Spinelli, Jerry. My Fourth of July. Neal Porter Books, 2019. 978-0-823-44288-1. Unpaged. $18.99. Grades K-3
My Fourth of July follows an unnamed boy as his family and town get ready for Fourth of July. The activities include a parade, food, fireworks, as well as a town baseball game. The book has a small town America feel to it, with both the story as well as the illustrations done by Larry Day. The dreamy quality to the illustrations adds to the feel of the story and makes the story come alive as you are reading. The plot has a dreamy quality as well, and added with the illustrations, it all comes together to create a book that feels timeless.
THOUGHTS: This book is lovely and would be a wonderful addition to any picture book collection. The illustrations are beautiful, and students will enjoy discovering all the extra items that are included in each illustration.
Picture Book Mary Hyson, Lehigh Valley Charter Academy
Science Fact or Science Fiction? Checkerboard Library, 2019. $20.00 ea. $120.00 set of 6. 32 p. Grade 4 and up.
Borgot-Spaniol, Megan. Cryptozoology: Can Unexplained Creatures Be Real? 978-1-532-11539-4.
—. ESP: Does a Sixth Sense Exist? 978-1-532-11540-0
—. Time-Travel: Is Visiting the Past and Future Possible? 978-1-532-11541-7
—. UFOs: Are Alien Aircraft Overhead?
Felix, Rebecca. Artificial Intelligence: Could Computers Take over? 978-1-532-11538-7
Thomas, Rachel L. Ancient Aliens: Did Historic Contact Happen? 978-1-532-11537-0
This review is for Ancient Aliens: Did Historic Contact Happen? The book talks all about aliens, different pieces of aliens such as UFOs, artificial intelligence, and more. Each book in the Science Fact or Science Fiction? series contains a table of contents, timeline, glossary, index, as well as some extra resources at the end of each book. The book contains nonfiction textual elements with high interest topics, so this would be a good series to introduce those elements to students. If you have students who are interested in aliens and unexplained phenomenon, this would be a great series to give them.
THOUGHTS: This would be a good series for students to use if they are doing research about aliens or any of the topics contained in the series.
001.942 Ancient Aliens Mary Hyson, Lehigh Valley Charter Academy
Doerrfeld, Cori. Goodbye, Friend! Hello, Friend! Dial Books for Young Readers, 2019. 978-0-525-55423-3. Unpaged. $17.99. Grades PreK-1.
Saying goodbye can be very hard, but every goodbye leads to a hello. Charlie is new at school and soon meets a friend who had been lonely from goodbyes. Now, together, the friends say goodbye to seasons and hello to fun games. Goodbye to daytime fun in the sun and hello to stars. Goodbye to pets and hello to memories. Goodbye to spectating and hello to joining. Together the friends realize all of the easy goodbyes and fun hellos they experience together. But, when one friend must move, goodbyes become harder until a new family moves in leading to a new “Hello.”
THOUGHTS: Goodbye, Friend! Hello, Friend! is an excellent picture book exploring how things change in our lives. It helps readers understand that for every goodbye is a hello. It supports positive interactions and positive self-image. This is a wonderful resource for classrooms, libraries, and families.
Picture Book Erin Bechdel, Beaver Area SD