dinosaurs to skipping stones on a lake, the story morphs through the eons.
Included at the end are basic introductory summaries of the different types
of rock, the rock cycle, the core-mantle-crust composition of the Earth,
tectonic plates, a glossary, and a selected bibliography.
The narrative structure of conveying information in this book may introduce
the subject of geology in a way that appeals to a wider range of children
than otherwise. The author makes creative use of spacing and formatting to
convey a sense of movement or time very effectively. The illustrator uses
earth tones throughout the book, evoking a sense of being inside the stone
as the story of the stone unfolds. Recommended for school and public
libraries and for programs regarding geology, rocks, or cycles in nature.


A Stone Is a Story

Lorgnette v.36 no.2
Book Review: FOREST BABIES
Author
Carney, Elizabeth
Illustrator
Reviewer
Fine, Jewell
Pages
23p
Price
$14.9
ISBN
978-1-4263-3982-0
Publisher & Date
National Geographic, 2023
Classification
Nonfiction (591.73)
Grade Level
K-1
Book Review:
FOREST BABIES
Young readers will learn about baby animals that live in the North American
forests. They will see how these young animals eat, how they play, and how
they live with their families.
The text is simple and the photographs are bold and colorful. A must-read
for beginning readers who love animals.


Forest Babies

Medina, Maria

Lorgnette v.36 no.2
Book Review: REPEAT AFTER ME: BIG THINGS TO SAY EVERY DAY
Author
Simon, Jazmyn and Dule Hill
Illustrator
Illustrated by Shamar
Knight-Justice
Reviewer
Medina, Maria
Pages
Unpaged
Price
$18.99
ISBN
978-0-593-42697-5
Publisher & Date
Random House, 2023
Classification
Fiction
Grade Level
PreK-3
Book Review:
REPEAT AFTER ME:
BIG THINGS TO SAY
EVERY DAY
Readers can follow the self-affirmations in this book and find encouragement
during times in their own lives when discouragement comes. As the title
suggests, this is a read-aloud for anyone to enjoy repeating! This lovely book
is filled with affirmations, taking the reader through a series of statements
about self-love and esteem. The words are simple and poetic structures that
any family will love to say out loud and may even use to create a routine of
self-declarations that follow examples in the colorful illustrations. The
artwork contains scrapbook-like elements that are interesting and creative.
Add this title to your classroom collection.


Repeat After Me: Big Things to Say Every Day

Lorgnette v.36 no.2
Book Review: ROCK OUT!
Author
Shaskan, Stephen
Illustrator
Illustrated by the author
Reviewer
Fine, Jewell
Pages
58p
Price
$9.99
ISBN
978-0-593-48124-0
Publisher & Date
Random House Graphic, 2023
Classification
Nonfiction (741.5)
Grade Level
2 and up
Book Review:
ROCK OUT!
Pizza and Taco love music, so why not start a band? They have some
instruments, and they can sing. But there’s a lot more to starting a band
than the two friends realize. Will Pizza and Taco form a perfect band, or will
they just remain friends?
The text is in simple graphic novel format. Young readers will enjoy this
latest adventure of Pizza and Taco.


Rock Out!

Lorgnette v.36 no.2
Book Review: SORA'S SEASHELLS
Author
Rhee, Helena Ku
Illustrator
Illustrated by Stella Lim with
Ji-Hyuk Kim
Reviewer
Barrington, Susannah
Pages
Unpaged
Price
$17.99
ISBN
978-1-5362-0993-8
Publisher & Date
Candlewick, 2023
Classification
Fiction
Grade Level
K
Book Review:
SORA'S SEASHELLS
Beautiful dynamic watercolor illustrations accompany Helena Ku Rhee’s
straightforward story about a kindergarten-aged girl named Sora. Sora
collects seashells on the beach with her visiting Korean grandmother, but her
grandmother always leaves the best shell somewhere for others to find as “a
gift…for anyone who sees its beauty.” After her grandmother returns home,
Sora starts kindergarten and gets bullied for having a “weird” name. On top
of this stress, her grandmother passes away, and in the ensuing distress, Sora
discovers the meaning of her name, a new appreciation for her
grandmother’s seashell gifting habits, and the courage to stand up to and
reconcile with her classmates.
Each page-spread offers colorful, emotion-laden illustrations with either
short paragraphs or single sentences of prose. The characters’ facial
expressions and the dynamic action shots deftly support the concise prose.
The illustrator, Stella Lim, based her work on sketches from Ji-Hyuk Kim,
whose inspiration comes through in the sketch-like style of the watercolor
art. A gentle introduction to the existence of grandparent-death and bullying
at school, SORA’S SEASHELLS is recommended for public and school libraries.


Sora\u27s Seashells

Baker, Laura

Lorgnette v.36 no.2
Book Review: STOMP AND CHOMP: MY FIRST BOOK OF DINOSAURS
Author
Mole, Simon
Illustrator
Illustrated by Matt Hunt
Reviewer
Baker, Laura
Pages
71p
Price
$19.99
ISBN
978-1-5362-3124-3
Publisher & Date
Candlewick, 2023
Classification
Nonfiction (567.9)
Grade Level
45356
Book Review:
STOMP AND CHOMP:
MY FIRST BOOK OF
DINOSAURS
Exuberant poems and amazing art stand out in this book about dinosaurs.
Over 20 dinosaurs are profiled. Some are familiar, like Triceratops and
Tyrannosaurus rex, while others are less well-known, like Edmontosaurus
and Halszkaraptor. The information is organized into four sections: Meet the
Dinosaurs, Eat or Be Eaten, Dinosaur Families, and The End or Is It? The
book includes dinosaurs that lived on land but also in the water and in the
air, making it more comprehensive than many other books.
Simon Mole is an acclaimed children's writer and UK National Poetry Day
ambassador with much experience in bringing poetry to children, and that
background shows. Each page is filled with a poem describing the dinosaur
or its habits. Sometimes the poem rhymes, and sometimes it is in blank
verse with the lines broken into short phrases or with keywords capitalized.
The word imagery is full of energy, almost excitement, as the text talks about
these larger-than-life creatures. Matt Hunt's artwork is amazing. Many of
the illustrations seem to be done with a collage effect. All have bold colors
that bring these creatures to life.
Despite the subtitle, this book may not be the right one for a young child's
very first book about dinosaurs. It is probably more suited for slightly older
readers. The length alone at 71 pages would be more suitable for older kids.
The text includes a helpful pronunciation guide for the dinosaur names, but
other vocabulary within the text assumes reading familiarity. The end
matter includes "A Dinosaur Time Line" showing geologic time periods,
greatly simplified and not to scale but nevertheless conveying the central
Lorgnette v.36 no.2
Book Review: STOMP AND CHOMP: MY FIRST BOOK OF DINOSAURS
point that dinosaurs lived an extremely long time ago.
Choose this book for its enthusiastic tone and fun pairing of text and
artwork, but consider it for slightly older readers.


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