Book Review: The Snow Child: A Winter Miracle

The Snow Child by Hannah Rivers

The Snow Child: A Winter Miracle
by Hannah Rivers (Goodreads Author)

3 out of 5 stars

Two children make a boy of snow to be their playmate during the winter. They are worried about their father who is gone to fight in the war. They pour all their emotions into this magical snow child, who becomes like a part of their family. But what will they do when spring comes and the snow begins to melt?

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Christmas Books from Candlewick Press

Christmas and Winter-Themed Books from Candlewick Press

Merry Christmas, Anna Hibiscus! by Atinuke

Merry Christmas, Anna Hibiscus!
by Atinuke, Lauren Tobia (Illustrator)

5 out of 5 stars

Anna Hibiscus has always wished to see snow, and now she is going to Canada to visit her grandmother! But Anna worries that she will miss her family too much. She worries that she will have to eat strange food. She worries that there might be a mangy dog in the house who will bite her. When Anna arrives in Canada, her Granny welcomes her with open arms and a whole new outfit of warm clothing to stay warm in the snow. Anna meets a dog and makes some new friends. She tries to ice skate and goes sledding in the snow. She makes snow angels and learns about her Canadian family.

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Board Book Review: S is for Snow

S is for Snow by Ashley Marie Mireles

S is for Snow
by Ashley Marie Mireles (Goodreads Author)

5 out of 5 stars

This board book is a really fun way to celebrate winter and learn your ABCs! I is for icicle, and F is for figure skating. Z is for zero degrees! P is for polar bear, and M is for mittens. I had to look up “Y is for yukigassen”, and I learned that yukigassen in a Japanese snowball-fighting competition. Even the adults can learn something new with this book!

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Board Book Review: D is for Dinosaur

D is for Dinosaur by Christopher Robbins

D is for Dinosaur (ABC Primer)
by Christopher Robbins, Volha Kaliaha (Illustrator)

5 out of 5 stars

This board book introduces different dinosaurs from A to Z. Some of them are familiar, like the velociraptor and T-rex. But some dinosaurs are less well-known, like the zalmoxes or the jingshanosaurus.

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Board Book Review: Buttons

Buttons by Kalli Dakos

Buttons
by Kalli Dakos, Nichola Cowdery (Illustrator)

5 out of 5 stars

A young girl contemplates all the different buttons there are in life. Elevator buttons, doorbell buttons, and buttons to fasten our clothes. Buttons on planes and tractors that make engines go, buttons that turn on computers, and buttons that turn on lights. But there is one button that is all her own… her bellybutton!

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Non Fiction Book Review: Big Book of Mysteries

The Big Book of Mysteries by Tom   Adams

The Big Book of Mysteries
by Tom Adams (Goodreads Author), Yas Imamura (Illustrator)

4 out of 5 stars

Some mysteries can never be explained. Others have simple explanations or have been proven to be a hoax. Where is Amelia Earhart? Who built Stonehenge? Are the Loch Ness Monster or Bigfoot real? Are there really aliens making crop circles? Can fish really rain from the sky?

Some mysteries have already been solved. We know what makes aurora in the sky. But other strange lights in the sky are still unexplained. We know that the Piltdown man was a hoax, but what about Atlantis?

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Non Fiction Book Reviews: How Do Scientists Ask Questions? and How Do You Share with Your Friends?

How Do Scientists Ask Questions? by Madeline J Hayes

How Do Scientists Ask Questions?: A Book About the Scientific Method
by Madeline J Hayes, Srimalie Bassani (Illustrations)

3.5 out of 5 stars

This children’s book introduces the scientific method, teaching children how to conduct their own experiments, collect data, and draw conclusions or theories. There are experiments and crafts to try at the back of the book to prove Newton’s laws about gravity, create your own DNA model from candy, or make a fossil from salt dough.

One section has inspiration from great scientists in history, like Isaac Newton, Marie Curie, Rosalind Franklin, Albert Einstein, and Thomas Edison. It also includes a little section about Charles Darwin, saying that he was the “originator of the theory of natural selection.” I was glad that this book makes it clear that natural selection and evolution are theories and are not proven fact.

This is such a fun book! I love the cute illustrations and the hilarious characters. The information is clearly explained step by step in a playful way that makes it memorable.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

How Do You Share With Your Friends? by Lucy D Hayes

How Do You Share With Your Friends?: A Math Book About Fractions, Decimals, & Percents
by Lucy D Hayes, Srimalie Bassani (Illustrator)

5 out of 5 stars

We use fractions and percents in our everyday lives without even realizing it. We use fractions to tell time, saying “half an hour”. We use decimals to calculate money when we buy or sell something. We can even use these math skills to divide up the work between friends, cut up slices of cake to share, or run a lemonade stand and split the profits.

I really liked how this book makes math simple and fun. There are so many everyday scenarios where we need to use fractions or decimals, and we can even use them interchangeably for the same amounts. Some of the examples are hilarious as the characters have to do their chores, or clean up the kitchen, or eat a pizza. If they only do half the chores, or eat 1/4 of the pizza, they are using their math skills!

This is such a fun book! I love the cute illustrations and funny characters. The information is clearly explained step by step in a playful way that makes it memorable.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone

Non Fiction Review: Astonishing and Extinct Professions

Astonishing and Extinct Professions by Markus Rottmann

Astonishing and Extinct Professions: 89 Jobs You Will Never Do
by  Markus Rottmann, Michael Meister (Illustrator), Ashley Curtis (Translator)

2.5 out of 5 stars

Some jobs have gone extinct over the years. Princes don’t need a whipping boy to take their punishments. Modern sewers have done away with massive rat populations and rat catchers. Grand estates don’t find it fashionable anymore to hire an ornamental hermit to live in a cave grotto. Since the invention of the refrigerator, we don’t need ice harvesters to bring ice into the city. Most people do their own crying at funerals, instead of hiring wailing women to cry. Thanks to modern plumbing, we don’t need to hire anyone to shovel waste out of our toilets. Now that most people can read newspapers, we don’t need balladeers or town criers to shout out the daily news.

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Book Review: Five Little Peppers Midway

Five Little Peppers Midway by Margaret Sidney

Five Little Peppers Midway
by Margaret Sidney

4 out of 5 stars

The five Pepper siblings have a lovely life living with Mr. King in his mansion. They are all studying hard, but Polly studies harder than anyone, practicing her music so she can be a music teacher someday. When Mr. King’s cranky relation Mrs. Chatterton comes to stay, she makes trouble for the whole family. She is rude to Polly, treating her like a servant. She complains that Mr. King’s grandchildren will learn dirty habits from the Pepper boys. Finally, she convinces little Phronsie to run errands for her, resulting in a disaster that affects the whole family.

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Non Fiction Review: How the New Seven Wonders of the World Were Built

How the New Seven Wonders of the World Were Built by Jiri Bartunek

How the New Seven Wonders of the World Were Built (How the Wonders Were Built, 2)
by Jiri Bartunek, Jiri Bartunek, Tom Velcovsky

4 out of 5 stars

This book tells how and why the seven wonders of the world were built and by whom. These are seven wonders that were chosen in 2007 by the “New7Wonders Foundation” in Switzerland. Temples, pyramids, tombs, statues, arenas, and towering walls; these incredible constructions astonish and amaze us whether they were erected hundreds of years ago or just within the last century.

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