Some More New Books

What Are You Doing?

by Elisa Amado and illustrated by Manuel Monroy

Chepito’s mother tells him that he has to go to school right after lunch, so it is important that he comes back on time. Chepito does not want to go to school, though. Soon Chepito sees a man reading the newspaper, and he asks the man what he is doing. When the man tells Chepito he is reading the newspaper, Chepito wants to know why. The man tells him that he wants to see who won the game. Chepito soon sees a laughing. He asks her what she is doing, and she tells him that she is reading a comic. Chepito asks her why, and she tells him that the Mafalda comic is really funny. Chepito soon meets a young couple, and he asks them what they are doing. They tell him that they are looking at their guidebook, and when he asks why, they tell him it is because they are lost. Chepito asks the mechanic what he is doing, and the mechanic tells Chepito that he is reading the car manual. Chepito asks why, and the mechanic tells him that he is trying to figure out what is wrong with the car he is working on. How many more people are Chepito going to see reading? Will he decide that school is where he wants to go? Will he soon be able to be found reading, too?

Extreme Rainforest: Amazing Encounters with Incredible Animals

by Kingfisher Publications

This nonfiction book shows you up close pictures of many of the animals that would be encountered in the rainforest. Some of these animals include: black jaguar, three-toed sloth, emerald tree boa, giant centipede, red-bellied piranha, Brazilian salmon pink (spider), boto, and many others. Each page shows you pictures of the different animals and their superpowers, equipment, weakness, and cool facts. Each page also shows you where the animal can be found, its enemies, prey, and it stats (when it comes things like agility, speed, strength, and endurance). You can also learn a lot about the rainforest and the many dangers you will find there. What kinds of animals would you like to see if you were to visit the rainforest? What animals would make you nervous?

Eddie’s Toolbox and How to Make and Mend Things

by Sarah Garland

Eddie yells out to his mother that the new neighbors have arrived. The new neighbor has a little girl that can be a new friend for Eddie’s little sister, Lily, but there are no other children for Eddie to be friend with. Eddie’s mom makes some cup cakes with Lily’s help, and then they all take the cup cakes over to the neighbors. They all find out that their new neighbors are Tom and Tilly. Tilly and Lily decide to collect snails together, while Tom asks Eddie if he would like to help him build a few things. They decide to start with Tilly’s bed. Eddie just watches at first, but soon he helps Tom with measuring the wood and sawing it. Lily has to go home and take a bath. Eddie tells Tom that Lily hates baths, and then Eddie decides to make Lily a little boat to play with in the tub. This makes Lily much happier. The next day, Tom asks Eddie if he wants to help put up some shelves. After putting up the shelves, Eddie uses the left over wood and hooks to make something to hang up his favorite things to keep them safe from Lily. During a picnic out on the yard, Pusskin, the cat, has a surprise that causes a big fuss. What idea will Eddie come up with to keep Pusskin from doing that again? Everyone helps get this ready, but will the birds like what Eddie and Tom has built for them? Will Eddie soon be ready to fix and build other things? What would you build if you had the chance? What present does Eddie’s mom and Tom buy him? Do you think he will use it a lot? At the end of the story is a discussion about the different tools that Eddie uses and what kinds of things that you can put out for the birds to enjoy, too.

The Spaghetti Detectives

by Andreas Steinhöfel

Rico is really smart and rememberS little things that he sees, but he is also easily distracted. His mother calls him a “proddity.” One day Rico finds a piece of spaghetti lying on the sidewalk outside his building. Rico decides to find out how it got there. He starts questioning the other people who live in his building, but the neighbor he does not like, Mr. Fitz, eats it. When Rico gets home, his mother talks to him about Mr. 2000, a man who is kidnapping children for smaller ransoms. Rico and his mother live in Berlin, and his mother works in a night club. So she is not able to take Rico to school or pick him up, and she is worried that he might get kidnapped, too. Rico does not think that he would be a target, and he tells her not to worry about it. At school, Rico has a special teacher, Mr. Meyer, that tries to help him figure out how his head works, and Mr. Meyer gives Rico a special writing assignment to do over the summer. He wants Rico to keep a journal of his summer activities. So Rico decides to do the assignment, and then he meets Oscar. Oscar is really smart, but he also seems to be afraid of a lot of things. He wears a blue helmet all of the time, so he can avoid hurting his head. He does not like to do anything that might get him hurt or into trouble. Rico thinks Oscar is weird, but he decides to be Oscar’s friend, anyway. Then Rico’s mother needs to go away for a few days, and she trusts Rico to take care of himself. Rico finds out that Mr. 2000 has kidnapped Oscar, and he decides that because Oscar got kidnapped while coming to visit him, it is up to Rico to save him. So he leaves his mother a note on the computer and goes to rescue Oscar. He finds out from one of the other kidnapping victims that Oscar must have known where to go to find the kidnapper. Will Rico be able to find Oscar and save him? Does Rico actually know the kidnapper? Will Rico get a chance to tell the police about Mr. 2000?

Some New Books for July

Planting the Wild Garden

by Kathryn O. Galbraith and illustrated by Wendy Anderson Halperin

This nonfiction book discusses the different ways that wild plants grow in the wild after the seeds of these plants are spread about. Many plants are grown by farmers planting seeds into the ground, but there are other ways that plants in the wild end up planted, too. One way is by the wind. There are a variety of seeds that get carried by the wind, and the illustrations show what some of those seeds are. Birds are another way that seeds travel. Some birds, like the goldfinch, like to eat seeds, and as they are eating, some seeds fall on the ground. Some plants, such as the Scotch broom, will pop out their seeds, so that more will grow. Rain is another way that seeds spread. The rain pushes the seeds to other places in the meadow. Animals that travel through the plants and grass are another good way of spreading seeds. The seeds will get caught in the fur of the animals as they walk, and then when the animals run or jump, the seeds fall off onto the ground. Some animals, like the squirrel, bury the seeds in the ground, in order to store them for food at a later time. What are some other ways that you think seeds are spread around. Have you ever helped spread seeds in the wild?

Blackout

by John Rocco

The night starts like any other summer night in the city; it is loud and hot. Inside a house a little kid wants to play a board game, but it seems that everyone else is too busy to play. So the child goes upstairs to play a video game, when all of the lights go out. The whole city seems to be dark, too. The child screams out for mom, and mom finds the child with a flashlight. So the family gathers together around the flashlight and candles. Dad makes shadow puppets on the wall, and the dog shadow scares the cat. Eventually, it was too hot to stay inside. So the family goes up to the roof, and on the roof, they see lots of stars and people. There are lots of other people who think it is too hot to stay inside, too. Then the family hears a lot of sound down below, and they go to see what is going on. They find other people hanging out down on the street. There is ice cream and singing. When the lights come back on, do you think the family will go back to doing what they were doing before? What does your family do when the lights go out?

Pig Kahuna

by Jennifer Sattler

It is Saturday and Fergus and his little brother, Dink, are looking on the beach for treasures. Fergus does not like to go in the water, as there could be icky monsters under the water. So Fergus and Dink look for treasures that the waves have left behind. So far, they have found some seaweed, a pebble the looks like an eyeball, and a piece of shell that looks like a shark’s tooth. Then, Fergus and Dink find a surfboard. No one comes to claim it, and so they carry it with them on their wagon. Fergus and Dink put their other treasures on the surfboard, where it looks like it has an eye, some hair, and a tooth, and they call it “Dave.” When Fergus goes to get some ice cream, Dink decides to set “Dave” free, by putting him back in the water. Fergus swims out to save “Dave” and climbs up on the surfboard. What do you think is going to happen next? Do you think that Fergus will be scared of the water anymore?

EllRay Jakes is Not a Chicken

by Sally Warner and illustrated by Jamie Harper

EllRay Jakes is the smallest kid in Ms. Sanchez’s third grade class, and EllRay is picked on by Jared and Stanley (he is not sure if his height is the reason or if Jared is just bored). Ms. Sanchez has no idea that this is going on, because the “war” that is happening between the three boys always happens outside the classroom. EllRay is not sure why the “war” between the three of them started, but he knows it started right after Christmas vacation. EllRay does not want to tell anyone what it going on, because he does not think that it would change anything but just make it worse. He is sure that it will end for no reason, and he wants to just make it through to that point. At home, EllRay’s dad is concerned about the “Behavior: Needs Improvement” that was on his progress report. EllRay’s dad talks about what EllRay is supposed to do in class and what he should avoid. This makes EllRay mad, because he “disrupted” class to make everyone laugh, and he thought that everyone need to. So he does not think he should get into trouble for that. Then EllRays dad tells him that if he can go a week “keeping his nose clean,” then EllRay will get to go to Disneyland, which he has not gotten to go to since he was four. So EllRay knows that he has to figure things out with Jared and Stanley. EllRay has a little sister, Alfie, who is also having problems with some of the girls in her preschool class. Alfie tells EllRay that even if these meaner kids in their classes went away, there would be others to take their places. EllRay is surprised that his sister could come up with this, but he agrees. EllRay decides that he is going to avoid Jared and Stanley all week (and hopefully any other trouble), so that he can go to Disneyland. By Friday, though, it seems that all of the adults may have figured out what has been going on between EllRay and Jared. Will EllRay be able to make it through the whole week without getting into trouble and go to Disneyland? Will he ever be able to get Jared and Stanley to leave him alone? Will he ever find out the reason that Jared is mean to him?